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

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The idea of the American dream is still true today, even if it included wealth, love, or fame. The quality that never changes the concept of the American dream is that everyone deserves something in life, and should strain themselves to get it. Everyone in America lusts after financial success in his or her lives, who wouldn’t? Becoming wealthy enough to afford anything in America is everybody's aspiration in life. But it is not that easy. In the play “A Raisin in the Sun”, the author portrays an impoverished African-American family living in Chicago during the 1950’s. Struggling to make financial problems stable, and pursuing the American dream, the author also shows how the Younger family desires are affected by race, discrimination, and …show more content…

Walter Lee Younger shows that he is a dissatisfied character in the play and portrays himself as an obstacle towards his own dreams. But this is caused by the many trust issues that Walter has gained by his mother Lena Younger. In early scenes of the play, Walter seems to show his enthusiasm towards a $10,000 life insurance check that he plans on investing in a liquor store with his “buddy,” Willy. Even though Walter thought this was the best decision for everybody else, the family thinks differently and warns Walter against investing in the liquor store. To make a truce with her son, Mama gives Walter $6,500 from the insurance money. But this amount of money did last long in the hands of Walter Younger. In scene three, a mutual friend of Walter’s whose name is Bobo confronts Walter stating that “Willy and I were supposed to go to Springfield to spread some money towards the liquor store...Willy never showed up to Springfield… That was all the extra money I had left in the world.” Startled by the news, Walter has no words.What does he tell his mother? How will Lena Younger be able to afford the new house she purchased in Clybourne Park? How will Ruth, his wife, take care of the new coming baby? Walter’s actions prove that his identity of being persistent and stubborn puts his family in a financial crisis and decreases the chance of becoming successful. The risks of being

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Unfortunately, this happened to Walter. Someone who he thought he could trust ended up taking all of the money they had for himself leaving the Younger family in a quagmire. Near the end, Mama and Walter say, “MAMA (To WALTER) Son—(She goes to him, bends down to him, talks to his bent head) Son ... Is it gone? Son, I gave you sixty-five hundred dollars.

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139 Words | 1 Pages

“Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are”—Arthur Golden. This quote is constantly looked back on in Lorraine Hansberry’s broadway play, “A Raisin in the Sun”. In this play, Hansberry introduces Walter Lee Younger, a passionate black man with a dream to be successful. However, his dream is hindered by poverty and prejudice.

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242 Words | 1 Pages

Walter Lee Younger is offered money from Mr. Linder to buy out the claim on his house. Walter refuses because he thought that his family still had money left in their bank from his father’s recent death. Soon he finds out that two-thirds of their money

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507 Words | 3 Pages

The Youngers are a poor African-American family living in Chicago. An opportunity to escape poverty comes in the form of a $10,000 life insurance check that the matriarch of the family ( Mama) receives upon her husband 's death. In the beginning of the play Walter was selfish and wanted nothing but the ten thousand dollar insurance check from his dad 's death to invest in a liquor store to get rich quickly. Throughout the story Walter learns that his family being happy and moving into a new house was more important than his own selfish wants.

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1414 Words | 6 Pages

Walter goes into immediate denial, making excuses for where Willy, their second business partner, could be with the money. He continues on until he realizes “THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF MY [HIS] FATHER’S FLESH-” (128) and he had lost it all; he felt he lost his chance of pursuing a better life now that he had even lost his father’s support. His false pride is severely injured up until he is struck with an idea which he believes could save the family. He abruptly calls Mr.Lindner, who he had originally turned away, and tells him to come by because he wants to take his offer of being paid to not move into the new house.

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705 Words | 3 Pages

(114-115) By giving up the money, Walter is shown to be spontaneous and quick to trust. He made a quick decision about giving Willy the money, without even thinking about the consequences, which shows his spontaneity and trust issues. He also didn’t even think to put any money away for Beneatha and he just trusted Willy to get the license before actually getting to know him. The play A Raisin in the Sun, shows how Walter settles on a brisk choice to give his Mamas insurance money to the character Willy Harris so he could purchase an alcohol store. Thus, his choice accounts Willy Harris to steal the cash which causes an apathetic temperament in the story and makes lost expectation in the family.

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613 Words | 3 Pages

However, Walter cannot achieve his goals due to the fiends of poverty and racism. Another way of explaining Walter’s dream is he wants to rise above his social status and gain dignity, self-worth, and esteem. Walter believes that if he were to use the $10,000 his mom has to create a liquor store he can achieve his dream. However, when Mama’s dream of spending the money on a house conflicts with his Walter lashes at Mama and says,“What you need me to say you done right for? You the head of this family.

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As represented in the quote, Joseph Asagai, a symbolistic static character in the play, expresses the comparison of being an idealist who doesn’t give up on their dream, to a realist who limits themselves from achieving their goals. He compares life to an infinite line stating the idea, that life has an endless amount of possibilities and it’s up to each individual to decide whether or not to take on the challenge to achieve these goals. The play A Raisin in the Sun written by the prominent playwright and writer Lorraine Hansberry, discusses and depicts themes of conflict between expectation, the American Dream, and strength of family, circling around the main idea of “dreams”. She epitomizes this message through a variety of well thought out characters and their journey through life’s barriers in the 1950’s as an African American family. It primarily focuses on three members of the Younger’s family, and how their dreams either alter or defer over the course of the story.

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211 Words | 1 Pages

The american dream what is it, is it acceptance, is it succeeding in life?Well the youngers in the book raisin in the sun all have their own definition on american dream. The book A Raisin In The Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry is a interesting book and play. They are a family who argues, love each other, and care for each other. The family is loving and walter and his mother show the importance of love the most. Walter is showing His family the importance of the liquor store to him and what it can do for his family.

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671 Words | 3 Pages

An individual’s main life goal is not if they are successful or trying to achieve a certain amount of digits in their bank account, but it is if they are pursuing their American Dream. The ideal American Dream is living a comfortable life, being financially stable, and having the freedom to pursue happiness. With America’s poor economy, each year more Americans are unable to achieve their goals. Furthermore, our society would tend to favor the ones in the higher class. While most American citizens have an American Dream, ultimately only a portion of them is able to make their dreams a reality.

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889 Words | 4 Pages

Lorraine Hansberry wrote, A Raisin in the Sun, about the Youngers, an African American family, living in a racially segregated society in Chicago’s southside during the 1950s. The play begins with the death of Walter and Beneatha’s father. Due to his death, their mother, Lena, is being imbursed ten thousand dollars in life insurance money. Because of this, everyone has a different opinion on how the money should be divided among the

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869 Words | 4 Pages

So hearing from her son that money is the answer to everything did not settle with her so well. Walter and Mama’s arguments are very similar to Linda and her husband plus her son’s conflicts. With Mama and her family being a different race, money has not come by easy. Mama grew up in a harsh time frame, when being free and having families together was all that mattered. But since times have changed, Walter has grown up by being “free”.

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648 Words | 3 Pages

America is known as “The Land of Opportunity” and it established the concept of the American Dream in the 1900’s. The fight for this dream was prevalent even before it was given a name in 1930. The founding fathers wrote this belief into the constitution with the words “All Americans are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” .Some Americans believe that the American Dream can still be obtained in the 21st Century with hard work and perservance ; however, a majority of the American population among race gender and class has a different point of view on what America still provides to their citizens because economic insta8bility and lack of equal opportunity.

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858 Words | 4 Pages

Children are taught from an early age that the United States is a country founded on the glorious idea of the “american dream”. The american dream has been a term used to describe the hopes and success of those who attempt to make a living in the United States. It is described as an opportunity for all people to reach their maximum economic potential and be extremely wealthy. The achievement of the stereotypical american dream in the early 1900’s is exemplified by the many of the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby.

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466 Words | 2 Pages

He also demonstrates that he drinks too much and puts his drinking in front of his family, a bad habit that would be made worse if he owned a liquor store and had liquor more readily available. In act 2, scene 3, Walter faces the barrier of his money being stolen by Willy Harris (128). Immediately following the theft, Walter is crushed and wants to take the money the citizens of Clybourne Park raised to keep the Younger’s out of their neighborhood and use it to replace the lost insurance money (3.1 141,142). Finally, when faced with Linder, Walter has an epiphany and his dream changes to match that of his family. He realizes that

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