After reading the questions at the end of the poem, Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes, I realized that Hughes was actually an African American. Learning this information, I came to the conclusion that this story was probably about a lack of freedoms or civil rights. Because it says this story was written during the life of Hughes (1902-1967), I doubt it is about slavery. However, this "dream deferred" is obviously about an aspiration that was never achieved or attempted. Hughes uses his strong action words and diction such as "fester" and "sags" to accentuate the fact that the dream was destroyed to the point of no return. This poem seems to show that an African American is asking what happens when a dream is completely overlooked. In the early 1900's, this race was extremely looked down upon even though slavery was unconstitutional. This means that they weren't given the same or even any opportunities as the whites. These overlooked opportunities turn into "dreams deferred."
Hughes,also, uses similes and metaphors to emphasize the broken dreams and goals of African Americans in this society. An example of a simile is, "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" (The metaphor that I noticed from the poem was, "or does it explode." (Hughes, 805).
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