Harlem Summary

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 AfricanAmerican 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... What is the significance of the title "Harlem"? The significance of the title is that it harks back to the so-called Harlem Renaissance, a period of great cultural and intellectual activity among African-Americans, centred on Harlem in New York City in the early twentieth century. This poem was first published in 1951, and the Harlem Renaissance is generally agreed to have ended about twenty-odd years before this date, but the issues so often discussed during the earlier period still had great relevance at the beginning of the 1950s. The prominent writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance, of whom Hughes himself was one, had eloquently addressed the problems faced by African-Americans: the ongoing injustice and racism enshrined in the country's laws, poverty and lack of opportunities. Unhappily, these problems still existed in 1951. It was not until later in the 1950s, when the Civil Rights Movement really gained momentum, and all through the following decade, that these outstanding issues really began to be addressed. The poem, about ' a dream deferred,' makes the sober point that the African-American dream of racial equality and justice, expressed so memorably by the leading lights of the Harlem Renaissance, still had to materialize. In concisely effective terms, the poem poses a series of rhetorical questions about what happens to a dream or hope that continues to be thwarted. The speaking voice - which can be readily equated with that of the poet - queries if such a dream simply dries up (like 'a raisin in the sun'), or turns rotten, or whether there might be a more

violent outcome: 'Or does it explode?' This line is the final one of the poem, and is italicized to increase the dramatic effect. Hughes is clearly implying that if the African-American search for rights and equality continues to be denied, then things might turn ugly, and the dream might then erupt into violent confrontation. Of course, this did happen on a number of occasions before the dream of equality for African-Americans was finally advanced in the later twentieth century with the repeal of the country's most oppressive racist laws.

Place, race and identity in Langston Hughes "A Toast to Harlem"

A Toast to Harlem is an extract from a volume of selections entitled The Best Of Simple which was published in 1961. The author, Langston Hughes, was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902 and died in 1967. He is known as one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance, which was the African American artistic movement in the 1920s that celebrated black life and culture as well as racial pride. His prolific work was highly influenced by his life in New York City's Harlem. His literary works helped shape American literature and politics. Through writing Hughes conveyed his desire for equality; he condemned racism and injustice, and promoted African American culture. Langston Hughes was famous as a poet during the period of the Harlem Renaissance, he is often remembered as a Harlem Renaissance poet but in addition to his work as a poet, Hughes was a novelist, columnist, playwright, and essayist. His brilliant career influenced the work of many other African American writers. [...] In other words, if Simple had been an Indian he would have lived among the Indian community and not in Harlem, he wasnt allowed to settle in the reservation so he went to another one. The only difference is in the use of terms, blacks dont live in reservations but since Harlem mostly hosts black people it is a reservation for black people. So it seems that Simples excitement of living in Harlem results more as a resignation rather than a personal choice. [...] [...] And it is through this national identity that the power seems to be reversed: They used to beat you head right in public, but know they only beat it after they get you down to the station house. And they dont beat it then if they think you know a coloured congressman on lines 2629. Simple is at the same level as white folks as far as civil rights are concerned, he too is American and this is his national identity, his pride: Elected by my own vote on line 30. [...] [...] Our study will be three fold, in a first part we will see how Harlem is referred to in terms of place, then we will focus on the issue of race within the city and eventually we will show how hard it is to build ones identity within a racist society. Harlem in terms of Place As we know Harlem wasnt meant to be peopled by Black Americans but since the houses that had been built remained vacant, white people had no other choice than accepting to rent their houses to Black Americans (only those who could afford it since the prices were high). [...] A Toast to Harlem," one of the "Simple" stories by Langston Hughes, read by actor Ossie Davis. Originally written as a newspaper column, this story revels in the Harlem of the 1940s, describing the neighborhood's joys and frustrations. Like the other "Simple Stories," this tale stars "Jesse B. Semple," a homespun philosopher, who engages in a dialogue with a mildmannered narrator. Hughes himself was an influential figure in the Harlem Renaissance, a literary and artistic movement that also produced Countee Cullen, Richard Wright, and Zora Neale Hurston.