18 pages 36 minutes read

Langston Hughes

Harlem

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1951

A 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

Food

Food figures prominently in “Harlem.” Each time this motif appears, it takes dual forms—positive and negative.

The first image is “a raisin in the sun” (Line 3). Grapes are a longtime cultural symbol signifying, among other things—joy, abundance, fertility and promise. In “Harlem” the grapes wither on the vine, burned first into raisins and then into inedible dust. Deferment counteracts what could have been a bountiful harvest, denying people the immediate fruits of their labor and the promise of future enjoyment.

The next food image is the “stink" of "rotten meat” (Line 6). Fresh meat is a staple source of protein—a building block of life. Rotten meat reeks and can poison. Once again, time has worked against something healthy, spoiling it—no one has bothered to preserve or refrigerate the meat to ensure it retains its nutritive properties. The stink of rotten meat symbolizes a warning about the dangers of decaying dreams.

The final image is the "crust and sugar" that has emerged from a “syrupy sweet” (Lines 7-8), rendering it unpleasant and unpalatable. A dream can sweeten lives and offers something more than mere survival. Candy can go bad, too, losing integrity.

Related Titles

By Langston Hughes

Study Guide

logo

Children’s Rhymes

Langston Hughes

Children’s Rhymes

Langston Hughes

Study Guide

logo

Cora Unashamed

Langston Hughes

Cora Unashamed

Langston Hughes

Study Guide

logo

I look at the world

Langston Hughes

I look at the world

Langston Hughes

Study Guide

logo

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes

Study Guide

logo

Me and the Mule

Langston Hughes

Me and the Mule

Langston Hughes

Plot Summary

logo

Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston

Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston

Study Guide

logo

Not Without Laughter

Langston Hughes

Not Without Laughter

Langston Hughes

Study Guide

logo

Slave on the Block

Langston Hughes

Slave on the Block

Langston Hughes

Plot Summary

logo

The Big Sea

Langston Hughes

The Big Sea

Langston Hughes

Study Guide

logo

Theme for English B

Langston Hughes

Theme for English B

Langston Hughes

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain

Langston Hughes

The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain

Langston Hughes

Study Guide

logo

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

Langston Hughes

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

Langston Hughes

Study Guide

logo

The Ways of White Folks

Langston Hughes

The Ways of White Folks

Langston Hughes

Study Guide

logo

The Weary Blues

Langston Hughes

The Weary Blues

Langston Hughes