Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes is considered by many to be the most influential writer to come out of the Harlem Renaissance. He became famous for the themes he chose to write about. In the poems Negro, Lament over Love, Me and the Mule, and Let America be America Again, Langston Hughes used the themes of freedom versus authority, society, and the life of African Americans as a reflection of popular culture during the Harlem Renaissance.

One of Langston Hughes's most famous poems is Let America be America again. It is quite long, and full of metaphors about freedom. He sees that it is not only African Americans who are struggling for freedom, but also many other Americans. "I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-And finding only the same stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak." It is because many are struggling under the mighty that Langston Hughes has much more socialist views toward how a government should be run. He uses repetition of the phrase "I am" all throughout the poem to emphasize that it is not only African Americans who are in a great effort, but much of America is also involved. In the next stanza, he discusses being a young man full of hope who is in battle with the chain of employment and those in power. It ends with the line "Of owning everything for one's own greed." This is a very powerful line where Hughes does not believe in American capitalism where people have the right to own anything and everything. This poem really shows Langston Hughes feelings towards American freedom and how life would be much better in a socialist society.