Langston Hughes' poem “Harlem” is about what could happen when an entire African-American population is oppressed and must ignore or postpone their dreams. The more the dreams are postponed, the more the dreams will not come true and in the poem it is clear that Hughes has a very strong opinion on the subject. In the poem, Langston Hughes uses a series of illusions, rhetorical questions, figurative language, and stanzas to explain that a dream deferred can end with the entire population at war. In the poem it seems like Langston is speaking from the perspective of someone living in Harlem and explains how equality and freedom are unfortunately not what African Americans experience in Harlem. For them, life is different and only humans who experience the same problem can truly understand what life is like for them. Hughes saw the lives and dreams of many African Americans destroyed and the line of the poem "Does it dry like a raisin in the sun?" It is an illusion that explains how a dream and the dreamer's life have been sucked out and crumpled up until simply the old bits remain, much like the process of a grape becoming a raisin. Hughes knew the pain and sorrow internally and externally that African-Americans were going through and that's what the phrase says "or does it get worse like a plague and then run away?" means. Their dream festered inside them but never came true. Langston Hughes saw these points in Harlem life and knew that equality and freedom were definitely not present. The poem portrays consequences that start badly and end worse. Langston's use of rhetorical questions keeps the poem interesting and alive. He implies his own answer while maintaining his point. One of the many rhetorical questions used in the poem... half of the paper... of thinking while others take a dream as a guide. The type of dream that Hughes is describing is simply a dream about what you want to achieve in life. And in the poem the dreams of African Americans are unable to move forward because their realization is prevented. The last line of the poem “O explodes” is a warning that the population was so frustrated that there was nothing left that they exploded and when an entire population explodes the war began. In conclusion the poem Harlem uses figurative language to explain the feelings and thoughts of African Americans living in the Harlem area as they explain what happens when their life goals and dreams are oppressed and nothing can be done. Racism is still happening and it is a problem that needs to be stopped before people actually explode in anger and frustration and a war breaks out..