Poetry Ch. 5 Figurative Language (2)

"Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" (805)

The poem "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes uses many similies. The similes propose different options about what could happen to a dream that is deferred. The deferred dream is compared to a raisin in the sun, rotten meat, a syrupy sweet crusting over, a sore, and a heavy load. These are all things that have the connotation of being lost and forgotten. This similes are effective because it shows that the speaker thinks that his/her dreams will be forgotten like meat and rot away somewhere. The speaker thinks that the dreams that are not realized will be forgotten by all involved and become some rotten thing just sitting somewhere without a purpose or hope. The similes are followed by one metaphor that concludes the poem. This metaphor is strategically placed at the end because it introduces another idea entirely. All of the similes dealt with something being forgotten and becoming old and gross. The metaphor "or does it explode" at the end compares the deferred dream to something that blows up and leaves nothing behind. I think that this ending metaphor may be what the speaker is hoping happens to the dreams that are deferred because he/she doesn't want his/her old dreams hanging over his/her head for the rest of his/her life. The speaker wants to be able to move on and forget about it.