The “The Dreams Keeper” Langston Hughes
The poem “The Dream Keeper” by Langston Hughes addresses the relevance of dreams and protecting them. Like other children’s poets, Hughes’ poem presents the theme of society’s hypocrisy or the role of social institutions such as a church, schools, law, and public perception towards children, as advocated by Twain (1980) in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Hughes considers children’s dreams and future goals as ‘heart melodies,’ which require to be protected and kept in a safe place to prevent them from being damaged or shattered. According to Hughes, these goals and dreams should be held “away from the too-rough fingers / of the world” (1:7-8). The poem’s them of protection is consistent with Twain’s transcendentalist belief that Huck Finn, who portrays morality as natural to man, is not influenced by the corrupt society to change or damage his principles. In Twain’s work, corrupt society is an example of ‘too-rough fingers of the world’ mentioned by Hughes. Huck is an example of an individual who develops his dreams out of his experience, through a genuine and sincere sense of emotion, free from social influence and corruption of the society. In the poem, Hughes’ primary aim is to call the attention of various destructive forces that may act against people’s dreams, making their lives miserable.
Work Cited
Hughes, Langston, and J B. Pinkney. “The Dream Keeper and Other Poems.” New York: Knopf, 1994. Print.
Twain, Mark. “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980. Print.