critical appreciation of the poim harlem

Hello aspirant,

The entire poem Harlem is built in a rhetorical structure, where the speaker is a black poet. Dreams of quality and equity were given to the black people. In spite of political, social and legal consensus to remove permanently the apartheid, black people could never experience the indiscriminate society, therefore the dreams can never came true. They're promised dreams of freedom, equality, justice, indiscrimination, but never fulfilled. They're deferred, postponed and delayed. It has never been brought into reality, but only promises has been given.

Langston Hughes, through this poem cross-checks the possible effects caused by the dream, when they're constantly deferred.  Naturally hope and hopelessness cut, when the dreams are constantly postponed or deferred and delayed. The dreams that remain remain the mind is like a heavy load and when these loads are extended, it's obvious explosions are bound to happen. Rhetorically, the speaker suggests that the dreams will explode and destroy all the limitations that're imposed upon them and after that, their dream society will be born.

The poem is in the form of a series of questions a certain inhabitant of Harlem  asks (probably to someone listening to him or to himself): "What happens to a dream deferred?" He tries to answer tentatively, though his questions are more telling than the attempt at an answer. The poem creates a series of images of waste and decay, showing the dream (or the dreamer's) predicament. While many of the possible results affect only the individual dreamer, the poem ends with a suggestion that, when despair is largely prevalent, it may explode and can cause larger societal damages.

Hope, this answer helps you.