Harlem (Dream Deferred), Weekly discussion questions help

Langston Hughes poem, “Harlem” describes “what happens to a dream deferred”. A dream deferred signifies, a goal, a hope, a thought or idea having to be put on hold. In this case, the poem does not offer the actual dream or substantial character, was the poet describing a dream of his own, or was it written in regards to someone else? Either way, I feel it portrayed a sad struggle or depressed tone. Revealing a difficult period in someone’s life, and recognizing the lines in the poem as being quite negative, not offering a positive outcome what so ever. The words almost beginning to feel heavier as the poem went on.

The poem consisted of mostly questions, the response that made the most sense to me was placed in the poem as a statement, not a question. I wondered if this was purposely positioned to be an “attention grabber” for the reader, or if it just happened to be extremely noticeable to me. “Maybe it just sags Like a heavy load.”, this quote expressed a heaviness, a large weight attached to someone, holding them back from their dream, the heaviness not allowing them to progress. The meaning of this statement, meant a great deal to me, giving me more of an understanding of how “deferring this dream” was awfully complicated for the unknown character.

The last line in the poem stood out considerably. I believe “Or does it explode?” being written in italics represents a tired and disgusted tone. Clearly defining, that the wondering, waiting and unanswered questions cause an overwhelming feeling of discouragement, uneasiness and lack of hope for a person, eventually leading to an explosion of emotions and actions.

I enjoyed interpreting this poem, as I felt it sent a strong message then and continues to do so now.

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Corinne,

I hadn’t even considered the fact of the poem being quite negative, but more as realistic, but I guess those could go hand-in-hand. I agree that the words held a lot of weight toward the end. The heavy load is in fact holding someone from their dreams when an obstacle gets in the way – being held from a dream has a different effect on everyone, whether it’s a bittersweet or something far more painful for them.

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Hi Manuel,

I agree that this dream of that of a culture of people, more specifically those of Harlem. What I really enjoy about your interpretation though is that you point out how in the similes, a trace of the dream will always be found. Like you said with the raisin, it may be dried but it is still a raisin, the meat might be rotten but it is still meat. This was really interesting and I think it is also Hughes showing the readers that dreams may be deferred but they never really leave us.

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Hi Alison,

You got it dead on and am happy you caught on to the fact that dreams never leave us. If you fulfilled, were disappointed, deferred, a dream you can never erase it.

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In this poem, a dream deferred is a dream that cannot be carried out either temporarily or even indefinitely. It is a goal or hope that is put on the back burner either by the person it belongs to or by another. I think in this poem specifically, it applies in both ways. I remember studying Langston Hughes quite a bit in high school English and in my American literature class in college. I think that in this poem specifically the person whose dream it is might be Hughes but it also might be more specifically, African-Americans of the time period. The book says this poem was from 1951, which was one of the early years in the coming Civil Rights Movement. Their dreams of freedom from discrimination were often deferred by the prejudice and ignorance of American culture at the time, so I think it is very possible this poem is in reference to that.

In sticking with this idea that the poem follows significance in civil rights, the last line of the poem “Or does it explode” might be based on the tensions of the movement and the explosiveness to come. In general though, I think Hughes is pointing out that dreams that a person has to leave behind are often like baggage, they might weigh us down with regret or sorrow or maybe even relief. Maybe the metaphor of the dream exploding means that it might drive the person to anger or frustration. I think that throughout the poem, Hughes is giving different reactions to losing one’s dream. In the similes, “fester like a sore” might mean that it frustrates the person who lost their dream, or “sags like a heavy load” might refer to the sense of feeling weighed down by the loss.

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Hi Alison,

I also felt that the poem was written in a representation of the end of slavery. Many dreams were placed on hold by many people during this era. The dream of being free, of success, of having an opinion and until one day they all exploded.