Raisin In The Sun Dreams

896 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The theme of discrimination in a raisin in the sun

A Raisin in the Sun Dreams are the driving force of America today. Every person has some sort of dreams and or goals. Although in life everyone has dreams and goals, there are obviously more struggles for some ethnic groups than for others. The play “A Raising in the Sun”, shows a family trying to flourish during a difficult time. As a black worker family, in a period of time where African-Americans were considered an inferior group of people, dreams and goals were difficult to accomplish, they had ups and downs so some goals and dreams were left behind. However, despite the difficulties we have in life, we cannot refuse to fulfill a dream because a dream deferred is a dream denied, that we didn’t achieve just because we made excuses to postpone …show more content…

When the story starts, an opportunity to escape from poverty comes in the form of a $10,000 life insurance check from the death of Mama’s husband. All the family is excited about it, but is also struggling to figure out how the money should be spent, because each have their plans for the money. The son, Walter wishes to invest in a liquor store to be a better provider for his growing family. Her sister, Beneatha, currently a college student, wants to use the money for medical school. Mama decides to use part of the money as a down payment on a house in a white neighborhood, and assigns the responsibility to Walter for him to spend the rest of the money. He immediately invests it secretly in his liquor store scheme, believing he will gain more money, however one of his business partners runs off with the money. The family depended entirely on the money because they already had made plans to move. Devastated, Walter considers taking an offer from Mr. Lindner, a representative from the white neighborhood that would pay the Youngers extra not to move into their neighborhood. The option is immoral in the family's eyes, and prioritizes money over human dignity. Walter had to decide between standing up for his family’s rights and standing up for his ego and role as the breadwinner of the family. At at the last moment Walter is unable to make the transaction

Show More
Related

  • Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mama talks to Walter about her fears of the family falling apart. This is the reason she bought the house and she wants him to understand. Walter doesn't understand and gets angry. "What you need me to say you done right for? You the head of this family. You run our lives like you want to. It was your money and you did what you wanted with it. So what you need for me to say it was all right for? So you butchered up a dream of mine - you - who always talking 'bout your children's dreams..." Walter is so obsessive over money that he yells at his mom for not giving him all of it. He doesn't know that what his mom is doing is for the family. He thinks that having money will make the family happy, when in reality the family doesn't need anymore than what they have to be happy.

    Read More

  • A Raisin In The Sun Character Development

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walter brings to topic his importance to the scenario, and decides to break away from the event and think of his answer towards his wife’s information and response. He later is shown the understanding of his wife by the reaction of his mother, who questions his standing on how his father would have reacted. This brings Walter to think of why he should change and not walk out on times of importance. Walter discovers that his turmoil of drinking and appearance on the topic could end up losing the life of his newly developing child. At the discussion over selling the house owned by the family to Mr. Linder, Walter is shown the original faith that the selfish purpose of the money for himself would be better the property that would benefit the entire family, including his child.

    Read More

  • Walter Lee Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Walter wants the best for his family and he thinks the liquor store will provide him the financial security needed to boost them out of poverty. "I'm thirty five years old; I've been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in living room (Hansberry 34). best describes the sympathy and compassion Walter feels for his son. Although his family's financial position has a strain on it, Walter doesn't want his son to see him struggle. Even in today?s world, children are very susceptible. Walter displays a selfless characteristic which becomes overshadowed by unwise decisions later in the play. In one particular scene, his son Travis asked both parents for money. Walter acts out of pride by giving Travis his last pocket change. This symbolizes Walter's willingness to be a moral father. In a different situation, Walter would not display his selfish intentions. This behavior can be attributed to working in a degrading, underpaid position and not seeing results. Metaphorically speaking, Walter can be related to the furniture in the small apartment, ?tired and broken in spirit?.

    Read More

  • A Raisin In The Sun

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walter Sr. was Walter and Beneathas father he died and his wife mama received ten thousand dollar for life insurance. Walter wants the whole ten thousand dollars for himself and put it down on the liquor store. But Beneatha wants to go to medical school and be a doctor. Walter thinks that it is selfish of Beneatha that she wants to attend medical school because he then wouldn't get all of the money for the liquor store. Beneatha "that money belongs to Mama, Walter, and its for her to decide how she wants to use it. I don't care if she wants to buy a house or a rocket ship or just nail it up somewhere and look at it. It's hers. Not ours hers." Mamas getting all the money and it is up to her if she wants the money for herself give it to Beneatha for school or give it to Walter for the liquor store. Now that it is getting closer to the date in which the money will arrive. Walter is acting more and more desperate for that money.

    Read More

  • The American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Dream Deferred in A Raisin in the Sun

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    Walter has long dreamed of making his family’s condition better, of giving them wealth that his low-paying job is unable to do. Nature appears to be against Walter and his family, for they are living in a poorly maintained tenement apartment while surrounded with racism. Walter understands this situation, so he decides to use the $10,000 check for an investment in order to exceed his primitive state. In mid-morning, he excitedly asks his family about the check’s arrival, “Check coming today?” (Hansberry I.i.868). The check is one of the few reasons that forces Walter to get up each morning, so he will eventually be able to obtain success and self pride. Walter views the check as the only solution to all of his problems, so once Mama receives it, Walter confronts her and begs for her “financial” support. Walter exemplifies his sudden, new-found confidence to Travis when Mama unexpectedly entrusts him with the remaining $6,500, “…your daddy’s gonna make a transaction . . . a business transaction that’s going to change our lives” (II.ii.885). Walter is finally ready to realize his dream, and he has all the possible confidence he can acquire. He foresees the significant change that awaits his family when the money is invested. Unfortunately, nature has different plans for the Youngers. Whe...

    Read More

  • Free Essays - A Raisin in the Sun

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    “A Raisin in the Sun” is set at in an area where racism was still occurring.  Blacks were no longer separated but they were still facing many racial problems. The black Younger family faced these problems throughout the play.  The entire family was affected in their own way.  The family has big dreams and hope to make more of their poor lives.  Walter, the main character, is forced to deal with most of the issues himself.  Ruth, his wife, and Travis, his ten-year-old son, really don’t have say in matters that he sets his mind to.  Beneatha, his sister tries to get her word in but is often ignored.  Lena (Mama) is Walter’s mother and is very concerned about her family.  She tries to keep things held together despite all of the happenings.  Mama’s husband had just recently died so times seemed to be even harder.  They all live in a small apartment when living space is very confined (Hansberry 1731).  They all have dreams in which they are trying to obtain, but other members of the family seem to hold back each other from obtaining them (Decker).

    Read More

  • Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun - Money

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    Living in a society where the fulfillment of dreams is based upon material wealth, the Younger family strives to overcome their hardships as they search for happiness. As money has never been a way of life for the family, the insurance check's arrival brings each person to see the chance that their own dreams can become reality. Whether in taking a risk through buying a "little liquor store" as Walter wishes to do or in -"[wanting] to cure" as Beneatha dreams, the desires of the family depend upon the fate of Mama's check. In the mind of Walter Lee Younger, the check is the pinnacle of all, dominating his thoughts, as he does not wait a second before "asking about money "without" a Christian greeting." He cannot see beyond the fact that he "[wants] so many things" and that only their recently acquired money can bring them about. The idea of money and being able to hold it "in [his] hands" blinds him from the evils of society, as he cannot see that the Willy Harris's of the world will steal a person's "life" without a word to anyone. When money becomes nothing but an illusion, Walter is forced to rethink his values and his family's future, realizing that there is more to living that possessing material riches.

    Read More

  • An Overview of 'A Raisin in the Sun'

    1747 Words  | 4 Pages

    A Raisin in the Sun is a play telling the story of an African-American tragedy. The play is about the Younger family near the end of the 1950s. The Younger family lives in the ghetto and is at a crossroads after the father’s death. Mother Lena Younger and her grown up children Walter Lee and Beneatha share a cramped apartment in a poor district of Chicago, in which she and Walter Lee's wife Ruth and son Travis barely fit together inside.

    Read More

  • Free Raisin in the Sun Essays: Pride and Dignity

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry follows a black family's struggle to see their dreams through to fruition. These dreams, and the struggles necessary to attain them, are the focus of the play.

    Read More

  • Materialism In A Raisin In The Sun

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    After buying a house, Mama gives the remaining money to Walter, telling him to save some for Beneatha’s medical school, and that he can decide what the rest of the money can go to. Walter tells Travis that he is going to change their lives with the money: “One day...I’ll pull up on the driveway...just a plain black chrysler… though I’ll have to get something a little sportier for Ruth---maybe a Cadillac convertible...and I‘ll go inside...to see you sitting on the floor with the catalogues of the great in America all around you… just tell me what it is you want to be---… and I hand you the world!” (108-109). Walter fantasizes about owning classy cars and being able to pay for his son to go to any of the top-notch schools in America. His visions for the future reveal that his perception of reality is unrealistic and that wealth matters very much to him. He is very confident that he will be able to give Travis “the world”, which shows that he has excessive faith in his business deal. His delusions and excitement can hinder his ability to make calculated decisions. Without saving any money for Beneatha’s medical school, Walter gives the money to his friend, Willy, to invest in liquor stores. The next day, Walter’s other friend, Bobo, visits Walter to tell him that Willy ran off with the money. Walter melts down and yells, “Man, I put my life in your

    Read More

  • Characters Dreams Deferred in Raisin In The Sun

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walter is Mama’s oldest son. His dreams are to be wealth but at the same time wanting to provide for his family. His own personal dream is to open liquor store with his money he receives from Mama.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Oppression in Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    The conflict that involves Walter and Mama superficially concerns Mama's receiving an insurance check for ten thousand dollars, which she hasn't yet decided what to do with. Walter has hopes for using the money to invest in a liquor store, with the profits providing him and his family a better quality of life than what they have endured in the past. What really is at stake here, though, is more than money. Mama and Walter have different visions of what happiness is and what life is all about. For Mama, the best thing to do with the money is to make a down payment on a house. This house is to be situated within an all-white neighborhood, and represents assimilation. This is Mama's dream, and the dream ...

    Read More

  • Walter Lee's Dreams in A Raisin in The Sun

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is a play about segregation, triumph, and coping with personal tragedy. Set in Southside Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun focuses on the individual dreams of the Younger family and their personal achievement. The Younger's are an African American family besieged by poverty, personal desires, and the ultimate struggle against the hateful ugliness of racism. Lena Younger, Mama, is the protagonist of the story and the eldest Younger. She dreams of many freedoms, freedom to garden, freedom to raise a societal-viewed equal family, and freedom to live liberated of segregation. Next in succession is Beneatha Younger, Mama's daughter, assimilationist, and one who dreams of aiding people by breaking down barriers to become an African American female doctor. Lastly, is Walter Lee Younger, son of Mama and husband of Ruth. Walter dreams of economic prosperity and desires to become a flourishing businessman. Over the course of Walter's life many things contributed to his desire to become a businessman. First and foremost, Walter's father had a philosophy that no man should have to do labor for another man. Being that Walter Lee was a chauffeur, Big Walter?s philosophy is completely contradicted. Also, in Walter?s past, he had the opportunity to go into the Laundromat business which he chose against. In the long run, he saw this choice was fiscally irresponsible this choice was. In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Lee's dreams, which are his sole focus, lead to impaired judgement and a means to mend his shattered life.

    Read More

  • Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun – Mama

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walter wants the insurance money so that he can prove that he is capable of making a future for his family. By doing well in business, Walter thinks that he can buy his family happiness. Mama cares for Walter deeply and hates seeing him suffer so she gave into his idea. Mama gives Walter the rest of the money and tells him to put half in a bank for his sister's schooling and he could do whatever he wanted with the other half.

    Read More

More about Raisin In The Sun Dreams

Open Document