The Theme Of Dreams In A Rasin In The Sun

“A Raisin in the Sun” and "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)," written by Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes, respectively, represent the complimentary themes of dreams. “A Raisin in the Sun” depicts a family’s struggle for survival. The Younger family who lives in Southside, Chicago, fights for their civil rights during the 1960’s. They each have dreams and goals. Hughes illustrates, in “Harlem” that sometimes dreams dry up like raisins in the sun. Two stories analytically provide unexpected irony at the end. Jason Miller’s article, “Foreground and Prereading,” references these pieces to illustrate ideas and obstacles in the character’s lives – defining how obstacles strengthen the family’s perseverance while demonstrating how dreams and hopes can be deferred but are not soon forgotten.

Mama is a very family oriented woman. You can see that when Walter is having the conversation with Mama about Ruth wanting to have an abortion, “...I’m waiting to hear how you be your father's son. Be the man he was…”. This quote shows us that Mama wants Walter to be responsible and be like his father instead of running away when times get tough. Mama wants the best for her children, she shows that by reiterating that she raised them better. In one scene where Beneatha said that there wasn't a God, Mama replied with “Now—you say after me, in my mother’s house there is still God. … There are some ideas we ain’t going to have in this house. Not long as I am at the head of this family.” This quote shows that Mama wants Beneatha to believe in God and make sure that she keeps God in her family. When mama got the insurance check from her husband's death, she saw that her family was starting to fall apart. So, mama went out and bought a house so that they would do something good with the money that would help bring her family back

       Ruth, Walter's wife, was pregnant when her husband was in a great despair. Although Walter lost the money and also her dream, Ruth forgave him and encouraged him to start everything over. Ruth, whose dream was to be wealthy and to have a fine family, calmly accepted the fact that her dream was only a dream. To her, it was a consolation that her husband had come back to reality after his unsuccessful dream.

In Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” he discusses the idea of unfulfilled dreams and their plausible outcomes using symbolism and imagery. He initially describes a “deferred” dream as a sun-dried raisin, depicting the dream originally as a fresh grape that now has dried up and “turned black” (Jemie 63). This idea provides Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun with its basic foundation, for it is a play about a house full of unfulfilled dreams. As the poem goes on, Hughes depicts the idea of a deferred dream as something rotten or gone bad. According to Onwuchekwa Jemie, this may be an allusion to the American Dream and its empty promises (Jemie 64).

When a dream that consumes one’s desires possess their mind, it can often blind them and not make them realize the truth of how problematic and nearly impossible it is to achieve their goal. A good example of this is the character Beneatha Younger from A Raisin in the Sun. Beneatha is a intellectual black twenty year old woman who attends college dreaming of becoming a doctor. However, this play is taking place in the 1950’s while laws have been made to protect black people there is

Although she is happy with mama’s decision to buy a house, Ruth is more concerned with receiving the affection of her husband and keeping him happy than the consequences or the moral implications his decisions will have. Ruth maintains the apartment they live in and most of the time, goes along with whatever Walter says. This is where Ruth and Mama differ; Mama wants Walter to be happy but not at the cost of doing something morally wrong, Ruth will do whatever it takes to make Walter happy. We see this when Ruth is contemplating having an abortion in order not to complicate living arrangements in the apartment and to allow Walter the financial means to pursue his goals. She also intends to keep it from Walter so spare him the burden of having to make a decision like that. When Mama find out about the abortion, she is appalled and says, “…we a people who give children life, not who destroys them.” Mama also succeeds in expressing her rich values and nurturing nature in Act III, Scene Three, when it is discovered that Walter has lost the remainder of the insurance money when his liquor store investment partner disappears with the money. Beneatha goes into a rage and openly expresses her hatred and contempt for her brother, and says, “He’s no brother of mine.”(Hansbury 3.3)

In conclusion, Ruth Younger’s personality has a lot to do with her dream. It takes a while for happiness to arrive but usually those who are patient get the greatest outcome. Ruth isn’t the type of woman to be extremely aggressive or the type to state her opinions. Most of the time she had kept to herself. She’s the type of person to keep her emotions to herself which explains the abortion. It almost seems like she’s depressed all the time, she is just really hoping for the best. When Mama announced the new home, Ruth was the one to lighten up the most. Ruth knew that the leading source for the start of a happy life, was to move. Her dream consists of a step by step process to reach her goal of a happy family. She was the one who caused

Sonny’s dream job has always been to become a piano player in a jazz band. When he informs his older brother of his future plans the reaction was not what he expected. But contrary to his brother’s opinion Sonny believes that “people ought to do what they want to do” (87). Because he had found his calling, he no longer needed school so he dropped out while disappointing his bother once again. He dedicated the majority of his time to perfect his musical talent. As he grew closer to the piano he grew further from people, Isabel even stated once that, “it was like living with a sound” (89). Isabel, brother’s wife, was also not supportive of Sonny. Following the fight with Isabel in regards of him quitting school, he moved out and turned to drugs

Walter begins to drink, stay away from home, and to constantly argue with his wife, Ruth. Walter's life is contrasted by the role of his recently widowed mother, who holds to more traditional values of acceptance of life's lot and of making the best of any situation. Walter Lee's "Mama" holds Walter's father up as an example of a man with pride and a man that, despite racial injustice in a dualistic society, worked hard to provide for his family. This adds to Walter's frustration. Walter now feels incapable and small in his mama's eyes.

In Langston Hughes’ poem, the author gives us vivid examples of how dreams get lost in the weariness of everyday life. The author uses words like dry, fester, rot, and stink, to give us a picture of how something that was originally intended for good, could end up in defeat. Throughout the play, I was able to feel how each character seemed to have their dreams that fell apart as the story went on. I believe the central theme of the play has everything to do with the pain each character goes thru after losing control of the plans they had in mind. I will attempt to break down each character’s dream and how they each fell apart as the play went on.

Ruth helps Mama keep everything in the Younger house clean, organized, and loving. When Ruth finds out that she is pregnant everyone in the Younger house has a different reaction. The most important and frustrating reaction is Walter’s. Ruth is talking about an abortion and putting a down payment on it. When Mama tells Walter that Ruth is expecting a baby and does not know what she should do Walter just cannot believe it, even says that Ruth would not make that decision of having the abortion.

Mama, however, is strong, spiritual and eager to help her children in any way she can. She values family above and beyond all else, but has the deep insight into the other character's motivations even when she doesn't agree. In the middle of the play (at the fuse for the final conflict), she recognizes that Walter is miserable because no one believes in him and his dreams. She gives him a large chunk of the insurance check to invest in a liquor store even thought she doesn't agree with it. She trusts him with it and, when he loses the money to a "trusted friend," she becomes enraged and begins to physically attack him. However, by the next scene she has forgiven him and tells her daughter that she should do the same; "There is always something to love: when do you think the time is to love somebody the most? It's when he's at his lowest and can't believe in hisself 'cause the world done whipped him so!" With those words, Mama seems to symbolize all that is good, solid and peaceful in the world.

First, Ruth, is one of the women in the house who changes Walter’s decisions in the story. Her relationship towards him is poor. Ruth nags at the beginning, saying “Eat your eggs Walter” (Hansberry 34). This angers him because she repeats it multiple times throughout, not understanding him, showing their strained relationship. Ruth is also shown to not be on Walter’s side on multiple occasions. For example, when Walter finds out that Mama spent the money on a new house, he does not like it. Ruth however is not feeling the same way as him, and tells him “Walter honey, be glad” (Hansberry 92). Ruth tells Walter to be glad, because their views are different. Ruth thinks this was beneficial to the family, yet Walter does not. This hurts Walter throughout the story as he feels alone with no one on his side. Walter know this when he says “Cause ain’t nobody with Me! Not even my own mother!” (Hansberry 85). Since he is alone, and believes no one cares about him, he tries to fix his own mistake when he decides he will get more money saying, “That White man is going to walk in that door all to write checks for more money than we ever had.” (Hansberry 143). Ruth does not like Walter’s idea, but he does not care as no one is on his side, which disappoints Ruth.

What happens to a dream when it suspends in time? Does it stay suspended within a man through his lifetime, dormant, unreachable, and far away? Does its power grow and ultimately force him to act to make it happen sometime in the future-if not in his lifetime then in the future members of his kin? On the other hand, does it eat away at him, crystallizing and internally segmenting his own derived purpose and meaning of life until it is indiscernible from its original state of grandeur and grace? Those are some of the questions that Lorraine Hansberry poses for consideration in her play, A Raisin in the Sun. It is no accident that she chose Langston Hughes' poem as a gateway into the incredible experience of true life, living, dreaming and

Dreams let people’s imagination soar and give them the desire to achieve wonderful things. Although, every now and then, a wall may stand in the way of you and your dreams. From small inconveniences or life impending problems, conflicts can impact your life and can make you want to give up on your dreams all together. As Amelia Earhart once said,” Everyone has oceans to fly, if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless, maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?” Amelia dreamt of becoming a skilled and famed female aviator and worked hard towards her fame by taking flying lessons and participating in flying derbies long before she made history flying solo across the Atlantic and attempted her trip around the world. While Amelia was