An interesting take on dreams packed with similies

 Or does it explode?

"A Dream Deferred" was probably my favorite poem from this unit because of its unique view of dreams. Normally the idea of dreams has a happy connotation because it expresses a sense that anything is possible. However, Hughes takes a different route and focuses on the dreams that have yet to come true. He questions what happens to these dreams in limbo. He first asks if they just wither up and almost die like a raisin in the sun. Then he asks if they become like a soar acting as a painful reminder of what hasn't come true. He goes on to compare it to stink like rotten meat and become bitter in a way, the crusting over like syrup to remember it as nothing but a happy dream, and the sagging and dragging the person down with the thought of the dream's failure. My favorite possibility he offers is his last one which he singles out as its own stanza: "or does it explode?". This is the most intriguing and most confusing because it could either mean it explodes in a bad way and causes destruction or it explodes and the dream actually becomes reality. The uncertainty of the dream's fate is best described in this one last question because it could go either way. I like the idea that no matter how improbable the dream may seem or however long it is deferred, it always has the possibility to explode and become real.