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A raisin in the sun about dreams defferred
A raisin in the sun about dreams defferred
Descriptions of dreams in A Raisin in the Sun
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The Value of a Dream in Death of a Salesman and A Raisin in the Sun
How does one value a dream? This question arises while reading both Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. Although the two novels are very different, the stories and characters share many likenesses. Death of a Salesman concerns a family’s difficulty in dealing with unrealized dreams. A Raisin in the Sun focuses on a family's struggle to agree on a common dream. In each of these stories, there are conflicts between the dreams that each character is struggling to attain.
In Death of a Salesman, Happy and Biff are uncertain of where they are in life, and only reach out for the simple, already-tangible things at hand. Biff: "I don't know- what I'm supposed to want", and Happy: "I don't know what the hell I'm working for", means that they bothh feel they havn't progressed. All they want to do is work with their hands, with their shirts off and their backs to the sun. Neither Biff nor Happy have struggled to get to where they feel secure, otherwise they would not be admitting such things. And both have also dismissed the truth; Biff saying "Never mind. Just don't llay it all to me" and Happy saying, "Just don't lay it all at me feet." Happy also wants to believe that everything is alright; Happy is fine, so long as he can make himself believe that everyone around him is fine. Towards the end of the story, when Biff accuses everyone of lying, Happy exclaims, "We always told the truth!" but in the beginning, he admitted to Biff, "See, Biff, everybody around me is so false that I'm constantly lowering my ideals."
Willy Loman wants his dreams so badly that, in his ...
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...o survive. The Youngers never left the house; the house was the only place of action. It was the pillar, even though it wasn't a great one. They made it the pillar by their pride and faith. Willy Loman died with somewhat of a sense of honor and dignity. He knew he would make his family finally and truly proud, and, most importantly, he knew that Biff loved him, and he always had. There is no such thing as a wasted life, so long as there are dreams to cloud up reality and, possibly, make them possible.
Works Consulted:
Bloom, Harold. Twientieth-Century American Literature. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.
Draper, James P. Black Literature Criticisms. Detroit: Gale Research Incorporated, 1992.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Signet, 1988.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: Viking, 1995.
Comparing the Destructive American Dream in Miller's Death of a Salesman and Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun
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The American dream has been a tangible idea, greatly sought after by many over the course of American history. The dream has eluded many, to strive for success in America’s open markets, and become a self-made man from the sweat of one’s brow. The idea of becoming self-sufficient, and having limitless dreams that take one as far as they are willing to imagine is captured very differently from The Great Gatsby to A Raisin in the Sun. Both novels seem to have the American dream as their subject, but both end up having very different outcomes to how one achieves it, and if the dream is truly in existence, namely with the characters of Jay Gatsby and Walter Younger. The books mainly brush upon the idea of what the American dream truly is, how one achieves the dream, and what the real fulfillment of the dream encompasses.
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The Tragedy of Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays to ever have been written. Takes place back in the Elizabethan age back when kings and queens ruled certain countries and people did not have much freedom. The Tragedy of Macbeth has to do with a couple madly in love with one another. Where Macbeth would do anything for his wife lady Macbeth; in ACT I Macbeth and Banquo return from battle, he and Banquo meet three witches who predict that not only will Macbeth be rewarded by King Duncan but that he will become king himself. This is when Macbeth actually starts to consider the assassination of King Duncan. However for Banquo the witches greet him as a father of kings. When Lady Macbeth hears of the witch’s predictions she comes to the conclusion that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will kill King Duncan. On the night Lady Macbeth tries to kill King Duncan she hesitates on completing the task and she urges her Husband Macbeth to do the killing instead. In Act II Lady Macbeth drugs Duncan’s guards to make Macbeths task; on killing King Duncan much easier. Macbeth kills the guard...
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is a classic example of a tragic hero who is constantly struggling with his fate. In the opening scene of the play Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches. They proclaim that he will be the thane of Cawdor. He responds by saying, “By Sinel’s death I know that I am thane of Glamis/ but how of Cawdor”(I, iii, 70-73)? At first, he does not realize to earn this title what he must do, but when he realizes he is taken aback. His bewilderment prefigures his perpetual struggle with his fate. Macbeth also is excessively ambitious which constantly affects him throughout the play. He is too determined to become king and will kill anyone to ensure that this will transpire. Macbeth’s struggle and ambition make him the quintessence of tragic hero.
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Willy Loman married Linda and had two sons together, Biff and Happy. Although they were both old in the play, they were going through problems surrounding their identities. With the pressure to satisfy their needy father, Biff and Happy turned into hopeless dreamers. Biff could
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At the end of an awful, long day one might wonder what went wrong – was the universe against them? Was it a mistake on their part? What have they lost as a result? Such a scenario can be exemplified in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. First, outside forces influence Macbeth into making decisions he would not ordinarily make. Second, Macbeth’s transition from a revered leader to a detested king can be symbolized by the absence of nobility loyalty, and peace. Third, Macbeth’s overwhelming pride and thirst for power leads him to commit a series of crimes. The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare highlights the role of a Tragic Hero signifying that not staying true to ones core values will ultimately lead to their downfall.
The Characters of Biff and Happy in Death of a Salesman No one has a perfect life; everyone has conflicts that they must face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves. Some insist on ignoring the problem for as long as possible, while others face up to the problem immediately to get it out of the way. Biff and Happy Loman are good examples of this, although both start from the same point, they end up going in different directions with Happy still living in his world of lies and Biff, being set free by the truth. Happy Loman is Willy's youngest son and is often over shadowed by his older brother Biff and ignored
Every one of the characters in “The Raisin in the Sun” had a dream which involved an insurance check they received after the death of Lena’s husband. Lena, who is also known as Mama, dreamed to have a home of her own and to see her children accomplish their own dreams and Beneatha dreamed to become a doctor and to find the correct way to “express” herself. Ruth dreamed to be wealthy and have a happy family and for the family to have a place to call their own. It is these dreams that serve to explain the personality of the characters, provide a meaningful context for the development and decline of conflicts between them, and help the readers either admire or dislike them.
He always put pressure on Biff to be the very best, and never settled for anything less. Ultimately the high expectations and pressure Willy put on Biff destroyed their relationship. Willy would often tell Biff how special he was and that he was destined for great things in life. This was very toxic for their relationship because anything short of exceptional was not accepted in their household. Later in the story when Biff became to realize that he was just an ordinary person all he wanted was to do something that made him happy. Willy was extremely disappointed in Biffs decision and even said that Biff was doing it purley out of spite. When discussing his choices in life Biff tells Willy, “I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! Thats whos fault is is! (131). Because Willy told Biff that he was some larger than life person, it set him up for failure later in life because he had no idea how to deal with failure. This made it so that the only thing that Biff could enjoy doing was working alone on a farm. Even though this play is about seventy years old, the message of the proper way to raise kids still applies today. By putting extreme amounts of pressure on your children to be rich one day, it is setting them up to fail miserably. This is because only the child knows what will make them happy one day, and by forcing them to be something