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Dream Deferred - College Paper

Dream Deferred

The poem, "", which was written by Langston Hughes in 1951 , described the trials that minorities in that time period underwent. Hughes uses heavy symbolism and imagery in this poem. The dream he discussed in the poem was futile at the time of his writing of the poem. In the poem, "", the author uses a significant amount of symbolism to express the broken dream of racial equality.
The question Hughes poses in line one, "What happens to a ?" sets the environment for the plot and symbolism of the rest of the poem. As Hughes answers the question, he asks if a dries up like a raisin in the sun. This symbol means that a dream that is disintegrating and dying like a raisin left out in the ...

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"Or fester like a sore--And then run?" is extremely symbolic. The visual picture of a sore festering and then finally breaking open and running is again equal to the broken dream of racial equality. The dream of racial equality grows in the body like a sore. When the dream fails, it breaks open and could fall prey to outside poisons. These poisons can lead to destruction. Racial riots and other such instances are examples of this destruction. Hughes even furthers his use of symbolism in line six, "Does it stink like rotten meat?" A dream that is left out too long without the proper care it needs will start to stink like meat left out of the refrigerator.
The final line, "Or does it explode?" is representing an explosion similar to one of a bomb. When something explodes, it is blown to pieces which cannot be put back together, or only with a great amount of time, labor, and difficulty. This is what happened to the "".
The title, "", is a symbol in itself. ...

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Dream Deferred. (2008, March 30). Retrieved January 20, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Dream-Deferred/81309

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/30/2008 10:27:22 AM
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 542
Pages: 2

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