ShmoopTube

00:08

Dream Deferred, a la Shmoop. Everyone has dreams.

00:13

Okay, some have a better chance of coming true. . .

00:16

. . .than others. . .

00:17

. . .but it doesn’t stop us from dreaming. However… what happens when you have to put

00:23

those dreams on hold? Langston Hughes . . .

00:27

. . .obviously thought it was an important question.

00:30

. So, let’s think about it. . .

00:33

. . .what does happen to a postponed dream?

00:36

Does it get stashed away in the “things I meant to do but never got around to” box.

00:43

. .

00:43

. . .forgotten like… yesterday’s homework? When you grow up and have to concentrate on

00:48

other stuff. . .

00:49

. . .there’s a distinct possibility. . .

00:50

. . .that a dream or two will bite the dust. But maybe dreams are never forgotten. . .

00:57

. . . instead, maybe they “dry up like a raisin in the sun” . . .

01:00

. . .leaving us frustrated thinking about what might have been.

01:04

Langston Hughes used that analogy in his poem. . .

01:06

. . .and Lorraine Hansberry liked it enough to “borrow” it for the title of her play.

01:11

. .

01:11

. . .about the broken dreams of a black family in the ‘50s.

01:18

So is that dried up piece of fruit supposed to be a stand-in for unrealized dreams. . .

01:23

. . . that leave you empty and hopeless?

01:25

Or maybe the poem’s last line. . .

01:26

. . .holds a clue about what really happens to unfulfilled dreams.

01:31

Maybe Hughes is suggesting that they could actually be dangerous . . .

01:33

. . .leading to social unrest and revolution. So, what’s your verdict?

01:39

Are deferred dreams forgotten when the real world gets a hold of us. . .

01:42

. . .do they shrivel up and make us bitter. . .

01:44

. . .or will they eventually blow up in our faces?

01:50

Shmoop amongst yourselves.

Full Transcript