Comparing The American Dream In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Walter Lee Younger is the son of Mama, the sister of Beneatha, the spouse of Ruth and the father of Travis. Because of poverty, Walter Lee lived a life of trying to get rich schemes, which led to losing his family’s money. However, in the end Walter realized family was the key to true success.

Mama believes that doing so will leave Walter as a hollow, empty shell. Asagai, one of Beneatha’s lovers, came from Nigeria to propose and asked for her to come back with him. He wants her to pursue her career as a doctor there. This gives Beneatha hope for a better future and allows her to see things somewhat differently.

Walter Lee is stubborn, very ambitious, and filled with pride at the beginning of the story. He strives for success with the money “Mama,” also known as Lena got from the life insurance from her husband who recently passed away. Walter was so selfish all he wanted was to provide a better life for he and his family because he was not satisfied with their current standards of living. He wants more and wishes to become rich because he believes he never had enough growing up, but at the same time he wants to provide money and societal respect for his family. He put his trust with the money into a person who betrayed him and he ended up losing it all including his sisters schooling money. After this scene in the play Walter was at his lowest point,

Walter Lee is a dynamic character who changes several times throughout this story. At the beginning of the play, Walter is very ambitious and wants more out of his life. He says, “I got me a dream” (pg 33). He is motivated own the liquor store and to succeed. His first change in character happens when Mama refuses to help pay for the liquor store and his wife has another bun in the oven. His needs moved and he wound up plainly discouraged, going out, drinking too much alcohol, and missing shifts. His point of view changed again when Mama gave him some cash from the check and let him know, “I’m telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be” (pg 107).  From that moment on Walter became more responsible, loving, and took on a leadership position in his family. This change was apparent when his dreams returned while talking to Travis about driving a, “plain black Chrysler” (pg 108). Walters change in his perspective of life demonstrates that he is a dynamic, round character.

It is a popular adage that there are only two certain things in life-death and taxes. But for the last decade or so in the National Football League, there has been another sure thing-as soon as he was eligible in 1993, Walter Payton was destined to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That is exactly what happened in January, 1993. All that remains was the exclamation point on his spectacular career-enshrinement day on July 31, 1993, when Payton and four other members of the Class of 1993 received pro football's highest honor.

A Raisin in the sun shows the hardship many need to face in order to attain this notion of the American Dream. The book did more than then just show what everyone faced, she shows the struggles that many African American families had to face when trying to achieve the notion of the American Dream. She does this by showing the environment that many African American lived in when there was bombing in the neighborhood or when white people would force African American who finally bought a home, out. Lorraine also shows the struggles of the characters of the book like Walter who struggles with the decision he makes and the contradictions that stop him from achieving his goals of being wealthy or when Beneatha goes against the norms of society

Compare and contrast the ways in which the American Dream is presented through Walter Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘ A Raisin in the Sun’ and Willy Lehman in Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of the Salesman’

The birth of a child is thought of as beautiful- new life, new beginnings, and new experiences. In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one child- Pearl- is anything but beautiful; she becomes a physical link in the town to her mother's sin. This sin conveys the young child as demon-like simply because of her lineage. The townspeople deem her unholy because she is unlike the other children who live "normal" lifestyles. Although Pearl seems to be rude, inappropriate, and defiant, she stands up for herself in ways that make her strong-willed, lively, and observant.

No matter what you perceive The American Dream to be, it is possible to attain it and be successful. The American Dream is whatever your dream of success perceives to be. Hansberry shows how hard it was for colored people to find their

Walter’s mother comes in the room when he receives the terrible news and asks, “ Son… is it gone? All of it? Beneatha’s money too?” which soon leads to Walter Lee’s admittance of the loss saying, “I never went to the bank at all… Yes...All of it… It’s all gone, ”soon ensuring his beating from his mother (Hansberry 561). When the family finds out about this tragedy, the instant instinct of all of the family members was to blame it all on Walter Lee, accusing him of being the reason they will not achieve their dreams. The family does not stop to think about the pain and embarrassment Walter is going through and Lena, the mother of the family, is quick to bring this up saying, “Have you cried for that boy today? I don’t mean for yourself or for the family cause we lost the money. I mean for him: what he been through and what it done to him… Make sure you done taken into account what hills and what valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is,” ensuring that no one person in the family could blame Walter for the deferral of their dreams due to the loss of their money (Hansberry 573). The family has one goal each of them selfishly wants. Each has a different plan they desire with the money they are going to acquire, such as when Beneatha says she plans to become a doctor. The family knows this will be a costly choice and Walter is quick to say, “Have we figured out yet just how much that medical

Centuries ago, Americans were fighting for their freedom from Britain. Then, the American dream was to have freedom. To American then, being free and having their own individual country was enough. Up until a few decades ago, African Americans were fighting to have equal rights. They thought this was all they needed and they would be truly happy. Somewhere over the course of time; happiness had a new meaning for all Americans. Now material possessions are what it takes to be happy. The American dream is to be rich.

Mama concerns herself only with the fact that she and her family will own the house, and not have to dwell in the tired, old apartment on Chicago's Southside. In a sense, Mama's dream has "crust[ed] and sugar[ed] over like a sugary sweet" (Hughes Lines 7-8). Her dream has changed to fit the circumstances she must cope with. The character of Mama represents those who do not shrivel up and die just because their dream does.

Everyone has a dream. Whether it is to have a family, or even to become a psychiatrist, a dream is present in everyone. Those dreams are mainly referred to as “American Dreams.” Hard work is needed to be able to get anywhere in life. The American Dream is attainable if one is willing to put in the work to achieve it.

A Raisin in the sun shows the hardship many needed to face in order to attain this notion of the American Dream. The play did more than simply show what everyone faced, she shows the struggles that many African Americans families had to face when trying to achieve the notion of the American Dream. She does this by showing the environment that many African Americans lived in when there was bombing in the neighborhood or when white people would force African Americans who finally bought a home, out. Lorraine also shows the struggles of the characters of the play like Walter who struggles with the decision he makes and the contradictions that stop him from achieving his goals of being wealthy or when Beneatha goes against the norms of society by becoming a Doctor and trying to do activities that men usually do.While American Dream is quintessential to America because you’re able to go from nothing to something, this notion is unique to African-American since the society work against them even with having the same aspiration because of the prejudice they faced from the society.

Everybody has dreams. Some dreams are small, some are large, and some are seemingly impossible. The American dream is an individual's pursuit and completion of their own dreams through hard work and determination. In Lorraine Hansberry’s book A Raisin in the Sun, Bethena is given all three types of dreams and demonstrates the theme of achieving the American dream by working hard to achieve those dreams. Bethena, an African American woman, was very proud of her African heritage, and she worked hard to preserve it. One thing she made very clear was her hate for “assimilationist Negroes”(Hansberry 81). This was one characteristic that played a significant role in her choosing someone to marry. Her dream of marriage, however, was second to her primary dream of becoming a doctor. This dream of becoming a doctor was by far the most difficult of the three, as not only was she poor, but also living in Chicago in the 1950s and 60s when racism and sexism were still very prevalent. Despite this, Beneatha demonstrated the theme of working hard to achieve her American dream by progressing toward her small dream of honoring her African heritage, her large dream of finding a husband, and her seemingly impossible dream of becoming a doctor.