harlem what happens to a dream deferred analysis

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Harlem (Dream Deferred) Harlem

Harlem

Line 1

What happens to a dream deferred?

• If we were to reply this question right away, we'd probably say, "Nix much, Mr. Speaker, information technology will probably just fade away."
• But there's something about the way our speaker says "dream deferred" instead of "deferred dream" that makes usa realize that we are not in the world of logical rationale, but rather the far cooler world of poetry, truth telling, and soul-searching. Past beginning this poem with a question, nosotros readers are put on the spot.

Line 2

Does it dry out upwards

• What happens when things dry up? Well, they lose their moisture and their h2o. They become small and withered. This line makes us think of deserts and summers and heat.
• Discover each of the words in this line only contain ane syllable.

Line three

like a raisin in the sun?

• Raisins are supposed to be dry, right? They get raisins by sitting in the lord's day. Well, actually, raisins begin equally grapes and gradually lose their juice when they are put out in the sun. Raisins are totally delish and tasty, merely they're not quite as succulent as grapes, in our humble opinion.
• [We interrupt this programme to alert you to a Actually Cool Literary Fact (an RCLF). Famous American playwright Lorraine Hansberry took the phrase "a raisin in the sun" as the title of her play, A Raisin in the Sun. This play apace became one of the near beloved works in American theater every bit it captures the deferred dreams of a blackness family living in Chicago during the 1950s.]

Line iv

Or fester like a sore—

• Eww, "fester." Whenever we hear that word, we can't assist just think of an open wound full of puss and claret.
• Usually, things fester when they aren't healing or when they aren't being cared for properly. Hither, our speaker suggests a deferred dream won't heal or go away.

Line 5

And and then run?

• We know our speaker is standing with the wound image hither, wondering if dreams drain themselves to death if they are ignored.
• Nonetheless, there'southward something very powerful nigh the give-and-take, "run." We tin can't help merely remember nigh other meanings for information technology, meanings like "escape" or "menstruum."

Line 6

Does information technology stink like rotten meat?

• If dreams are stashed away, will they haunt usa like rotten meat haunts us when it sits too long in the fridge? If rotting meat didn't odor so bad, how much longer do you think it would sit in your fridge? The scent is ofttimes what reminds us to do something well-nigh it, to throw it away.
• This line stirs our sense of smell, because most of us have had an experience with the olfactory property of rotten meat earlier. This is a smell closely associated with death.
• In this line, our speaker makes an interesting distinction between ignoring dreams and getting rid of them birthday. We are reminded that "a dream deferred" is an ignored dream, not a canceled dream.

Line 7

Or chaff and sugar over –

• What kinds of things crust or sugar over? Honey. Cheese. Candy. Commonly things that left out in the open and that aren't put abroad properly.
• Can dreams be put away properly? Tin dreams be preserved if they aren't pursued?
• Our speaker compares dreams to sweetness-tasting things, stirring our taste buds and drawing a contrast to the bitterness of lost dreams.

Line 8

like a syrupy sweet?

• Syrup reminds us of pancakes and of pasty hands. Syrup is practically all sugar, and it's slow-moving too. We know that our speaker isn't describing the slow-moving role of information technology, but by choosing the discussion "syrupy" at this moment, nosotros feel like things wearisome down in a poem that moves very apace.
• We imagine dreams beingness stuck to the counter in a pool of syrup left over from last Sunday.

Line nine

Maybe it just sags

• Sagging things are things that are old. Floorboards sag from the weight of too many people and too much furniture over the years. Bookshelves can sag from the weight of as well many books. Kindergarteners sag from the weight of backpacks that are too heavy.
• The verb "sag" is direct related to the weight of something. In this way, our speaker may be pointing out just how of import dreams are. They are and so of import that they are heavy, and if they are ignored, they will grow to sag.

Line x

similar a heavy load.

• The term "heavy load" reminds the states of those days when we accept a lot on our minds. You know those days. Someone asks you how you lot are doing, and all of your thoughts and worries come up tumbling out of your oral cavity at total speed until you say, "Wow, thank you for letting me get that off of my chest."
• A load is something you carry, and if it is heavy, then the going will be tough. Sometimes, others tin can assist you conduct your load, but we get the sense the speaker is referring to a load that cannot be shared or alleviated.

Line 11

Or does information technology explode?

• Merely similar the first line of this poem, this final line is a question all by itself. Only unlike whatsoever other line in the poem, information technology is italicized, which makes us pay actress careful attention to information technology.
• The word "explode" seems to us to be both a very dangerous verb and a very celebratory verb. It reminds us of both bombs and fireworks. More than importantly, however, it makes us remember of things that accept been gathering steam and pressure over time and that can no longer suppress this energy.
• In the world of this poem, this final line feels near liberating, but also tearing.

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Source: https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/poetry/harlem-dream-deferred/summary/harlem

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