18 pages • 36 minutes read
Langston HughesDreams
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1923A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Hopes and Dreams
The poem’s title indicates its primary symbol, with dreams representing hopes. The term stands in for aspirations or goals—not thoughts or feelings that a person has while sleeping, and not fantasies or surreal environments. Like hopes, dreams are realistic and a part of daily life. People need dreams to live—they require a goal to work toward. A person who loses their dreams also loses their hopes. Without hope, life is bleak and static. It’s not active and welcoming but wounded and stuck, like the “broken-winged bird” (Line 3) and “barren field / Frozen with snow” (Lines 7-8). Through symbolism, the speaker creates a chain of representation: Dreams symbolize hope, and hope represents life’s central force: Minus dreams and hopes, life withers. Thus, dreams don’t only symbolize hope—they symbolize the key to a free, fulfilling life.
As dreams symbolize hope, the reader might wonder why Hughes didn’t use the word “hope” and call his poem “Hopes.” By using “dreams” instead of “hopes,” Hughes keeps the reader alert. The somewhat elusive diction compels the reader to think about how dreams are like hopes and can possess the same sort of enchanting quality. Arguably, “dreams” sounds more ornate than “hopes,” making it more enticing for the reader to learn why they must “[h]old tight” (Lines 1, 5) to their hopes and dreams.
Hopelessness, Immobility, and Lifelessness
The two metaphors in “Dreams” turn hopelessness into symbols of immobility and lifelessness. The speaker states, “[I]f dreams die / Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly” (Lines 2-4). The death of hope produces the death of movement. The bird isn’t dead, but its hurt wing prevents it from flying anywhere. They can’t go places and do things: They remain stuck on the ground. Likewise, hopelessness traps a person. Minus dreams, they lack aspirations. They have nothing to work toward and no goals to accomplish, so they’re stagnant.
The speaker also states, “[W]hen dreams go / Life is a barren field / Frozen with snow” (Lines 6-8). The departure of dreams represents the departure of life. A barren field is empty: It can’t grow anything or produce further life. Dramatizing the lifeless field, the speaker freezes it with snow. It’s as if people without hopes are cold, empty corpses. Put another way, they're alive, but their spirit is dead. Arguably, the stark symbolism scares the reader, and the threat of immobility and lifelessness compels them to “[h]old fast to dreams” (Lines 1, 5).
Vulnerability
The motif of vulnerability unpins the key three themes. If hopes weren’t vulnerable, people wouldn’t worry about maintaining them. In a world where hopes are safe, people can hold them loosely or carelessly—no one will try and take them. Thus, the theme of maintaining hope implies fragility. Hope is under attack, and people must display vigilance and take extra care of their aspirations.
Like the bird and the field, immobility threatens hope. People risk losing hope; if their hopes depart, they become vulnerable to arrest. They’re not in a prison proper, but the hopelessness imprisons them nonetheless. They can’t go anywhere or welcome new life. Symbolically, they’re chained.
Though prejudice can make specific groups of people more vulnerable than others, no human is immortal, so all people are subject to some iteration of adversity. The way to respond to conflict is through determination. By doggedly holding onto hopes, a person can defend their universal vulnerability and the universal fragility of hope. People and hopes are vulnerable, but they’re not powerless: They have willpower or determination. Vulnerability doesn’t make a person weak.
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