In the movie Unbroken, Louis Zamperini wants to be a good runner and soldier. Every single race he has won. His dream was to be really good. Then he started getting in tough races. Once he got in the olympics he was determined to overcome all these obstacles and was confident of winning. Also When he was stranded in the middle of the ocean he didn't fear but kept thinking of ways to survive. Louie is presented with the same kind of circumstances as Walter and the speaker of the poem but Louis had positive outcomes. In the poem, “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes and the play , A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, both the speaker of the poem and Walter(from the play) struggle with not achieving their dreams, thus revealing that a …show more content…
person must be confident and should not fear failure when presented with obstacles. In A Raisin in the sun, Walter struggles with his family and himself when he fails to achieve his goal. First, Walter is unable to pursue his dreams the way looks forward to. He feels unsuccessful when he compares himself to George because he has not accomplished anything and thinks the life insurance check will help. A quote that supports this is, “Don't you see no stars gleaming stars that you can’t reach out and grab?..Man I’m a volcano. Bitter? Here I am surrounded by ants… who can’t understand”(Hansberry 173). Walter is concerned with the fact that he can not support his family with the money Walter is currently making. Lots of people become angry or frustrated when they do not get what they want. They try anything possible to achieve what they want even if it means it is risky. Walter thinks the life insurance check may help them. But Mama will not let him purchase the liquor store with that money. Now walter feels less of a man compared to George because walter has not accomplished anything. Therefore, feels unsuccessful and does not face all obstacles. Second, Walter struggles with understanding his family so he goes out and talks to friends. Walter believes at home no one will agree with him. He goes through a lot so he drinks. A quote that backs this up is, “I've been out talking with people who understand me, people who care about the things I got on my mind” (Hansberry 176). Walter thinks that his family cannot understand him because his family is mostly always disagreeing with him. When someone is failing to understand them, that is when that person will ask another to hear them out. Walter thinks by telling others and drinking that has problems will go away and thinks he can achieve what he wants. When they get mad they think they are not cared for. However, that's one of the things you have to get through to succeed. In the poem, “A Dream Deferred” the speaker of the poem struggles with achieving their goal and puts his dream aside.
First, in the poem Hughes question what happens when a dream is postponed. Hughes uses a lot of questions throughout the poem to ponder the effects of a deferred dream. An evidence from the poem supporting this is, “What happens to the dream deferred?”(Hughes L. 1). This quotation sends a negative message to readers because it indicates what happens when a dream is put off. The speaker of the poem that starts to ask many questions and questions consequences of a dream deferred. When you start to question things it can put a negative tone. Second, in the poem Hughes uses similes throughout the poem. This suggests bad outcomes for a dream deferred. The diction of fester is negative because it does not go away or it is painful. A quote supporting this is, “Or fester like a sore--//And then run?”(Hughes L. 4-5). This quotation starts to use similes throughout the poem and they suggest bad outcomes. It talks about how it is painful when a dream “festers” and instead of getting better it will get worse. Using similes makes the line powerfull or deep. Also it helps you understand the person and what point they are coming from. However, the similes that get used in this poem seem to point out failure, things in the way, and fear. The speaker is not able to get through his problems therefore has fail to achieve their
goal. Walter and the speaker of the poem fail to achieve their dream. However if they were confident and did not fear failure when presented with obstacles they would have been successful just the way Louie Zamperini had been. He was determined to overcome all obstacles and was confident of winning. Also after his plane had crashed and he was a survivor he did not fear but had thought of was to do keep on surviving with two others. That is why Louie had positive outcomes and Walter and speaker of poem did not.
“What happens to a dream deferred?” Langston Hughes asks in his 1959 poem “Dream Deferred.” He suggests that it might “dry up like a raisin in the sun” or “stink like rotten meat” but, at the end of the poem, Hughes offers another alternative by asking, “Or does it explode?” This is the poem that the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is based on. The play is about an African-American’s family struggling to break out of poverty. The poverty stands in the way of them accomplishing their dreams and goals. Poverty has a strong effect on Walter Lee Younger a character in the play. Walter Lee believes that success is measured in wealth. In the play he constantly struggles to move up the social ladder and earn more money.
How would you feel if your freedom was halted by the color of your skin? A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes’ poems both capture racial identity, pride, and dreams. Walter, a character in A Raisin in the Sun, relates to those in the poems of Hughes.
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.
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.
A Raisin in the Sun The creativity of Hansberry played a crucial role in the development of African-American drama since the Second World War. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play by an African-American author to be set on Broadway and was honored by the circle of New York theater critics. Drama of A Raisin in the Sun (1959) brought Hansberry to the Society of New York Critics Award as the best play of the year. A Raisin in the Sun shows the life of an ordinary African-American family who dreams of happiness and their desire to achieve their dream.
America, since its conception, has been known as the "promised land." America is where one goes to escape persecution or achieve a dream that would be hard or impossible to achieve in their current location. This is essentially the "American Dream." The American Dream is to be able to create a better life for yourself, or any life you want, no matter who you are or where you are from. Walter and Frederick have two very different approaches to their American Dream. Walter's drive for money consumes him and complicates his relationship with his family while Frederick's passion for reading made him a more intelligent slave. The lives of the two men had different outcomes, but followed the same ideal of the American Dream.
It can cause one to become hopeless and think that it might not ever happen. One can be lead to thought that since Hughes is an African American he can not achieve his dreams due to the society that holds him back. One can see all throughout the poem Hughes uses words that perfectly describe a deferred or delayed dream. Hughes uses words like “fester”, “explode”, “sugar over”, “dry up” and “stink”. One can see that all the words describe a dream deferred in a negative and violent manner.
Though American citizens are recognized as adults at the age of eighteen, human brains take much longer to fully develop. The play A Raisin in the Sun takes place in the apartment of the Youngers, an African American family struggling with financial issues during the 1950’s. Walter’s father has recently passed away, and Mama receives a life insurance check for his death. Walter and Mama share their cramped apartment with Walter’s sister Beneatha, his wife, Ruth, and their son, Travis. Walter works as a chauffeur and Ruth does domestic chores for rich, white families. They do not have many opportunities for better jobs or higher quality education, but Beneatha attends college classes in hopes of becoming a doctor. Walter’s job as a chauffeur
Hughes also uses imagery to show his theme. "Does it stink like rotten meat?" This use of imagery shows how a dream deferred simply rots into something that is no longer usable. This makes the reader imagine a slob of rotten meat with maggots crawling on it. This not only disgusts the reader, but makes them understand what Hughes is trying to say, which is that you give up on a dream, it cannot be used anymore. "Does it dry up? Like a raisin in the sun?" This use of imagery makes the reader imagine a fruit that you could have eaten fresh, but since you did not, it has dried up.
What is a dream deferred? Is it something children imagine and lose as they grow up. Do dreams ever die, as we find out, the world is it what it seems. The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Harlem by Langston Hughes talk about dreams deferred. It shows a African American family struggling to make their dreams a reality. Although Walter, Ruth, Mama, and Beneatha live in the same house, their dreams are all different from each other.
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 idea of the American Dream still has truth in today's time, even if it is wealth, love, or
Do you think in the future that the houses will be more advanced? Ray Bradbury predicts throughout the time of the story that this is what the future will look like for us. For instance, the house is alive throughout the whole story. Also, this house is in the year 2026 so maybe will be as advanced in the future. Throughout the story, I will be telling how the house in this story is more advanced.
The poem “Negro” was written by Langston Hughes in 1958 where it was a time of African American development and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Langston Hughes, as a first person narrator tells a story of what he has been through as a Negro, and the life he is proud to have had. He expresses his emotional experiences and makes the reader think about what exactly it was like to live his life during this time. By using specific words, this allows the reader to envision the different situations he has been put through. Starting off the poem with the statement “I am a Negro:” lets people know who he is, Hughes continues by saying, “ Black as the night is black, /Black like the depths of my Africa.” He identifies Africa as being his and is proud to be as dark as night, and as black as the depths of the heart of his country. Being proud of him self, heritage and culture is clearly shown in this first stanza.
Evidently, Walter Lee?s judgment becomes significantly impaired and all because of his dreams. In the world today, people still struggle with the same problems and desire the same things Walter does. Success is a seemingly huge necessity. In the course of ones life, each person is destined to face personal conflicts and contradictions. These problems, with the ability to overcome them is truly how to achieve greatness. As Mr. Langston Hughes questions so powerfully in his poem, ?What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?? With the help of Walter Lee Younger, the answer becomes evident. Dreams never dry up? they just change.