The Realization of the American Dream in the Writings of Langston Hughes - Literature review Example

THE REALIZATION OF THE AMERICAN DREAM AND HOW THEY ARE PICTURED IN THE WRITINGS OF LANGSTON HUGHES A Literature Review of Institution THE REALIZATION OF THE AMERICAN DREAM AND HOW THEY ARE PICTURED IN THE WRITINGS OF LANGSTON HUGHES A Literature Review Introduction Langston Hughes is a well-known writer who was born as a black-American and soon has been noted as a homosexual. One could just imagine the kind of discrimination that he has experienced in his life as a developed writer as a writer in the American society. (Biography book, 1969, 21) Likely though, he did not allow that particular matter of individuality that he has to hinder his notable aspiration of becoming one of the most read authors in the American society. Instead of using his character and his being as a source of hindrance toward his dreams, he used his individuality as a stepping stone towards awakening the American society to the diverse community that it is primarily existing with. (Biography book, 1969, 43) It could be noted that through this, Langston Hughes was bale to become one of the most remarkable writers to note the possibility of reaching the American dream of being untied as one particular community that is able to live together peacefully amidst the daunting challenges brought about by living in a diverse community today. Langston Hughes' Written Works Most of the written works of Hughes deal with social inequality. From the birth of slavery to the development of social stratification procedures and the existence of social and racial discrimination in the human society today, Hughes was able to describe how it actually feels to be different. As someone who was able to experience the effects of such differences and social stratification systems, it could be observed that Hughes is one of the most reliable sources of explanation as to how discrimination and racial differences could actually affect a person's growth. Hence, through his writings, Hughes aims to create a considerable call to each individual being affected by the said situation as well as to each authority who could be expected to give a least some considerable solutions to the matter, to give attention to these primary situations in the human society today. A change on the treatment that the oppressed communities or individuals are receiving should be well considered for making a better human society. Understanding the Thoughts of Hughes Equality amidst differences. This is the primary thought that Hughes himself aims to portray in his written works like that of the poem entitled "Let America Be America Again". In this reading, he further notes that amidst diversity, America could still be recognized as one particular community of united people again as per taken into consideration based from the possible adjustments that the people of the said society could do to at least answer the need of living together as one within a community of their own. To the said author, differences need not hinder a certain community from becoming united in terms of dreams and aspirations towards the future. Hence, in this case, his poem further identifies the elemental factors that divide America and later on proposes a possible plausible change that could assist in refining the American society towards a more progressive community living in a united state. The Realities of Present Human Life and Hughes' Ideas (A) Langston Hughes and the Issues of Slavery According to the study of Baldwin and Toplin (2006), the written works of Hughes actually notes the existence of the author's desire for the idealism of survival. To the said author, life is a gift of hope wrapped around several ribbons of challenges that if one is able to unwrap it, then he realizes his own worth as a person. (Baldwin, et al, 2006, 17). The very idealistic and positive nature of a society that is desired and dreamed by many is that it is to be founded in accordance to the values of equality and liberty. (Baldwin, et al, 2006, 22) This is the utopian model of the society in terms of humanitarian aspect, wherein each individual living in this kind of state has the same social, legal and constitutional rights and privileges with the other. Unequal concepts such as that of the sovereignty or lordship of anyone other a certain social group or structure is not applicable in nations founded in the ideas of liberty. Each and everyone have the same rights to claim and access their basic needs for survival in to the extent that it does not violate the rights of others. However, the establishment of this kind of nation manifested certain complications as significantly perceived in the development of the society. Though certain nations implemented the concepts of equality in liberty in the formulation of their social and legal structure, they continued their use of the slavery system. According to Baldwin and Toplin, this particular thought about a society that is able to become the best source for an individuals "may have not been immediately true for Langston, out it certainly was his inspiration towards continuing his dream of getting out of social slavery brought about to him by his skin color". (2006, 24) Yes, Langston knew that because of his color he was subjected to being seen by others as a mere slave for the white men. Slavery has been created in the as the foundation of the economic aspect of the society in every stage of their production process. In the writings of Langston, although slavery was not directly mentioned per se, it could be observed that he vaguely described the situation that connects to it so as to attract the attention of those involved in the issue. To Hughes' views, slaves are widely used in the plantations and farms as workers and laborers. In the domestic level, slaves are tasked the basic jobs and responsibilities of maintaining the household. In addition, many industries employ the labor of the slaves to do the most basic tasks in each field. (Baldwin, et al, 2006, 25) Because of this, the slavery system becomes a vital part of the society manifesting as the foundation of the American nation's structure in many significant aspect. This, according to Folson, has been the inspiration of Hughes in authoring written works along with other authors regarding the major issues that add up to understanding the basic thoughts about slavery and the undoubted longing of the oppressed ones for freedom from the said social status that they have been born into (34). Abolishment of the said system will diminish the society as a whole since the nation cannot replace the part of the slaves in the system. This is the reason why a society significantly requires the slavery structure in establishing their society as this social class manifest as the main foundation of their nation. (B) History and Partial Freedom for Slaves: The Civil War Kim Won-gu believes that in the summary of Langston Hughes' life and works, one of the most prominent times was that when Hughes was able to focus on how he was able to successfully describe the human struggle for freedom during his time (2007, 23). Through the writings of Hughes, Won-gu believes that there is a great part of the civil war that comes into life when the said written works are read. One of which is that of the description on how the first republic fared to give the most wanted freedom of the slaves who ought to be freed from their miseries upon the creation of new rule (Won-gu, 2007, 32). During the early establishment of the Republic, it has been widely perceived by the Southern Slave States that the main priority of the United State's Government does not include promoting the humanitarian rights of the slaves. (Won-gu, 2007, 31) They have seen that their concern is generally focused on the economic, legal and sovereignty aspect as they continued to expand territory and conquer more slave state. Thus, the civil rights and privileges of the slaves such as their lands and voting rights are still neglected and continued to diminish with the development of the republic. This in turn caused further secession of more slave states to the republican nation. This action is perceived by the republican government as an act of treason, seizure of national territory and an act of revolt to the government thus only made the civil war to be more likely. (Won-gu, 2007, 34) Slowly the complication started from actual acts of hostility as the defense of the republican government from the attacks of the slaves and then continued to be further aggravated to war. Thus, this makes the slavery system the main roots and cause of the civil war during the early stages of the republican nation. (Won-gu, 2007, 35) The civil war is generally perceived to be most likely to occur mainly because of the contradiction in the interest of the two involved parties. The republic dominantly aimed to develop their nation first in the economic, legal and social aspect and they cannot yet still afford to abolish the slavery system as they still serve as the critical foundation of the system. On the other hand, the slave states aimed to acquire their equal freedom and rights from the republic and to establish this, slavery system must first be abolish. This contradiction resulted to the secession, which later resulted to the war. In Hughes' written pieces, he successfully notes the different issues that arose during the time when the said rule was being abolished. Yes, as Hughes' himself believes, "freedom is not freedom unless it is complete" (Won-gu, 2007, 36). Summary and Other Learning Langston Hughes was indeed one of the most successful writers to have ever brought in the possibility of seeing light through darkness among human individuals. Undeniably, numerous literary critiques believe that his understanding of this particular truth is something that has brought him the realization of real freedom, and basing from the writings of the said author, freedom is never realized without the existence of considerable equality among all. (Patterson, 2008, 35) The separation of the rich from the poor or the differentiation of the educated from those who are not had been the usual basis of which one is considered as a successful individual or not. Likely, the situation is governed by the fact that the human society today is so much diverse that people had already utilized the differences that they have from each other as a basis of the status that each person is expected to belong to. (Patterson, 2008, 21) As for example, such stratification in the society indicates who are supposed to take the chances of getting a fine education and be successful in their work life and who should just stay home and later on land in a rank and file level of work. This is also the reason why getting an educational degree becomes such a challenge for less financially fortunate individuals in the society. (Patterson, 2008, 41) There are different issues that arise because of this stratification practice that is considered within the American society today. Likely, such practice raises the problems of racial and economic discrimination among different groups of people in the society today. Even young individuals are pre-identified through the racial or the economic group that they belong to. Undoubtedly, the separation of the rich from the poor could usually be identified through the difference of public learning institutions from that of the private learning establishments and systems. Inequality is already viewed as a normal matter that is existent within the human society today. Several groups of people are separating themselves from the others because of some qualifications that they may have that could be different from that of the others. This separation of people though has made it possible for young individuals to be pre-known by the people through the groups that they belong to and are then labeled if they are susceptible of the challenges that would make them successful in life or not, without giving them the real chance of proving themselves worthy of success. Yes, like that of the society that Hughes has lived in the past, the human society today is also subjected into different elements causing inequality within the society. Social division is a worldwide dilemma that affects the entire human community. Global understanding of this particular fact has actually brought about the liberalization for some areas of discrimination in the society at present which ay include the liberalization of the recognition that homosexuals receive from the people today. The entire human population's recognition of this truth actually makes it easier for the entire human society to attain better progress for the sake of a better future. Conclusion Certainly, from that of the time of Langston as he himself has described in his written works, towards the present days of fighting for survival and social development, equality has never been completely realized does yet. (Sundquist, 1996, 39) Racial separation as well as economic identification among groups of people in the society today is indeed a serious matter that is making life much tensed for some individuals to live with. Likely, such issues set a strong implication as to how a person is expected to face life labeling him or her the identification that has already been set before an individual. This particular truth actually makes it harder for people to make strong amends as to how they are supposed to live with their lives, whether they should follow their dreams or simply stick to what they are known for as a person belonging to a certain group. Having this particular truth covering the systems of the society today though does not mean that a person should care less about the way that he is able to face the challenges that meet him in life. One should not let such stratification keep him away from reaching his dreams and aspirations in life. Instead, such separation should be considered as a challenge that needs to be faced by anyone aiming to succeed in life regardless of the group of society that he belongs to. Yes, through basing from the works and the personal characteristics of Langston Hughes himself, one could be able to come to realize that his capabilities are worth more than the fact that he is different from others. Understandably, with everyone able to recognize this fact, it could be possible that the entire disregard of human individuality as hindrance for social as well as personal growth could be eliminated so as to bring in the possibility of a fulfilled American dream of social unity amidst diversity. Langston Hughes became a beaming epitome of hope for the America dream of unity a reality, through his written works, he was able to awaken the senses of the people with regards the freedom that they deserve as humans, making them realize that all,, amidst color, gender and economic status are all equal in so many ways and should be treated equally hence. It could then be understood then that Langston's writings are much aimed to focus on how much easier it is to realize the dream of unity with the effective use of humanitarian facts that must be recognized by everyone else living within the human society. References: "Langston Hughes: A Biography (Book)." American Literature 41.1 (Mar. 1969): 142. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. GHC Library, Cartersville, GA. 25 Oct. 2008. Patterson, Anita. "Translation and Modernist Transculturation: T. S. Eliot and Langston Hughes." Harvard Advocate 143.2 (Winter2008 2008): 13-17. Humanities International Complete. EBSCO. GHC library. Cartersille, GA. 25 Oct. 2008 . Sundquist, Eric J. "Who was Langston Hughes." Commentary 102.6 (Dec. 1996): 55. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO.GHC library,Cartersville,GA. 25 Oct. 2008 . Vogel, Shane. "Closing Time: Langston Hughes and the Queer Poetics of Harlem Nightlife." Criticism 2006: 397+. Humanities International Complete. EBSCO. GHC Library, Cartersville, GA. 25 Oct. 2008 . Won-gu Kim, Daniel. "We, Too, Rise with You": Recovering Langston Hughes's African (Re)Turn 1954-1960 in "An African Treasury," the "Chicago Defender," and "Black Orpheus.". African American Review 41.3 (Fall2007 2007): 419-441. World History Collection. EBSCO. GHC Library, Cartersville, GA. 25 Oct. 2008 . Baldwin, Kate A., and Robert Brent Toplin.. "Langston Hughes: Working toward Salvation." Journal of American History 93.3 (Dec. 2006): 981-982. Sociological Collection. EBSCO. GHC Library, Cartersville, GA. 25 Oct. 2008 . Folsom, Ed. "So Long, So Long! Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, and the Art of Longing." Walt Whitman, Where the Future becomes Present. 127-143. Iowa City, IA: U of Iowa P, 2008. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. GHC Library, Cartersville, GA. 25 Oct. 2008 . Read More