Commentary on Langston Hughes’s A Dream Deferred

Alison B. Alcaraz

Commentary on Langston Hughes’s A Dream Deferred ! ! Langston Hughes’s A Dream Deferred explores the aftermath of broken hopes and aspirations. Using vivid and grotesque imagery to bother one’s senses, Hughes invokes a dark and grim mood as he answers what does happen to a dream forgotten. Although the bulk of poem may be heavy and despondent, the poem’s last line shines a different light on these ignored dreams. A Dream Deferred uses imagery, sensory details,tone, form and diction to render feelings of despair, regret and, surprisingly, hope. ! Imagery and sensory details were effectively executed in poem. Using various images to liken broken dreams, such as raisins in the sun, a running sore or heavy sagging loads, Hughes creates these powerful scenes in the readers’ mind’s eye. The readers‘ olfactory senses are also triggered by the smell of rotting meat. The smell of which invokes pictures of death, blood and flies flittering above rotten carcasses. A dream, which normally is something positive and bright, becomes something grotesque and malformed. The image of the explosion in the last line defies this, though. The image of an explosion can leave one in awe. It can be interpreted as something frightening,yet at the same time an explosion can stir emotions of excitement. The explosion of a dream inside oneself can be likened to one pursuing the dream once again even if it is frightening. ! The tone of the poem is a product of the poem’s imageries. Most of which invoke feelings of darkness, despair and abandonment. The crusting over over of a syrupy sweet creates the feeling of abandonment. Sweets don’t crust over unless they’ve been left out, forgotten or are in the cold. The feeling of cold there then gives the poem a feeling a distance and detachment. This is the same for the other major imageries used in the poem. The grim tone is broken by the last line of poem. The main imagery used in this line is the explosion. The image of the explosion disrupts the emotion of despair and creates a certain feeling of fear and excitement. ! Diction and form in this poem worked hand in hand to emphasize its final line. Separated from the rest of the poem, it can stand as an independent answer to the question imposed by the first line. The word choice for most of the poem are dark words that have a certain stagnancy and bitterness in them. The word explode is then something very different from the rest. Explode is a very dynamic, bright and warm word. It something that is strong and magnificent. It then creates another feeling from the rest of the poem. This is another reason why it was separated. ! At its core, A Dream Deferred is a poem about pursuing ones’ dreams no matter how dark out there can be. The poem compares a broken dream kept inside to one that is explored once again and the happiness and possibilities that can come with it. Word Count:499 words !