“I have a dream one day this nation will rise up and live up to its creed, we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal. I have a dream” (Martin Luther King Jr). Martin Luther King had a dream to end racism while that dream is pretty much been accomplished but can be better. A Raisin In the Sun is about achieving dreams but the dreams trying to be achieved by Walter Lee Younger and his family. In A Raisin In The Sun, Lorraine Hansberry shows that Walter's Dreams can be achieved in a positive way throughout the book these actions are shown through his interactions with his mom, wife,son, and his whole family.
In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Mama and Walter influence the plot the most. The play was taken place during the 1950’s Southside Chicago. Mama is a very loving, caring character that tries to take care of her family the best she can. Walter is selfish, wants what is better for himself and argues with everyone. The family struggles, they are poor living in a small apartment with five people.
Walter’s actions end up resulting in Beneatha betraying him by practically disowning him. Beneatha disowning Walter and betraying him will help him understand the feeling that everyone else in the family felt when he betrayed them by being careless with the money. After losing the money, Beneatha is greeted with an offer from Asagai to travel to Africa and become a doctor. Another example from the novel states, “Mama, Asagai asked me to marry him today and go to Africa” (Hansberry
Since the first scene, Walter’s sister Beneatha has been set apart from the rest of the family. Beneatha is ambitious and plans on becoming a doctor, but plans change once her brother loses all of her school money, and she consequently call him, “ nothing but a toothless rat” (ARITS 3.1.117). Beneatha becomes dissatisfied with her dream when it now seems so out of reach. Her character begins to develop deeper when the neighborhood committee threatens her family’s honor. After a long talk with Mama, Beneatha takes a different approach with Walter when she backs him up saying “ That’s what the man said” (ARITS 3.1.121).
“Well we are dead now. All the talk about dreams and sunlight that goes on in this house. It's all dead now” (143). This illustrates that Beneatha has given up on her dreams, saying that they are dead because she can't become a doctor. The reason she can't go to medical school is because Walter gave away Big Walters insurance money to Willy Harris, who then stole it.
A Raisin in the Sun, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry, follows the Younger family and their struggle to achieve their dreams. Beneatha, a member of the Younger family’s, dream is to become a doctor and escape the poverty and racism attached to her family. Throughout the play, we see Beneatha as an individual who does not conform to societal expectations. In A Raisin in the Sun, societal oppression and family pressures cause Beneatha to be passionate in the pursuit of her dreams. In A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha is represented as a passionate figure, changing the demographic of women during the ‘nineteen fifties’.
Beneatha wants her brother to realize that he should stand up to the man. To say what Walter actually wants to say not what he wants the man to hear. She doesn't want him to take the money because this will give the man power over her brother which she doesn't want at all to happen. With this said the audience understands why she is angry at her brother, by the mistreatment they have to endure yet she begins to take it to far when she calls him names like “toothless rat” and questions his manhood. Some of the obstacles that she has are herself, and her family.
This is a major moment for Beneatha’s role in the family. Up to this point, she has separated herself from the rest of the family because she was solely concerned with her personal dream of self-advancement, but now she has no other choice but to become dependent upon her family while she is determining what she needs to do. Not only but also another issue that Beneatha has been subconsciously distraught about is the fact that Walter has never supported her dream of becoming a doctor. She does not outwardly seem to be seeking his approval, but his encouragement of her dream would mean so much to
This shows his lack of faith in his sister's plan to become a doctor and pursue the American Dream and it also shows how she couldn’t become a doctor due to the gender roles at the time. He thinks the only way she can be wealthy is to get married to a rich man. Beneatha has an optimistic view of the American dream, thinking that she can get out of poverty by getting a job that helps people along with getting money for the family, and she believes that having good intentions is a good way of living. Her optimism is shown in the quote “BENEATHA. Get over
Walter desperately holds onto the possibility of his dreams coming true, denying the fact that he has been swindled. Tenney 3 He knows that he has not only ruined his own dreams by trusting Willy Harris, but he has also seriously jeopardized Beneatha's plans to go to medical
The first part of her dream may be deferred because of the money Walter loses. Her dream is also one deferred for all women. Beneatha lives in a time when society expects women to build homes rather than careers. As for saving her race from ignorance, Beneatha believes she can make people understand through action, but the exact course she chooses remains unclear at the end of the play.
she sarcastically asks her brother (Hansberry 8). Walter has many reasons why she doesn’t want Beneatha to go to medical school. Walter believes it’s too expensive, women shouldn’t be in the medical profession and he’s selfish about his own dreams. On the contrary, this controversy doesn’t discourage her “I’m going to be a doctor” she says, demonstrating her great ambition (13). She is determined, Beneatha sticks to her dreams no matter what conflicts she faces, she will find a way to get to where she wants to be.
In other words, to become a doctor. Beneatha’s dream of helping others vanished after Walter loses all of the insurance money. While explaining the current situation to Asagai ,Beneatha describes herself as “nothing” (Hansberry 132).This shows that she has given up and “stopped caring” (Hansberry 133) about her dreams. At this moment, Beneatha feels very pessimistic because after her dream was taken away she feels as if there is nothing good left for her in life.
Despite an individual’s race, demographics, and origin, most people have the desire to live a prosperous lifestyle. In many cases, to achieve this prosperous life, one must endeavor to overcome great obstacles. For instance, the characters in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, a play about a black family who all have aspirations of obtaining the American Dream, expect their goals to come easily. Achieving any goal is difficult but for these characters, racial boundaries make their dreams harder to achieve. Walter and Beneatha are all adamant about accomplishing their goals; however, they fail to notice their own characters flaws that stand in their way.
In A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha feels the sting of sexism when Walter comments on her dream to become a doctor. According to the text, Walter inquires about her decision quite frequently, and even remarks that there “ain’t many girls who decide … to be a doctor” (Hansberry 39). To achieve her vision for the future, Beneatha cannot afford to be discouraged by her own family. She wants to find her identity, her soul.
