The Dream Deferred

Teaching an English class has certain benefits. One of those is re-reading classic literature over and over again. The great literature is meant to be experienced multiple times throughout a person’s life. It isn’t just enough to read something once, interpret it, and then believe you “know” what the author was trying to say. Many times, I think we tend to put too much stock into the author’s message. Sometimes I think that maybe, just maybe, the author was just trying to tell a good story or write a poem without trying to teach us anything. I sometimes cringe when my colleagues will go on and on about a writer’s intentional use of symbolism within poetry.

I mean, maybe the poet just liked the idea of using dark images just because it was what came to mind as he was writing. Unless the author adds an explanation of his/her work either after the piece or in an interview, teaching readers what a piece of literature means is foolish. Writing isn’t intended to be consumed like that. It’s why I can’t teach a play like a Raisin in the Sun–my favorite play–from my perspective to a group of 11th grade students. Those students are still full of hopes and the belief that life will work itself out. They can related to Walter Younger just for the fact that he still has to listen to his mother. But, they can’t related to his frustration as a 35 year old who is struggling with supporting his family, finding his dream, and trying to stave off the fact that he feels like he is “choking to death.”

As a teacher, you can mention those things, but the play won’t have that meaning to a 16 year old; they just aren’t ready for that. There is nothing wrong with that, but it only reinforces the idea that literature is meant to be read multiple times. It’s why music resonates so much with us. We hear songs over and over. Each time, the meaning is internalized based on where we are at in life.

One of my favorite poets is Langston Hughes. His body of work is amazing; his willingness to share his pain, outrage, pride, and any other emotion he is feeling is just amazing to read. He wrote strong poetry at a time when it was needed most. He spoke up for equal rights; he was proud of his culture; he wrote about family. His work is important to society and we are better off with it. He also gets bonus points from me because he is a poet. I can’t write poetry. I tried a couple of times and it turns out to be really awful. It’s a special writing gift that so few have. I am part of the majority who just doesn’t have it.

I have many favorite Hughes’ poems — Mother To Son, Democracy, I, Too, Merry Go Round, and just so many others to list. Last week, I re-read Dream Deferred. It’s a poem that Lorraine Hansberry chose to put as a prologue to A Raisin in the Sun. And, after reading it for perhaps that 5,000th time, it brought up so many different thoughts.

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?

For years, this poem seemed straight forward. Every scenario Hughes gives is a negative. If you put off your dreams or don’t go after your dreams, it will only result in some sort of negative scenario. Other than the first line about drying up, there is some sort of either disgusting or damaging consequence. Hughes builds the negativity from festering, to stink, to crusting over. In each of those scenarios, there is a an idea of the bad feeling leaving, as if the unrealized dream will just go away. Hughes then takes a turn and gets a bit more wary, giving the image of the dream just weighing on the person and finally leading up to the explosion.

For most of my life I’ve taken the poem to mean that if you don’t pursue your dreams and leave it just hanging out there, life will be terrible and one that is filled with regret. And, it’s easy to just leave it there.

At 39 years old, the poem actually gets me angry. How can someone give the idea that unrealized dreams can lead to an unfulfilled life? Perhaps what is perceived as the dream is really just isn’t meant to be. Maybe, a new dream — one that you didn’t count on–becomes the dream. Or, it could be that like so many people in the world, the dream just isn’t possible. Does that mean that a person’s life will be completely destroyed because of the unfulfilled dream?

Yes, a person should do everything possible to achieve the life long dream. Yes, there shouldn’t an automatic surrender when there is a roadblock for the dream. Everyone should pursue their dreams. If that’s Hughes’ point, then fine. But, there is the negative tone to the piece that leads the reader to feel otherwise. Sometimes, life can actually dictate whether or not a dream can come true. Sometimes, the dream has to give way to the dreams of your children, your family, or your responsibilities.

Hansberry’s play does show that side of it. Walter’s Mother is a strong woman who just wants her family happy. With the life insurance money from her late husband, she decides she is going to give some to her daughter for medical school and the rest to her son so he can be the head of the family. Mama wanted simple things — a garden being the biggest personal goal–but she worked for the happiness of her children. Her happiest moment of the play was when she watched her son stand up to racism. The play ends with the family moving to a potentially rough situation, yet she is happy that her family is close again.

Even Walter is happy despite not achieving his dream of owning his own business. He realizes that he must provide an opportunity for his son and that is the only thing that matters to him.

So, perhaps Hughes is writing these scenarios as a way to challenge us. Life can be full of unfulfilled dreams or goals. Ultimately, it is up to the individual as to how he will handle it. Some people can be consumed with regret and anger. Some people, like their dreams, will shrivel up and a piece of them will die. I think Hughes is giving the two opposite ends of this scenario and allowing everyone to see the ridiculousness of both extremes. An unfulfilled goal doesn’t not mean an unfulfilled life.

It may be a process to get to the point where you realize that life is about much more than a career goal or life goal. It is about people and taking care of those you love. To realize that, however, there is a certain unselfishness that we all must have. Most don’t or are at least a work in progress — I am in the latter group. Perhaps that was what Hughes was trying to show and why Hansberry included it as the prologue to her play. We can become consumed with a goal of making it in some business or get bogged down in every roadblock that gets put in the way of the dream. That can make you miss all of the good, all of the important things, and much of the fun.

What happens to a dream deferred? Well, it can be a motivator. Or, it could be a destroyer. But, the dream doesn’t really do either; we do. Our choice in how to deal with an unrealized dream is the answer to Hughes’ question. Everybody’s answer is different. And, everybody’s answer can also change moment to moment.

At least that’s what I think it means this time around.