Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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Dreams can be thought of to always come true and magically happen, but that’s not always the case. In the famous play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter Younger is a tired and angry man who lives with his family in Chicago in the mid 1950s. Through Walter’s anger and gullibility, Hansberry teaches the reader that dreams may not always come true, even if one tries their best to achieve them. Throughout the play, Walter’s dream slowly fades away from him due to the anger shown through his actions and how he interacts with his family. In Act I, Scene i, Walter is arguing with Beneatha, his sister, about who should get the insurance money when he angrily exclaims, “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you are so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people–then go be a nurse like other women –or just get married and be quiet.” (Hansberry 38). …show more content…

The phrase “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor?” reveals Walter’s bitterness towards his sister and how she wants to follow her dreams while he has to sit there and watch his dreams fade away. This proves that one’s dreams are not guaranteed to come true, no matter the amount of effort put into achieving them. In Act II, Scene ii, Walter is sulking at the bar while talking to Lena”Mama”, his mother, when he bitterly states, “So you butchered up a dream of mine–you–who always talked ‘bout your children’s dreams.”(Hansberry 95). Put differently, Walter continues to hold a grudge against Mama for not giving him the money to open the liquor store and kickstart his dream. The phrase “So you butchered up a dream of mine” reveals the resentment Walter has towards his mother, denying him the opportunity for his dream to come true. This explains that even though Walter continued to push and push to reach his dreams, he wasn’t successful in achieving them even with all of his

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