What happens in Harlem?
- The first line of the poem poses a provocative question: "What happens to a dream deferred?" Instead of giving a direct answer, the speaker asks a series of follow-up questions, suggesting that the dream deferred dries up "like a raisin in the sun" or sags "like a heavy load."
- In total, the speaker suggests six different outcomes, each one as undesirable as the last. Many of his suggestions are repulsive, like the one where the dream stinks like rotten meat.
- Finally, the speaker asks, "Or does it explode?" This line betrays the bitterness and the anger that drives the poem. Oppression and frustration have caused the dream to explode, hurting the speaker and, presumably, those around him.
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Summary
(Poetry for Students)
Line 1:
The speaker of this poem, who may represent Hughes, poses a large, open question that the following sub-questions both answer and extend. This poem, and the volume in which it appears, Montage of a Dream Deferred, explore what happens to people and society when millions of individuals' dreams get deferred, or put off indefinitely.
Lines 2-3:
The first image in the poem proposes that the dream dries up like a raisin. This simile likens the original dream to a grape, which is round, juicy, green and fresh. Once the dream has lain neglected for too long, it dries up. Though the dream is still sweet and edible, it has shrunken from its former state and turned black. The famous 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun, by African-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry, takes its title from this poem. The play also explores the risks and consequences for African Americans of losing sight of dreams and hope.
Lines 4-5:
Where the raisin image invokes the senses of taste and sight, the simile of the sore conveys a sense of touch and bodily impact. Sores reside on one's skin, and are seen, felt, and carried around. By comparing the dream to a sore on the body, the poet suggests that unfulfilled dreams become part of us, like scars. Even if we ignore a sore, it is palpable, visible, and needs attention to heal. Neglected sores may lead to infection, even death. Hughes thus suggests that unattended dreams may not only nag one from outside, they may infect the body and the psyche and slowly kill their host. The word "fester" connotes seething decay and "run" literally refers to pus. Hughes may be punning on the word "run," suggesting that the dream may flee or may run rampant with one's sanity. With the simile of a sore, Hughes raises the stakes of ignoring dreams.
Line 6:
Appealing to all of the reader's senses, the speaker suggests that a dream deferred may also stink. Unlike a sore, a stink cannot be ignored. Smells do not vanish until one gets rid of their source. With the smell of rotten meat, Hughes suggests that dreams deferred will pester one continually, making one sick until they are addressed. Like the raisin image, rotten meat stinks when it is no longer fresh. This image reinforces the idea of decay and waste. Rotten meat is also deadly to eat. Some critics suggest that...
(The entire section is 658 words.)