When analyzing a poem, it is important to distinguish between the poet and the speaker; they are not the same person. Another term used for a poem’s “speaker” is “persona.” In “Harlem,” Langston Hughes offers a speaker who poses questions but does not explicitly answer them. The reader does not learn what the speaker thinks, only that they are interested in the consequences of the likely answers to those questions. In addition, the initial question posed is not about dreams that are “frustrated,” implying they do not come true, but those that are “deferred,” or put off.

The subsequent questions that the speaker poses suggest a range of answers from acceptance to violent rejection. They use similes to suggest images in the reader’s mind. The dryness of the raisin is contrasted to the wetness of the running sore; similarly, a healthy snack is contrasted to infected skin. More sensory and food comparisons follow, with the foul smell of rot followed by the contrasting sweetness of syrup. None of these images is positive; even sweetness is made unappealing through the image of a crusted covering.

The speaker follows the questions with a suggestion, the first time that the simile seems connected to an entire person, whose body sags. The weight of this deferral seems to accumulate and could lead to violence. The last question contains no simile, just a direct question leaving the reader only the choice of yes or no.