“Every dream has a story behind it”
In “A Raisin In The Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, all of the characters in the play have difficult dreams. Each individual dream answers the question in the poem, “What happens to a dream deferred?” Mama, Walter, Beneatha and Ruth’s dreams come with many obstacles that discourage them; however, throughout the play it results to building their character. At the end of the play, the Youngers come together as a family to fight for what is right. Hansberry chose “A Raisin In The Sun” to portray that even with the difficulties of trying to pursue dreams like a “raisin” being dried out; the “sun” is the hope to a brighter future for each character. Therefore, the characters dreams being deferred represent the meaning behind the title “A Raisin In the Sun”.
The dreams of Mama are brought out to be the main source of believes for the family. Buying a new house for mama is a better hope for the future for the union of the family. Dealing with the families’ financial struggles, it inspired mama to make a drastic change in order for their family to overcome poverty. According to, J. Charles Washington, from the article “A Raisin in the Sun' Revisited”, “In fact, she is still a fighter, and she proves it by buying the house to bring about the change she now feels is needed for her family's welfare…”(Washington par.10). Mama’s dream is being deferred when Walter loses the insurance money. For example, mama putting her trust on her own son and putting forth to believing in him shows her hope for a better future. Even after the raisin is being dried up in the sun, at the end of the play, Mama’s dream for a better life for her family, getting a new house with her own garden shows how the...
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Hansberry, Lorraine. “A Raisin In The Sun”. Literature For Composition, 10th Edition, 2014. Print.
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Weales, Gerald. "Thoughts on A Raisin in the Sun." Commentary 27.6 (June 1959): 527-530. Rpt. in Drama for Students. Ed. David M. Galens and Lynn M. Spampinato. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
In Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun,” she uses the Younger family to show that as individuals strive to reach their dreams they often ignore the aspirations of others but they may eventually learn to support each other in an attempt to better their lives. Hansberry uses each character to express the different views people may have about the American Dream. Each family member has their own pursuit of happiness, which is accompanied by their American Dream. From Momma’s dream of having a better life for her family, Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor, and Walter’s dreams of being rich, the Younger family show’s typical dreams of an African American family in the 1950’s.
Heberle, Mark. "Contemporary Literary Criticism." O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Vol. 74. New York, 2001. 312.
164-69. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 341. Detroit: Gale, 2013.Artemis Literary Sources. Web. 5 May 2014.
A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry is realistic fictional drama in which the play 's title and the character represent the play 's theme. The play focused on Black America 's Struggle to reach the American Dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness during the 1950s and the 1960s. The idea of everyone having the chance to achieve a better life should exist for all. Hansberry conceives her title using a line from Langston Hughes poem “A dream deferred”. The original poem was written in 1951 about Harlem. Hughes’ line from the poem state that when dreams are deferred “Does it dry up like a Raisin in the Sun”. This meant that they describe them as being small and already pretty withered. Hughes poem further suggested that when
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In ‘A Raisin in the Sun’, Lorraine Hansberry describes each of the family’s dreams and how they are deferred. In the beginning of the play Lorraine Hansberry chose Langston Hughes’s poem to try describe what the play is about and how, in life, dreams can sometimes be deferred.
The dominant theme in A Raisin in the Sun is the quest for home ownership. The play is about a black family living in the Southside of Chicago-a poverty-stricken, African Ame...
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 1829-96.
A Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry. The primary focus of the play is the American Dream. The American Dream is one’s conception of a better life. Each of the main characters in the play has their own idea of what they consider to be a better life. A Raisin in the Sun emphasizes the importance of dreams regardless of the various oppressive struggles of life.
Works Cited Austin, Addell. A Raisin in the Sun. Cyclopedia of Literary Characters, Revised. Third Edition (1998): 1-2. Literary Reference Center.
A Raisin in the Sun is set in the South of Chicago in the 1950’s and portrays the lives of an African-American family, the Youngers, who like many other African-American families migrated from the South to the North to leave behind the social, economic and educational oppression. Unfortunately this is no different in the North. In the play it is seen how Mama solely believes that the meaning of life is freedom and Walter, her son, believes that money is life. Both these characters have conflicting ideas on what they perceive life’s meaning to be. These ideas will be closely analysed, with evidence from the text, to illustrate why they are relevant to Mama and Walter. The function of time will be closely analysed as well to show how over the course of a few weeks it influences their particular meanings of life. I agree with Mama saying that their interpretations of life are due to intergenerational differences, and not on what Walter suggests about life always being about money. The aspect of the deferred American dream, which I feel is a central problem in the play, will also be dealt with in relation to Mama and Walter’s dreams and how time functions in relation to this.
Phillips, Elizabeth C. The Works of Lorraine Hansberry. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973. 48-62.