'Metaphors And Personification In Dreams' By Langston Hughes

Hughes talk about dreams that is never pursued. He questions whether or not an unaccomplished dream is forgotten about or if it always remains in a persons thoughts Hughes wonders if a dream is just thrown away like “rotten meat”. He also wonders if it sags like a “heavy load” and becomes a burden. In “The Great Gatsby” Nick talks about Gatsby’s dreams. He said that “What foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men” {Fizgerald} .

We all go through the “dream stage”, but is it so that they are even meant to come across our minds during our slumber? Dreams are simply desires that certain people have a big hope to one day to actually experience their destinies and thoughts. Although reveries are recurrent, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston vividly contrasts the type of dreams people have and how they accomplish them. The determination in the 1920s set off success in the African American culture leading people to look past the limit and keep going. In “Freedom’s Plow” , Hughes believes dreams are set and fulfilled through unity, but on the other side of the grass Zora Neale Hurston in her piece, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, she perceives that dreams are asymmetrical and are not

In his poem, Hughes focuses on the prospect of what happens after dreams are delayed. He questions whether said dream “stinks like rotten meat, or crusts and sugars over— like a syrupy sweet,” describing how it could either spoil or age into something

In Langston Hughes’ poem, the author gives us vivid examples of how dreams get lost in the weariness of everyday life. The author uses words like dry, fester, rot, and stink, to give us a picture of how something that was originally intended for good, could end up in defeat. Throughout the play, I was able to feel how each character seemed to have their dreams that fell apart as the story went on. I believe the central theme of the play has everything to do with the pain each character goes thru after losing control of the plans they had in mind. I will attempt to break down each character’s dream and how they each fell apart as the play went on.

Second, the writer’s usage of symbols provides clear insight into Hughes’ message that dreams give value and purpose to our lives. The “bird” in stanza one is a symbol of liberty, courage, and delight. To explain, Hughes is simply saying, if one stops dreaming or pursuing dreams, then he or she will live a life that lacks value or purpose. In the second stanza, the speaker gives the reader an image of a barren field with frozen snow upon it, representing a life with no production. In general, Hughes is making it known to his readers, that anyone who does not hold on to his or her dreams, will live a barren, futile life.

It gives us an example of the resentment that is growing. People are getting more inflamed emotionally, just like the wound gets worse if not treated. It draws a clear parallel between people's emotions and the images of the sore. Just as an untreated sore will not heal, but get more infected, a deferred dream will not go away, but become more intense. A wound that gets worse will eventually start to smell bad. Hughes compares this to rotten meat. "Does it stink like rotten meat?" This image creates the idea that unrealized dreams will bring out the worst in men. It also means that for some the realization of their dreams will become less attractive.

He wants to know if dream will continue to be a dream or will it die and never become a reality. Hughes asks a question that catches my attention in the poem, when he says “Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over—like a syrupy sweet?” (Lines 6-8). Hughes first starts with the negativity of what may occur to the dream if it is left alone and set aside but then brings in the sugar coating lines when he says “or crust and sugar lover –like a syrupy sweet” letting us know that there is hope that the dream still may become a reality even if the dream is set aside for a while.

Langston Hughes was a successful African-American poet of the Harlem renaissance in the 20th century. Hughes' had a simple and cultured writing style. "Harlem" is filled with rhythm, jazz, blues, imagery, and evokes vivid images within the mind. The poem focuses on what could happen to deferred dreams. Hughes' aim is to make it clear that if you postpone your dreams you might not get another chance to attain it--so take those dreams and run. Each question associates with negative effects of deferred dreams. The imagery from the poem causes the reader to be pulled in by the writer's words.

When people’s dreams are further postponed there can be terrible consequences. Hughes utilizes simple words to create a much more profound meaning. These words are easy to comprehend, but each word and each question symbolize the difficulty that comes with dreams that cannot be obtained due to unfortunate circumstances. The tone of this poem is serious, and almost nostalgic. The speaker asks what happens if dreams are postponed and presents some likely answers to this question. The speaker asks if these delayed dreams dry up like raisins or if they fester like sores, if they perish like meat or if they become crusty, like syrup left out too long. They even suggest that these postponed dreams burden like a heavy load. At the end of the poem, the speaker asks if dreams explode if they are delayed far too long. All of these questions incite feelings of uncertainty.

The most irksome and disturbing images in the poem are in the first stanza. After beginning the poem with a question, "What happens to a dream deferred?" Hughes starts to answer the question by applying a simile and creating a visual image. Lines 2-3 describe the comparison between a deferred dream and a dried raisin:

The epigraphy by Langston Hughes describes how dreams change after they had been put off. When dreams fail, it affects each person differently. The person may just give up on the dream completely, find a new way to reach the dream, change the situation so it may not be the dream but something similar, or it can destroy other dreams too. The Youngers were a African American family living on the south side of Chicago and barely scraping by with Walter’s job as a limousine driver. They all eagerly wait for the insurance money, produced after Walter’s dad passed away, to make their dreams come true. But when the check arrived, Walter gave most of the money to Willy Harris, a business partner, runs off with the money when it was suppose to be invested

Hughes first answer is, "Does is dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?" which provides a vivid image that symbolizes the now lifelessness of the deferred dream. For example, fruits represent colors and liveliness, to dry one out means to remove the life from the fruit and let it shrivel. The fruit is now colorless and has shrunk, it is minimal, much like what happens when dreams are deferred. Depicting each stanza, along with the influence of street language and vivid imagery Hughes provides, is necessary in understanding his perception and emotions embedded in this

Line one: Hughes poses a rhetorical question. The phrase sets up the rest of the poem as purely speculatory. The historical context indicates that people like him pus their dreams away often because society won’t allow them to succeed and tradition says they should not try.

He asks whether the dream would “dry up/ like a raisin in the sun” (ll. 2-3). In other words, he ponders if it would go away forever and never be achieved. Right after, he asks whether it would “fester like a sore” (l. 4). Many people who do not or cannot pursue their dreams think about their ideal life and resent their current status. Hughes continues thinking about what happens to dreams deferred by making the effects of living an unsatisfied life more tangible through comparisons. For instance, he asks whether the dream would rot like meat, spoil like sweets, or sag like it is holding something heavy. Finally, Hughes sets apart a final thought italicized in a new stanza when he writes, “[o]r does [the dream] explode?” (l. 11). Though not exactly a simile, it does conjure up images of something going off like a bomb. When something is ignored so long, or if an entire group of people is continuously discriminated against, it is only a matter of time before something has to

The only major shift that occurs in Dreams Deferred, happens on the last line of the poem. Hughes compares dreams to other things using similes. These similes are not instantaneous, they happen and worsen over time. i.e(Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun?/Or fester like a sore). But on the last line, he compares dreams deferring to something that doesn’t need time. An