The American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun

1733 Words4 Pages

The idea of the American Dream still has truth in today's time, even if it is wealth, love, or

fame. The thing that never changes about the American Dream is that everyone deserves something

in life and everyone, somehow, should strive to get it. Everyone in America wants to have some

kind of financial success in his or her lives. The American dream is said to be that each man have

the right to pursue happiness and strive for the beat. In the play "A Raisin in the Sun", the author

shows an African-American family struggling to get out of the poverty line, which is stopping them

from making financial stability, or the American Dream. Its main focus is on Walter's effort to

make it, or be somebody. She also shows how race, prejudice, and economic problems effect a black

mans role in his family, how he provides, and his identity. It is also said that that the Youngers

family dreams were unreal and they couldn't attain there dreams due to their status in life.

The two most common American dreams that the Youngers family want to achieve is to be

accepted by the white society and to be financially stable. For example, when the Younger family

received the insurance check in the mail Mama went out and brought a house in the white

neighborhood. Shortly after she brought the house in the white neighborhood, which is known, as

Clybourne Park they quickly sent a representative by the name of Karl Linder. Linder was apart of

the New Neighbors Orientation Committee that welcomed newcomer in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, since the Youngers were black Linder stated " It is a matter of the people of

Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that

our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities". (Hansberry 407). This

basically states that Mr. Linder was trying to convince them not to live in their neighborhood

because they didn't fit into the description of that community. This is an example of them not being

accepted by the white society. Being financially stable allows you to have a better lifestyle, gain

respect from others and to obtain power. By being financially stable you can live better because you

can you don't never have to worry about how your going to eat, will all the bills be paid and maybe

you could own your own business one day. This relates to the story "A Raisin in the Sun" because

Show More
Related

  • Black, White, and Indian:Race and the Unmaking of an American, by Claudio Saunt

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    Did the five-generation family known as the Grayson’s chronicled in detail by Claudio Saunt in his non-fiction book, Black, White, and Indian: Race and the Unmaking of an American deny their common origins to conform to “America’s racial hierarchy?” Furthermore, use “America’s racial hierarchy as a survival strategy?” I do not agree with Saunt’s argument whole-heartedly. I refute that the Grayson family members used free will and made conscious choices regarding the direction of their family and personal lives. In my opinion, their cultural surroundings significantly shaped their survival strategy and not racial hierarchy. Thus, I will discuss the commonality of siblings Katy Grayson and William Grayson social norms growing up, the sibling’s first childbearing experiences, and the sibling’s political experience with issues such as chattel slavery versus kinship slavery.

    Read More

  • Coming of Age in Mississippi vs. The Jungle Paper

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    differences in how whites and Blacks lived speak to the social norms of the time period.

    Read More

  • Moynihan Negro Family

    1321 Words  | 3 Pages

    Moynihan perceives the inclusive problem amongst the black family to be its structure. This is a product of disintegration of nativism in the black community. The “racist virus” still flowing through the veins of American society hinders, in virtually all aspects, the progression of the Negro family. Moynihan discusses the normativity of the American family as a reason that people overlook the problems that occur in Negro and nonwhite families. He emphasizes the significance of family structure by stating “The family is the basic social unit of American life; it is the basic socializing unit.” (Moynihan, II 4). This assertion implies that due to the instability within the black family, socially, the Negro family would be unable to prosper. Because Moynihan feels the largest overall issue in the black family is structure it’s structure, he believes that it will only continue to disintegrate. To further his idea, Moynihan highlights the subdivisions of this structure: matriarchy, failure of youth, economic differences, alienation etc. Each of these subdivisions of family structure contributes to the overall issue Moynihan within the Negro family.

    Read More

  • Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, by Annette Lareau

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    In her book, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Annette Lareau argues out that the influences of social class, as well as, race result in unequal childhoods (Lareau 1). However, one could query the inequality of childhood. To understand this, it is necessary to infer from the book and assess the manner in which race and social class tend to shape the life of a family. As the scholar demonstrates, each race and social class usually has its own unique way of child upbringing based on circumstances. To affirm this, the different examples that the scholar presents in the book could be used. Foremost, citing the case of both the White and the African American families, the scholar advances that the broader economics of racial inequality has continued to hamper the educational advancement and blocks access to high-paying jobs with regard to the Blacks as opposed to the Whites. Other researchers have affirmed this where they indicate that the rate of unemployment among the African Americans is twice that of the White Americans. Research further advances that, in contrast to the Whites, for those African Americans who are employed, there is usually a greater chance that they have been underemployed, receive lower wages, as well as, inconsistent employment. This is how the case of unequal childhood based on race comes about; children from the Black families will continue residing in poverty as opposed to those from the white families.

    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

    The dreams of Walter, Beneatha, and Mama in Lorraine Hansberry’s "A Raisin in the Sun", may take longer than expected, change form, or fade. Even if dreams seem to never get closer, one should never give up. Without something to work towards, society would just dry up, like a grape in the sun.

    Read More

  • The Mis-Education Of The Negro By Mr. Carter Woodson

    1654 Words  | 4 Pages

    In more modern times Negroes seemed to have morally surrendered on trying to belong. In the past Negroes wanted to be a part of society and America. They wanted to belong. During the years that the book was written blacks no longer care to belong. In the past a Negro wrote, “I am a man and deemed nothing that relates to man a matter of indifference to me.” In more modern times a Negro would say, “Now, I am a colored man, and you white folks must settle that matter among yourselves.” This was found in the pages of The Mis-Education of the Negro in chapter 10. You’d think that this meant they gained some pride in their race, but what I got from the chapter was that they accepted that they were inferior and has also accepted their fate that whites have made for them. They no longer resist and fight. The people in more modern times stopped standing up for themselves and even highly educated Negroes began to support things such as

    Read More

  • Meritocracy In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    Both the Younger family and the Johnson family are similar because both share their ambition in wanting to achieve the Black American Dream. However, only the Younger family is able to achieve it because they have goals, working adults, money, and support. They have the freedom to move into their new home in Clybourne Park, despite White supremacy, stereotype, and greed standing in the way. Unfortunately, despite meritocracy, not all Blacks have money and support to transcend themselves into upward mobility. The Johnson family is not able to achieve the Black American Dream because there is no goal set, only one working adult, and no money and support involved in their lives to offer them freedom. It is a lot harder to have upward mobility with no family support especially when society is against the individual. The Johnson family’s unsuccessful attempt to achieve the Black American Dream illustrates that it is not meant for all Blacks living in America. Perhaps it is impossible for all Blacks to excel in America because not all Blacks are privileged to have what other Blacks

    Read More

  • Summary Of Miseducation Of The Negro

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    He argued that “The ‘highly educated’ negroes have turned away from the people...and the gap between the masses and the ‘talented tenth’ is rapidly widening.” (Woodson 53) I find this claim to be exaggerating because white people do move out too after acquiring education and a middle class income. Most blacks move out because they are educated and they cannot be able to relate to the people there. Some of them move out because of security purpose. They cannot have nice homes and cars in the neighborhood where other people are starving. Therefore, blacks do not move out only because they want leave their people and assimilate middle class white

    Read More

  • The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and its Illustrations of the American Dream

    1462 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American dream can be defined as the promise of living in America with opportunities for all, regardless of social class, and according to their ability and effort (Schnell, 2010). Proponents of the American dream believe that there is equal opportunity for all in the American society to achieve success. Success is not pegged on social status, race, or creed, but rather on an individual’s own efforts. The definition of the American dream has unique interpretations to different people. The most common meaning is that of a life of abundance and prosperity, characterized by economic rewards that enable one to live a middle class life of comfort. Here, success is measured by material possessions such as beautiful homes, cars, a high income, and the ability to spend on luxury items. America is considered a land of plenty, and as such, many who come to the United States in search of the American dream have this form of success in mind.

    Read More

  • The Marrow of Tradition

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    Burton, O. V. (1998, April). African American Status and Identity in a Postbellum Community: An Analysis of the Manuscript Census Returns. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from

    Read More

  • College as the Pathway to the American Dream

    2356 Words  | 5 Pages

    Achieving the American Dream has been the ideal for people living in the United States for decades. People believed that the way to get there was through hard work, also known as the “Protestant work ethic”. The American Dream can vary depending on the person. Some people think that owning a house with a white picket-fence is the American Dream while others think that it is becoming a celebrity with a lot of money.

    Read More

  • Gatsby's Dream and Daisy's Conflicts in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    American dream. The American dream offers faith in the possibility of a better life. Its attendant

    Read More

  • The American Dream In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Lorraine Hansberry's inspirational play A Raisin in the Sun, a working class African American family's life is turned upside down when death comes for their father. In this play, the main characters: Walter, Benetha, Ruth, and Mama(Lena), all dream of having a better life. Despite the living conditions that rule their lives, they each try to pursue the "American Dream." Although the "American Dream," is different for each character, by the end of the play and through many trials and tribulations; the Younger's come to realize who's dream is the most important.

    Read More

  • The American Dream

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    With America actually being seen as the land of assurance, the American dream is usually associated with the freedom and opportunity of gaining prosperity, recognition, power, triumph, and contentment. On the surface, this dream appears virtually delighted, offering individuals the exceptional hope of accomplishing success despite of one’s race, religion, or family history. The American Dream is accurately what it seems to be the chance of perfect lying nearby the corner. However, the actual nature of this dream prohibit the pleasure of the victory one has earned, as the desire is always demanding one to work a slight harder and gain a slightly more.

    Read More

More about The American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun

Open Document