Let America Be America Again: An Analysis (2/6/2012)

The two perspectives of America shown in Langston Hughes’ poem are of the downtrodden man and the man with a rather sumptuous home. The former decries the American Dream (which in essence requires natural selection—one man achieves his dreams leaving the rest in the gutter), while the latter; rather unstated perspective is that of the man with silver buttons and a gold cane. The bleak picture of the decline of the American Dream is explored in the poem, with Langston drawing parallels between the vision of the plebeians (the majority) and his own identical perspective. His poem is in affect a response to the opinion purported by the rich: the American Dream is offered to everyone, and the American Dream is the epitome of perfection. Hughes’ world is much different than the one painted by the rich—everything, even the Roaring Twenties, are gilded.  The rich romp about, while the poor congregate, wondering how their bills for the month shall be paid. The American Dream is not, as the rich pretend, able to be achieved by most in a person’s lifetime. Like the caste system in India, the American Dream is a hereditary characteristic few can attain in their life. Like moths changing color, the acquirement of the American Dream requires mettle and a bit of luck. This is in essence what is described by Hughes. His picture of a perfect American Dream (or indeed America) is a land of equal opportunity, where the American Dream can be achieved by even the lowliest immigrant. The American Dream’s reality and vision blend directly into America’s reality and vision. Thus, Hughes criticizes the gilded aspect of the American Dream, attempted by the many and achieved by the few. The tone in the poem is a kind of musing anger. His words are strong, but he also muses about the future. Fitzgerald is similar in how he criticizes the American Dream, though he takes the perspective of the rich rather than Hughes taking the perspective of the poor. He shows the rich’s weaknesses, namely them being shallow and out of touch with the poor. In the modern world, this philosophy is more applicable than ever: we are in a long recession, income inequality has increased to unprecedented levels, prices of food and forms of energy are skyrocketing, and people are becoming more depressed. The American Dream can be achieved, but the cost (many damaged lives) would make many consider not getting it. The few win, the majority are just a carpet for the rich and successful to wipe their feet on.