Langston Hughes: The Pursuit Of The American Dream

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is every person’s god given right, but what exactly is happiness? Americans have fallen in love with the idea of success, we fantasize about cars, clothes and caviar. We want to be living the high life, but the only way to access the high life is to work for it. To climb the ladder of success till you get to the summit. It’s the American Dream, but that’s just it, it’s nothing but a dream, a fantasy. The reality of life is a boring and stressful existence where many of us are just struggling to make a few dollars. It would suffice to say that the American Dream is in all actuality the American Nightmare. The American Nightmare is a pitiful existence inside a self-made

‘America’ is a complex, layered idea; one that becomes all the more complex when the deeply embedded construct of race comes into play. As a black man born into a time of overt racial prejudice, Langston Hughes was all too familiar with the double consciousness that came with life as an American minority. This roller coaster is the subject of the vast majority of his literary work and has continued to be a major presence and inspiration for literary work everywhere today. Hughes shows a deep loyalty to the ideals that brought the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights into fruition and, through repeated motifs of the American Dream, seeks to bring about calm in a time of social and political unrest.

The United States of America is thought to be the “land of the free and the home of the brave” yet nothing here is given. There are no easy ways to be an American. Everyone in our country either had to fight to get here, and stay here or had to fight for something they wanted or believed in.Yes, America does have more opportunities and rights than other countries but they aren’t accessible to everybody. Being an American is having determination, independence and courage to fight for something you want and/or need.

Langston Hughes inspired others to reach their true potential in their work by using their own life as a catalyst:

In Langston Hughes’ poem, A Dream Deferred, Hughes wonders what happens to a dream that does not come true. He writes, “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?” In A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter shows that his deferred dream does both. Early in the play, he shares his hopes and dreams for his family and their future with his young son, Travis. He imagines that earning his fortune will cure all the shortcomings and injustices in their lives. The limitations of Walter’s aspirations for himself and his family undermine his ability to save his family. Walter’s acceptance of unjust systems, which makes one man “master” and another one “servant,” compromises the power of Walter’s dream. By showing that

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is regarded today as one of the most influential Black writers in American history. Pulling inspiration from the genres of blues and jazz, the works of Walt Whitman and Carl Sandburg, and his own life experiences, Hughes’ writing is both classic and innovative (Anon., 1997). Having been an integral part of the Harlem Renaissance, much of his work was centered around the strife and inequality faced by African Americans at the time. Although he explored a wide range of themes in his writing, the concept of the “American Dream” created the foundation for much of his work. As a black man, Hughes knew that he would never experience the proverbial “American Dream” of freedom and

“The Harlem Renaissance was a time where the Afro-American came of age; he became self-assertive and racially conscious… he proclaimed himself to be a man and deserving respect. Those Afro-Americans who were part of that time period saw themselves as principals in that moment of transformation from old to new” (Huggins 3). African Americans migrated to the North in great numbers to seek better lives than in the South as the northern economy was booming and industrial jobs were numerous. This movement brought new ideas and talents that shifted the culture forever. Black writers, such as Langston Hughes, used their work to claim a place for themselves and to demand self-respect in society. Poems that Langston Hughes wrote captured the essence of the complexity of a life that mixes joy and frustration of black American life through the incorporation of jazz and blues in order to examine the paradox of being black in mostly white America, the land of the not quite free.

Former president Barack Obama once said, “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress” (Brainy). When Thomas Jefferson first signed the Declaration of Independence, the United States was far from united; however, the first 100 years of the United States’ existence changed everything. The United States was able to overcome immense challenges as a new nation and come together to become one of the most succesfull powers the world has ever seen. As a country, the people were not just able to sustain themselves, but with a series technological advancements, the country transformed into an economic powerhouse. The increase in productive efficiency

Langston Hughes was one of the first black men to express the spirit of blues and jazz

   " The poet's life is the focusing glass through which passes the determinants of the shape of his work: the tradition available to him, his understanding of "Kinds", the impact of special experiences (travel, love, etc.)." (Fielder 1431). Langston Hughes did not have an easy life. Being a young black male during the 1920's, Hughes was constantly being discriminated against by the color of his skin. Because of that harsh reality, most of his work was centered around the African American's fight for racial equality. One good example of this is shown in his poem "I, Too". Hughes writes about being discriminated against because he was black.

When I read “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes, I felt like he knew how it felt to put off a dream for so long. How he described the dream when putting it off for so long, what happens to it and how it hang on to you until you either completely forget about it, or you finally complete the dream. When I read “Hope” by Emily Dickinson, I felt spiritual when she was referring hope as a bird. She best explains hope as a being that is always inside of you, waiting to be let out, to when it’s at the worst moment ever and it’s still there, helping you through, always giving and never wanting. When I read “maggie and milly and molly and may” by e.e.cummings, at first I was very frustrated and sort of confused when reading, because it doesn’t seem

Many poets are well recognized for their poems and live that they lived but, one poet is not all that well known. This poet had a rough live living in persecution just because of his skin color. The famous but forgotten Langston Hughes had an exciting career and very intense writings during the severe segregation era which he had lived in

Langston Hughes, “I too, Sing America” chronicles an African-American male’s struggle with patriotism in an age of inequality and segregation in the United States. The poem cleverly uses metaphors to represent racial segregation faced by African-Americans during the early twentieth century. The speaker presents a battle cry for equality and acceptance, and his words are a plea and a declaration for nationalism and patriotism. Although, the poem does not directly imply racism, the speaker’s language suggests that he equates the kitchen to racial discrimination by the general American society. His word usage signals his wish to participate in a land that he proudly claims as his own despite his personal experiences of rejection. Despite

Credited as being the most recognizable figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes played a vital role in the Modernist literary movement and the movement to revitalize African American culture in the early 20th century. Hughes’s poems reflect his personal struggle and the collective struggle of African Americans during this cultural revival.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement and the enlightenment of black minds as a whole. This movement sparked the minds of many leaders such as Marcus Garvey, W.E.B Dubois, and Langston Hughes, these men would also come to be known as the earliest Civil Rights activists. While Garvey and Dubois expressed their views in speeches and rallies Hughes had a different approach and chose to articulate his thoughts and views through literature more specifically poetry. Through his poetry, Hughes became a world renown poet for such works as “Let America Be America Again”, “Harlem” and “I Too” taken from his first book “The Weary Blues.” These poems while written and inspired by the everyday struggles of being an African-American were arguably targeted at white Americans. Hughes wrote a majority of his work during the Harlem Renaissance and as a result focused on “injustice” and “change” in the hopes that society would recognize their mistake and reconcile, but in order for this to happen he would have to target the right audience.