Where Does It Go From Here?

What is a dream deferred? We all have goals and things we strive for and when first setting a new goal, we likely feel excited and motivated. But dreams do not become reality in the blink of an eye. They are something we have to work at, something we are continuously looking up to and striving for. Many times, we wait for so long without our work paying off that the dream doesn't hold the luster that it once did. This is the message that Langston Hughes conveys in his poem, “Harlem, A Dream Deferred.” Each stanza is a metaphor—a rhetorical question—that offers the possibilities of what happens to a dream deferred. The order of the stanzas in the second paragraph represents the progressing stages that the dream goes through.

The first thing that can happen is that the dream will “dry up, like a raisin in the sun.” This phase comes when a dream is not reached immediately. After the initial surge of motivation, people will start to peter out, realizing that a dream requires time and investment. This is what distinguishes those who are willing to work for a dream from those who just hope for it and wish it would happen. The phrase “a raisin in the sun” can have slightly different meaning depending on whether the raisin started as a grape or if it was already a raisin when it was set out in the sun. If we assume it was a grape, then the dream that was one fruitful, promising, and lively has dried out. It has become stale. All the life has been sucked out it and it is no longer appealing like it once was. If the dream was already a raisin, the meaning is still similar, but it suggests that the dream was delayed even longer. It was already fairly dead, and the sun took the tiny ounce of hope it had left in it and wrung it dry.

After this, the dream becomes like a festering sore. It is a source of pain, and it is also a constant reminder. There is the idea that because the sore is festering, the pain stays there as an active reminder that the dream has not been achieved.

The next line, which suggests that the dream “stinks like rotten meat,” is a stage of resignation. The person has completely given up on the dream and it has gone bad. If the dream is “rotten,” it has been prolonged for so long that it is invalid. Not only is the dream no longer good, but there is a pungent stench radiating from it. It is definitely not worth striving for anymore; in fact, it is worth getting away from. It is a source of humiliation because the person worked for the dream, but their work wasn't good enough.

The next phrase comes as a bit of a shock, suggesting that the dream “crusts over like a syrupy sweet.” This is the most stark contrast between phrases and is clearly a contradiction to the other, rather odious things that can happen to a dream. This phase represents a gradual change in thinking, that only comes after very extended periods of time or may never come at all. Possibly, a dream that was sought in youth has gone through all of the stages above. As the dream ages, or rather the person ages, the dream becomes more of an objective idea than an active goal. When this change occurs, one can look on the dream more favorably because is represents the persons past—challenges they have faced, overcome, and moved on from. It is almost a nostalgic view of the dream. There is a subtle longing for something that has never become a reality, which makes it sweet, but the dream is so old that it has crusted over. The person can no longer interact with the dream, but they can look back on it as a part of them or just as a sweet ideal.

After this come two other possibilities—that the dream either sags like a heavy load or explodes. Neither of these are included in the progression, but are offered as alternatives to the previous, more positive outcome. By ending the poem on a negative note, Hughes seems to suggest that the more hopeful outcome does not really occur, but rather the dream always remains a heavy burden. Through political ties with the city of Harlem, Hughes also suggests that the dream “explodes.” Like Harlem, which once was busy and alive, the dream gets to a point where it can never be restored, never have a hopeful essence, and it simply explodes into nothingness.