"Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes

The poem Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes is packed full of imagery and similes in order to convey the author's meaning of the poem. At the end of the poem, the second question asks if knowing the author was a black American added to my understanding of the poem. This important concept helped me give me complete meaning of the entire poem. The author of the poem is explaining that he has dreams of being more than, "A raisin in the sun... a sore... rotten meat... Or crust... a heavy load" (Hughes, lines 3-10). Knowing the author is black, helps understand that these examples of imagery are actually how he feels he is treated. He has created beautiful dreams in his head, but they are hindered by the fact that his skin color sets him apart from society. After looking up the word "defer" in the giant dictionary located in Mr. Costello's room, I learned that defer essentially means "to postpone." Knowing that the author is black, and that defer means to postpone, the author is trying to say that because of these hindrances in society he is has to put his dreams aside temporarily. This also adds more meaning to the poem when the author states, "And then run?" (Hughes, line 5). Obviously this line shows that this author is running from something, but what is he running from? His dreams or the labels placed on him by society? As a black American, the author is able to express his feelings of oppression through out the whole poem.