The Pursuit of a Dream in A Raisin in the Sun, The Achievement of Desire and Fences

Selfish Dream

Everyone has their dreams and whoever puts all his or her efforts and determination to pursuit that goal is the one who will succeed. However, there are dreamers who have misconceptions about the art of dreaming. In three pieces of literature I have encountered: “The Achievement of Desire” by Richard Rodriguez, “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry and “Fences” by August Wilson, its characters fight for their dreams regardless obstacles in their life. Nevertheless, when many people aim on achieving their goals, they expose their sense of self-absorbance. Dreaming and aspiration are human senses but when one considers his or her dream more important than others, dreaming becomes another aspect of selfishness.

To fulfill a dream requires dedication and sacrifice. In Richard Rodriquez’s “The Achievement of Desire,” the character has a dream of academic success. From early childhood, the “intelligent boy” indeed, finds pleasure from reading books. It is not an exaggeration to say that he absolutely gives up his social life to pursue education. He appears as a lonely kid who has no close friends or any serious social involvement. His boring life ties in the circle back and forth of school and home. However, it doesn’t seem to be a problem to him. He is always the kid who raises his hand during lecture and is his teachers’ favorite. The character exposes his selfishness self-importance during early time of schooling. He feels uncomfortable and unwilling when he is sent to a private school, which he considered a “ghetto class”. It is such a wrong perception when one refuses to engage in his or her community. By complication and excuses, he indirectly denies his identity as a working class child. Satisfying with co...

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...l friends. The scene is somehow reconnecting all people together. Each member gives up their own self to forgive and understand one another. Finally, Mama has enough courage to let Walter as a new head of the family. Mama and Walter’s wife support Beneatha to go with her love one. They all decide to move to the new white neighborhood even though the danger of being attaching.

The characters in the three stories gain a sense of selfishness when they compete their dream. There are many ways to achieve a dream. The key is to be consistent, creative and determinant. Chasing dream is a way of fulfilling and enhance the self. It is no longer a essence dream to loose our humanity qualities of good.

Works Cited

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print.

Wilson, August, and Richards Lloyd. Fences . New York: Plume/Penguin, 1986. Print.