Washington was not afraid to appeal to intelligence. He was also a great believer in hope. Washington lived to see his world change in incredible ways and while he did not know if he would see reconciliation, he believed it would happen anyway. He wrote, "The great human law that in the end recognizes and rewards merit is everlasting and universal" (318). Here we the true definition of hope as it extends from one individual to all of mankind. The writers of the Harlem Renaissance are especially important because they capture the essence of what most African-Americans were feeling at a time of turmoil. Art has a way of accomplishing many things. It can express ideas and it can open eyes. Through art, people can learn about others and begin to understand more of their fellow men. Fiction has a way of opening up the lives of others. When people were frustrated and often felt incapable of doing anything about their circumstances, these writers gave them a voice and, as a result, hope on which to cling. Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, Zora Neale Hurston, and Booker T. Washington give the...

By giving the African-Americans a voice, they were not only validated but they were given hope. There was no better commodity during the Harlem Renaissance than hope for it fueled the passion that kept the fight going.
Works Cited

DuBois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. Bartleby Online. Information Retrieved August 4,

2009. Print.

Davis, Arthur P. "Langston Hughes: Cool Poet." Chelsea House Library of Literary Criticism.

Vol. 4. New York: Chelsea House Publisher. 1986. Print.

Hughes, Langston. "Harlem." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, X.J.

Kennedy and Dana Gioia, eds. New York: Longman. 1999. Print.

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper and Row Publishers.

1990. Print.

Phillips, Harry. "Overview of Harlem." Poetry for Students. 1997. Gale Resource Database. Site Accessed November, 05, 2010.

Schmidt, Michael. The Lives of the…