The Collected Works of Langston Hughes
The Collected Works of Langston Hughes Essay “Never judge a book by it’s cover.” This popular quote, stated by author George Elliot in 1860, has a connection deep behind every meaning in the The Collected Works of Langston Hughes (1921-1940). Most of the poetic pieces displayed a message that revolved around on how we the people, no matter what ethnicity or socioeconomic status we hold, had dealt with discrimination and disrespect, but never stopped believing in our dreams and freedom in America. Every individual who spoke and was mentioned in the collected works is considered as part of America, dreaming and hoping to “Let America be America again.”, to “Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-”, and to “ Let it be that great strong land of love,” (131) as stated from Let America Be America Again. These individuals, regardless of race, spilled their emotion of determination and strength, displaying the demeanor of never giving up and always believing, in this case, in the land of America. America is a significant location in these poems, which causes some contrast, because America holds the title of the “Land of the Free” or the “ Land of Equal Opportunity”, however, there are occurences where those titles aren’t true, based on the poems written by Langston Hughes. I strongly concieve that the theme communicated in these pieces is that specific ethnicities, mostly African Americans, are looked at differently, but they never stopped believing in their dreams and have always hoped for freedom. To begin with, the poem, Let America Be America Again, clearly divulges the gold hearts and striving mindsets of individuals that the author represented, articulately emitting perseverance in desiring and hoping for freedom, although the characters in the poem were treated with disrespect. Hughes quotes, “Sure, call me any ugly name you choose - From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives, We must take back our land again, America!” (133). This