This is Hughes’s most well-known work. This is the most popular Langston Hughes poem that schools teach today. Hughes wrote “Harlem” back in 1951. The poem addresses one the most prominent themes of Hughes’s work – the limitations that the American Dream has for African Americans. The poem consists of 11 lines divided into 4 stanzas. All other lines are questions.
America was still racistally segregated in the 1950s. In the South, the law considered African Americans second-class citizens because of their slavery relic. But, there was change. Hughes wrote Harlem’ three years before Brown, a 1954 Supreme Court case that declared state laws that created separate public schools to educate black and white students unconstitutional. Hughes was very aware of American life as a black male. His writings reflect his experience. Hughes named the poem Harlem after Harlem Renaissance New York. This was a significant creative explosion in literature and music that took place between 1910 and 1920. Harlem was considered a refuge for many African American families, who were often subject to discrimination in other parts.
Harlem’s fame faded with the Great Depression. This made many African American families, who had once prospered in Harlem, poorer. The speaker considers the fate or “dream deferred.” He/she is not certain who the speaker may be. This powerful question has a feeling of silence. Hughes uses vivid analogies to create the impression of a delayed dream. Hughes imagines the dream drying up, stinking, crusting and eventually exploding. Although not violent, these images have a darker tone. Each image has enough power to make you feel, smell, and taste the abandoned dreams. Langston Hughes states that an abandoned idea does not just vanish but evolves, bringing it closer to physical decay.
The speaker isn’t referring to any particular dream. He (or she) is implying that African Americans can’t dream of (be great) things due to the oppressive environment around them. Even if they dream big, their plans will end up stagnating or even exploding.
