Dreams In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

       Walter was upset when he heard his mother had spent the insurance money on the house and thought it wasn't fair that Beneatha got some of it for her medical school while he got nothing for his liquor store business. Lena, who always wanted her son to be happy, trustingly gave the rest of the insurance money to Walter. Holding the money in his hands, Walter thanked his mother and appreciated the trust she had in him. Walter then gave the money to his buddies to help him getting his liquor license without realizing that they betrayed him. As his dream crumbled to pieces, Walter was regret that he didn't listen to his mother, wife and sister.

Walter focused solely on the money and this caused him to think that all the money is his and he can go and do as he pleases. He was obviously disappointed when Mama did not give him any of the money initially but when she entrusted him with the remaining $6,500 it brought about a sense of pride and responsibility that had long eluded him. It was almost a renewing moment for Walter as his family life changed for the better since he was now acting as the man of the house.

At the beginning of the play “A Raisin in the Sun” the main characters from the play all demonstrate that they have dreams for themselves and all of them deal with how they identify with themselves. These dreams are, for Walter, to be perceived as wealthy, for Beneatha to be independent, and for Mama to continue what she and her husband started to own their own house with space for everyone. These characters had to comprehend their own identity to settle on the whole family’s dream of moving to a middle-class neighborhood, and how that dream fulfilled all their dreams. Walter’s dream of appearing wealthy stems from him wanting a better life for himself, his wife Ruth, and his son Travis. He believes he can accomplish this by investing in a liquor store and changing his financial standing. Walters dream is exposed when he discusses it with his son Travis:

The American Dream, the idea that anybody can be successful through hard work and dedication, has been a driving force in the American history. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby and Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun express the notion that the Dream itself is defined differently to different people. The American Dream is not the same for everybody, it is instead an idealistic achievement that changes based on who is driving themselves towards the Dream. Success through the Dream, therefore, is defined by the Dreamers themselves. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby achieves materialistic wealth, but that wealth is not enough to fulfill his definition of the Dream. Gatsby’s idea of success is to gain respect from others and to receive love back from the women he loves - Daisy. A Raisin in the Sun’s Walter Younger, on the other hand, desires wealth, and struggles utilizing the Dream’s ideals to attain said wealth. His definition of success revolves around a stable income that would allow him and his family a comfortable lifestyle where money is not as big an issue. Both Gatsby and Walter’s experiences and the polar differences in their Dream’s definitions reveals that the success of one’s Dream is based heavily on the person themselves and not measurable by tangible aspects such as wealth or respect.

Dreams are important to everyone. Some little girls dream of being a ballerina while some little boys and even teenage boys dream of being a major league baseball player for their favorite team. In the famous drama A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, dreams have a prominent role. The title, even though there’s never a raisin in the drama, is important because: it refers to a poem written by famous poet Langston Hughes and it relates to the dreams of each of the characters.

     As Walter's dreams become bigger and bigger, he seems to neglect the 'smaller' things such as his family. "Here I am a giant surrounded by ants! Ants who can't even understand what the giant is talking about,? (Hansberry 85). Walter has big ideals, but his methods of achieving his goals and ideals are somewhat irrational. Walter can be regarded as more concerned with becoming self-employed without really thinking about the consequences, which may be imposed on his family. Later in play, Walter learns that he needs to set his dreams aside for the sake of the

Walter struggles in this play with not being able to make a good living to support his family. He feels as if the job he has now is lowly and only to serve another man. His pride in himself makes him want something more. “I open and close doors all day long. I drive a man around and I say, ‘Yes, sir; no, sir; very good, sir; shall I take the Drive, sir?’ Mama, that ain’t no kind of job… that ain’t nothing at all,” Walter tells mama this to explain how he feels about his job (Hansberry 73). In Act I Scene Two he tells Mama, “I want so many things that they are driving me kind of crazy… Mama--look at me,” (Hansberry 73). He then goes on to explain how he can see a future for himself and his family, but right now it is a distant dream that he feels unable to accomplish unless he can start a business like the liquor store he has in mind. His hope in opening this store is to be able to get on his feet and make enough money to where his family isn’t struggling.

Yessir- whatever you want to be- you name it son! And I?ll hand you the world.? (108-09). Walter?s false confidence allows him to make such a strong promise to Travis. Walter is unable to see that these things he is promising Travis quite easily may not become reality because he is solely focused on his dreams. Therefore, he believes everything he promises as a result of his dream will become a reality. Furthermore, as a result of his sole focus on dreams, Walter is unable to associate himself with decent people. The prime example of this poor association is Willy Harris. At this present time in the novel, Walter is seeing the true extent of his impaired judgment due to focus on his dreams. As he discusses his ?business transaction? with Bobo, one of his colleagues, Walter is unable to see Willy Harris for the true epitomic evil doer he is. As his evident mental block continues, Bobo gives him insight on the growing problem, ??what?s a matter with you, Walter! When a cat takes with your money he don?t leave you no road maps.?? (128). Walter is beginning to learn the consequences of trusting a malevolent man like Willy Harris. Walter is solely focused on his dreams and quite palpably, it was a mistake. His judgment is so impaired, he trusts this man with the money Mama selflessly gives to him and his sister and it instantly vanishes. Finally, Walter is unable to see he is affecting those around him because he is singularly focused on

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” As Americans, we are asked at a young age this very question time and time again. You can guess that not many people say, “ A bus driver”, but in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, that is exactly how Travis Younger responds. Like many young men, he wants to be like his dad when he too becomes an adult. It’s all part of the American experience: work hard, put in your time, pay your dues and you can be anything you want to be. But Travis is a child, and he learns an important lesson in A Raisin in the Sun: Everyone has dreams, but there are many factors in our daily life that will determine which dreams will be realized, and which will be deferred.

Beneatha has lost hope in succeeding her dream of becoming a doctor. She believes that life is one large circle that everyone marches in. I am not the kind of person who would be able to redeem myself and find hope again for something big. I feel like this is the reason why I chose Beneatha's side.

    The American Dream, although different for each of us, is what we all aspire to achieve. In Lorraine Hansberry's, play, A Raisin in the Sun, each member of the Younger family desperately hopes for their own opportunity to achieve the American Dream. The American Dream to the Younger family is to own a home, but beyond that, to Walter Younger, it is to be accepted by white society.

In the book “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, there were characters whose dreams were stated, some of which were shattered by greed and misfortune and others which would eventually come to be true. The first dream that came about was Walter’s dream of one day owning and maintaining a liquor store. He would do anything to attempt to get his dream to come true, but his mama wanted anything but that to happen. His mama had a dream of her own though, she dreamed of one day owning her own house, where her whole family could stay comfortably. She dreamed this because in the apartment that she resided in was too small, and dumpy, as Ruth called it. Her grandson Travis had to sleep on the couch, and all

The epigraphy by Langston Hughes describes how dreams change after they had been put off. When dreams fail, it affects each person differently. The person may just give up on the dream completely, find a new way to reach the dream, change the situation so it may not be the dream but something similar, or it can destroy other dreams too. The Youngers were an African American family who lived on the south side of Chicago and barely scraped by with Walter’s job as a limousine driver. They all eagerly waited for the insurance money, produced after Walter’s dad passed away, to make their dreams come true. But when the check arrived, Walter gave most of the money to Willy Harris, a business partner, who ran off with the money when it was supposed to be invested in a liquor store.

Walter had a dream of opening a liquor store with his friends. However, Walter did not want to open this store not so much for the alcohol, but for the sensation of being in charge. All his life, Walter wanted to bring in enough money for his family so that his family did not have to struggle anymore. Walter wanted his wife and mother to not have to work anymore. He wanted his son to go to any college without worrying about tuition. Ultimately, he wanted to finally become the man he was hoping to become for his family. Walter proves this by saying, “Mama – sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool-quiet-looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking ‘about things…sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars…sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me” Walter wants to be able to essentially be like those white men. He wants to be able to go out during the day and not have to worry about losing his job. Walter wants to be like those white men who have money. He wants to feel financially secure. Walter had these dreams he not only wanted to achieve for him but also for his family. Walter had good intentions. He just showed them through acts of

What happens to a dream deferred? In Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun”, dreams are often challenged and sometimes even deferred. The characters are faced with challenges that delay them from living the life they want and achieving their dreams. Walter Younger, the father of the family, is an envious, hopeless, and immature colored man living in Southside Chicago during the 1950s. He has multiple sub-dreams throughout the play, but his overall hope seems to be a comfortable life for his family. Walter has not achieved his dream for a happy family because of his actions and personality.