How does the speaker employ language in the advancement of themes in poem.
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?[1]
In this poem, Langston Hughes uses vivid imagery and figurative language to explore the theme of deferred dreams. The speaker employs a series of rhetorical questions to convey the different possible outcomes of a dream that is put on hold or delayed.
Through the use of similes and metaphors, the speaker compares a deferred dream to a raisin drying up in the sun, a sore festering and running, rotten meat that stinks, or syrup that crusts over. These comparisons evoke a sense of decay, stagnation, and bitterness. The language used in these comparisons emphasizes the negative consequences of not pursuing one's dreams.
The final lines of the poem suggest that a deferred dream may eventually lead to an explosive or violent outcome. This image of a dream exploding conveys a sense of pent-up frustration and anger resulting from unfulfilled aspirations. Overall, the speaker's use of language in this poem effectively conveys the emotional weight and consequences of abandoning or delaying one's dreams.