Langston Hughes’ “A Dream Deferred” is composed of 11 lines. Of these, the first and the last serve as the first and third paragraph. In spite of its succinctness, the poem endeavored to elicit the idea of comparison in the readers through the use of five similes and a metaphor.
To avoid over reading the verse, the first thing to check is the title. Given its title, “A Dream Deferred,” the entire poem immediately sees the major subject as “a deferred dream”. The next to check is the poem’s room for ambiguity. The word “dream” is ambiguous; we need to establish which “deferred dream” the poem is most possibly referring to. The first denotation of dream, “imaginings while asleep”, refers to an involuntary practice by the subconscious mind. Conversely, the next popular definition is “something hoped for.” Comparing these two, it is more promising that the dream which is deferred refers to something hoped for, since deference requires a voluntary choice (as opposed to the subconscious working) of postponing something.
The unnamed speaker asks about what happens to a deferred dream. Yet, the same speaker gives options as a possible answer to his question. First, he asks if a dream deferred “dries up like a raisin in the sun”. A raisin is a sweet grape that has been dried in the sun or by being processed with heat, usually to prevent spoiling and permit long-term storage. Viewing as a raisin a dream that was deferred gives the idea that dreams (i.e. aspirations), need not be hurried to be achieved and must undergo some means. That means may seem—or really is—tough, but in the end, the deference of that dream creates the best results, after all. An example is the deference of a teenager’s dream to belong in a relationship. He/she must defer that dream to give way to his studies. But when he/she graduates with good grades and lands a fine job, he/she will realize that the choice was right and that he/she is more secure to be in a relationship. This simile is similar to the Filipino saying “Kung walang tiyaga, walang nilaga.”
Second, the deferred dream is said to “fester like a sore—and then run.” A sore creates pus and requires urgent action. This is similar to an ambition which seems short-term and urgent, but then runs. It is equal to the swift leaving of the zeal to achieve the end. An example is a young schoolboy who falls in love with a classmate. At his young age, he is fiery and active, doing all his best to catch the girl’s attention. But one mundane summer day, he would finally sit next to the girl in class, and would realize that all his feelings were gone.
A dream deferred can also “stink like rotten meat”. This matches the example of a goal being procrastinated such that, while stowed, the goal “decomposes” until it is no longer fresh nor fit to be “consumed”. We can see this happen in people who had many good plans, decided to put them off, and, now in their old age, regretted not seizing the day.
A wish can “crust and sugar over—like a syrupy sweet”, as well. It can be kept by a person for reasons he himself only knows. Somehow, it “sugars over”; its saccharinity attracts the ants until such time that the crust is broken and his plans are made known and realized.
Next, it can sag “like a heavy load.” A person’s deferred hopes can make a person feel guilty that he has not done something. Over time, the guilt weighs down the person until he cannot carry it anymore and may have to either give it up or let others carry his hopes for him. Both alternatives display not merely deference but a total surrender of dreams.
Finally, a dream deferred may “explode.” By exploding, it compares the put-off dream to a sudden release in extent in an uncontrolled way. A precise example is Mrs. Jhet Thorcelino Van-Ruyven, author of riveting autobiography “The Tale of Juliet”, who, after a poverty-stricken childhood, has grasped the opportunity to rise from hardship into prosperity by maximizing her capabilities.
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