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Essay Comparing The American Dream And A Raisin In The Sun

1912 Words8 Pages

The quest for a just American society represents a treacherous journey filled with upheavals that threaten achievement of the famous American Dream. The Library of Congress posits that “The American Dream” refers to a national ethos of the US that are founded on ideals of democracy, liberty, rights, opportunity, and equality, geared towards freedom, reflected in the opportunity for prosperity and success. The freedom also includes upward social mobility for family units achieved through hard work in an enabling environment. The definition of the American Dream entails equal opportunity for everyone based on ability or achievement, social class or birth circumstances notwithstanding. The foundation of the American Dream has its roots in the …show more content…

Putting this thesis into perspective requires, first, understanding that the American Dream consists of tenets about achieving success. One important attribute associated with success is that it “often involves stepping on others” (Hochschild 17). A closer look at A Raisin in the Sun reveals that racial discrimination is an impediment to equal opportunities to success in the American society. Comparing the scenarios in the two plays illustrates that the American Dream fails the test of equal opportunity, thus rendering it unattainable by all Americans. Mama reckons that it seems God saw it unfit to give a black man nothing but dreams … (Hansberry). The characters in the play are conscious about the implication of their being people of color in relation to pursuit of the American Dream. For instance, Georges, an assimilated black man, denies their African roots by assuming a “smarter than thou” attitude. On the other hand, Joseph Asagai opted to move to Nigeria to practice medicine. Unlike in Death of a Salesman where equal opportunities present themselves depending on one’s effort, George and Asagai, in A Raisin in the Sun recognize that they have to change their personality and context respectively for them to get equal opportunity and freedom to pursue their

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