The overall tone in “Let America Be America Again” is angry and indignant. However, several poetic shifts in the poem lead to the concluding anger expressed and show the evolution of the rage in response to the social conditions in America.
The speaker begins by expressing a nostalgic and longing tone for an image of America that was a “great strong land of love” (line 7). This basic belief that America is built upon is further expressed using references to the “pioneer on the plain” (line 3) where “opportunity is real” (line 13).
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Hughes then uses parentheses to show the tone shift to a sense of disappointment. The speaker has been excluded from the foundational idea that anyone can achieve success with hard work. By directly stating America “never was America to me” as parenthetical information, the speaker shows a literal separation of words and ideas within the poem. The separate ideas mirror the segregation and racial discrimination much of America experienced in 1935 when Hughes wrote the poem.
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After posing two rhetorical questions in italics, the tone again shifts.
The italicized questions emphasize the importance of the catalog of individuals that follows. The now angry tone is expressed through the detailed descriptions of each society member listed and in the diction Hughes implements. The speaker states how the different members, representative of entire groups, have been wronged in America.
These individuals are the “white poor” that have been “pushed apart” (line 19), the “red man” who was “driven from the land” (line 21), the “Negro” who bears “slavery’s scars” (line 20), and the “immigrant” who is left “clutching the hope” (line 22) have fallen victim to the American Dream. Rather, these poor and minorities within society struggle through the “same old stupid plan” (line 23) in America. Highly critical of America’s societal structure and the lack of opportunity for many individuals, Hughes uses diction like “stupid” (line 23), “crush” (line 24), “tangled” (line 26), and “greed” (line 30) to express a sense of disillusion and defeat.
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The speaker expresses the irony of the situation. The same people who work tirelessly in pursuit of success and the acquisition of the dream are the ones who least benefit from it. Hughes expresses the final tone of indignation through a series of sarcastic rhetorical questions.
The questions read as an interrogation, challenging the reader to consider the obvious truth and injustice. The social groups mentioned in the poem have paid for their dreams with labor, sweat, tears, and blood, only to find a “dream that’s almost dead” (line 76).
Concluding with a sense of hope, the poetic voice swears an “oath” (line 72) to help America and “redeem” the notion of the American Dream, making America “America again” (line 81).
“Let America be America Again” Literary Devices
Besides the structure and key diction choices, Hughes utilizes central literary devices to convey themes of inequality and the breakdown of the American Dream.
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