On a street in HarlemIn the poem, “Harlem”, the similes create an image of a community of minority or a group of people that is being repressed and prejudiced. The poem gives me a sense of heaviness and sadness that portrayed to me as this old photograph. This snapshot shows the everyday life a group of African American who belong to the lower working class. The similes made with the objects of a dried raisin, a rotten meat, and hardened syrup- all implies to a sense of being abandoned, and neglected for a long period of time. The people in this photo merely just gathered around and sit, but does not seem like they are celebrating or having a good time with themselves. They looks empty as if they are just in idle with no sense of purpose in their life.
Hughes instead states his view on deferred dreams, he poses questions to evoke readers to think. He uses real objects to compare the consequences of deferred dreams. He asked whether unfulfilled dream just create defects to the original form and still harmless like a wrinkly raisin or a can of crystallized syrup; or, the deferred dream will become harmful and deadly, like a stinky piece of meat, or an infected sore, and even explode. The word, “dry”, “fester”, and “stinks” all convey a feeling of decay and waste.
The emotions of a deferred dream is abstract and it has different perspective on different people. Hughes uses similes without too much explanations to allow readers to have their own interpretations to the idea of an unfulfilled dream.
She is effective in communicating her idea, she uses of the object and the experience that people would normally encounter in their everyday life in that time period, which allow her to relate to her readers easier. The visual representation of using visual objects and senses enhance the idea, for example, the sense of stinkiness of a rotten meat does a better job in conveying the idea of decay. From my experience, the smell of a dead and decaying mouse gives off the most horrifying smell that is unavoidable and should be urgently noticed. Using real life objects is better to communicate ideas because it can easily evokes ones’ past experience.
This picture is taken from: http://www.stud.u-szeged.hu/Borthaiser.Nora/harlem.jpg
Hughes instead states his view on deferred dreams, he poses questions to evoke readers to think. He uses real objects to compare the consequences of deferred dreams. He asked whether unfulfilled dream just create defects to the original form and still harmless like a wrinkly raisin or a can of crystallized syrup; or, the deferred dream will become harmful and deadly, like a stinky piece of meat, or an infected sore, and even explode. The word, “dry”, “fester”, and “stinks” all convey a feeling of decay and waste.
The emotions of a deferred dream is abstract and it has different perspective on different people. Hughes uses similes without too much explanations to allow readers to have their own interpretations to the idea of an unfulfilled dream.
She is effective in communicating her idea, she uses of the object and the experience that people would normally encounter in their everyday life in that time period, which allow her to relate to her readers easier. The visual representation of using visual objects and senses enhance the idea, for example, the sense of stinkiness of a rotten meat does a better job in conveying the idea of decay. From my experience, the smell of a dead and decaying mouse gives off the most horrifying smell that is unavoidable and should be urgently noticed. Using real life objects is better to communicate ideas because it can easily evokes ones’ past experience.
This picture is taken from: http://www.stud.u-szeged.hu/Borthaiser.Nora/harlem.jpg
Great analysis of the poem but I depicted a different meaning from this poem. I disagree with the fact that the African American race is dried raisens because of their working class. Instead I believe they are depicted as dried raisens because their dreams are put on hold or put to a stop. It is because of the community that they are opressed from accomplishing their aspirations. Due to the fact that their dreams are oppressed, they have a heavy burden to carry in their lives. They have the carry the fact that their dreams were crushed even before they can start chasing after it.
ReplyDeleteI guess you are correct, the poem should address the prejudice of the African American. It is more about their race then their working class.
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