A Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Above is a poem written by Langston Hughes during the Harlem Renaissance. The poem concerns to race relations in the 1920's and 30's but I find the poems message to be relevant to the subject matter we have discussed in this class. The underlying question in this famous poem is " What happens to a dream deferred"? Hughes chooses to answer this question with a series of other questions that comprise the short poem. The "dream" appears to resemble ones goal in life and it questions what happens to a person's view of the world and self worth when that dream is postponed and delayed. Hughes uses two references to food in describing his purpose, raisins and meat. When comparing a dream deferred and a raisin he asks the reader if it " dries up in the sun, or foster like a sore and then run"? I believe this comparison is used to demonstrate a persons wealth and how they contribute to society. A raisin by itself is perfectly edible and contains nutritional value. However, if let to dry in the sun it spoils and therefore becomes useless. Hughes makes this reference to show how the African American race is perfectly capable and able to contribute to society but due to stigmas and racial unjustness, they are forced to become compared to spoiled raisins and meat which hold no benefit or reward. Hughes closes the poem by asking if a dream deferred " Sags, like a heavy load, or does it explode"? This last phrase is asking what happens to human beings when pushed to the lowest depths of disparity. The first outcome " Sags around like a heavy load" implies that a person would continue to live a life with no person and be constantly reminded of the burden of a dream deferred. The second outcome " or does it explode" implies a dream exploding, therefore killing a dream. If dreams are considered to be real and live in our unconsciousness and symbolize our upmost aspirations, than for a dream to explode implies taking your own life. Pretty powerful words.