The Pursuit Of Happiness in A Raisin in the Sun

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Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, we see the positive and negative effects of chasing the American Dream. Hansberry expresses her different views on the American Dream through the characters and she portrays the daily struggles of a 1950 black family throughout A Raisin in the Sun. In this play, she is able to effectively show the big impact that even small decisions can make on a family. Hansberry shows the many different attachments that come with the fulfillment of this American Dream. Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, each family member has their own pursuit of happiness, which is accompanied by their American Dream.

In the play, Mama has her own American Dream that she chases after, which heavily affects the family’s state of being. Mama has to go through many struggles and much frustration while in pursuit of her American Dream (Bloom 17). Mama says, “Yes, death done come in this house here….Done come walking in my house. On the lips of my children. You what supposed to be my beginning again. You what supposed to be my harvest” (Hansberry 134). She begins to see the harsh effects of what her American dream has done to her children. Mama goes through trials and tribulations to provide a good lifestyle for her children, but neither of them seem satisfied, they both want to accomplish their dreams and aspirations so badly that it blinds them to the reality of what is really important in life.

Mama having to carry such a heavy load on her shoulder by trying to hold the family together deprives her of the happiness she once obtained. Mama seems to be the commanding presence and head of the household. She has moral strength and dignity and this is why she is considered the stronghol...

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...as the support of the family as oppose to Walter. Each family member has a dream to improve the family situation; however, all of those dreams are depending on one insurance check which begins to cause trouble and tensions within the family (Bloom 18). However, all these dreams are counting on one insurance check to be funded.

Throughout a Raisin in the Sun, Each family member has their own pursuit of happiness, which is accompanied by their American Dream. Mama wants to have a better quality of life for her family. Beneatha aspires to be a successful Doctor and an Independent woman. Walter wants to invest in a liquor store and live in luxury. In A Rasin in the Sun, we see that each character goes through their own struggles and frustrations to accomplish their American Dream, but in the end, they all find their happiness within in each other unified as a family.

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