A Rhetorical Explosion!

In Langston Hughes' Dream Deferred, Hughe's uses rhetorical questions all throughout the work. Initially, he asks the reader, "What happens to a dream deferred?" (Hughes).  Hughes offers his own response to this question in the form of other rhetorical questions. All of these rhetorical questions offer imagery to the poem as well. Together, the rhetorical questions and imagery help develop both mentally and visually the answer to the initial question posed. However, no answer he offers is positive. Thus, this the reader to believe that a "dream deferred" can bring no good. Ultimately, he suggests that a "dream deferred" will "explode" (Hughes). Although he does not identify what this explosion is, the reader can assume that it is representing an ultimate negative outcome. As I read the poem, I envisioned the explosion as a fire and a final destruction of my dreams, left with only useless ashes.