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The Importance Of Dreams In A Raisin In The Sun

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Langston Hughes once said, “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, the Younger’s are a poor African-American family living in a tiny apartment. An opportunity to escape from poverty comes in the form of a $10,000 life insurance check that Lena, the mother, receives upon her husband 's death. Lena 's children, Walter and Beneatha, each have their plans for the money. The oldest son, Walter, wishes to invest in a liquor store. The younger sister, Beneatha, currently a college student, wants to use the money for medical school. Lena has plans as well for the money: she wants to buy a house for the family and fulfil her kids dreams. There are three main characters in this movie that have specific dreams are Walter, Beneatha, and Lena. Walter dreamt of becoming the owner of a liquor store. Through that he hoped that he would become independent and be the head of the family. Walter worked as a chauffeur for a rich white man and he was unsatisfied. Walter felt terrible because he was in his …show more content…

Lena wanted to use her husband 's insurance money for the children to follow and achieve their dreams. Lena is extremely worried about Walter 's obsession with money and Beneatha 's lack of faith in God. Still, she stays supportive of her children and still loves them unconditionally. Her nurturing personality is symbolized by the way she treats her houseplant. Just like her family, Lena 's plant lacks the necessary resources to flourish. Rather than giving up, Mama does all she can for it and has faith that one day it will truly thrive. Mama 's faith is put to the test near the end of the play when she trusts Walter with $6,500 that 's left from the insurance check. She feels misplaced and disappointed when Walter loses all of the money. However, Lena 's faith is redeemed when her son refuses to accept the bribe from Mr. Lindner. In the last moments of the play, Lena took pride in both of her

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By comparison, they will do anything to be able to fulfill their American Dream. Without a doubt, Walter would give up anything for wealth, since money runs the world. While Walter was having a conversation with his mother she says, “So now its life. Money. Money is life.

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At first, Lena, the mom, had control over the money from her husband's death. In (Act I, Scene 1), Lena says, "I'm telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be." But as the story unfolds, her son Walter wants to make his own decisions about money and his business idea. In (Act II, Scene 2), Walter insists, "A man needs a woman to back him up, yessir." Meanwhile, Beneatha, Lena's daughter, questions traditional rules and wants to find herself.

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He gets frustrated easily and sometimes makes bad choices. He clashes with his mom, Lena, who's more cautious and always thinks about what's best for the family. He says, "You don't understand. " This is my big chance, Mama. This is my big, I've got to do something with it..."(74)

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When Mr. Lindner offers his family money so they would not move into the white neighborhood, he was first considering it, but he finally understood that it was not right. Walter, was quite arrogant at first, but throughout the ending, he was more open-minded. He was the man of the household who believed that he had the best ideas even when he did not. Even though some of his actions led towards his family's disappointment it was all to create a better future not only for himself but his family too.

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Walter wants everything to be about him and only him. Mama told Walter, “You ain’t satisfied or proud of nothing”. Walter is only pleased if something goes his way or contributes to him. The money means the world to Walter and things having it all to his dreams will do so much for the family. Walter tells mama, “Do you know what this money means to me?

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In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry starts off with Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” to show what can happen to dreams that get caught in the middle of life. In Hansberry’s play a family of five African Americans live in a small crouched apartment on the south side of Chicago. Hughes’ poem relates to Hansberry’s characters because each one of them has a separate dream, however, not everyone’s comes true and “stink like rotten meat” (Harlem 6). The dream deferred can refer to anyone in the play. Ruth Younger, the wife of an abominable Walter Lee Younger, has dreams of moving out of the ratty old apartment and joining her family together for good.

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It shows this because Walter diminishes his sisters Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor by making a misogynist comment in which insinuates on her settling on being a nurse due to a doctor clearly being an often male dominant profession. Furthermore, Walter is deluded by greed on opening a liquor store which causes him to have no regard for the feelings or desires of others. Clearly, the central idea of the text is that in trying to achieve a dream it can bring out a person selfish tendency because people tend to disparage others dreams in order to attain theirs. The author 's use of conflict is important to the developing the central idea that oneself can become selfish when trying to obtain the American dream because it creates tension.

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Mama watches over her family every day. In the play, when Ruth finds out that she is pregnant, Mama helps her. Mama doesn’t make Ruth panic, Mama just cares for her. In Act I, Travis needs 50 cents for school. Ruth tells him no, but Walter gives it to him along with another 50 cents for school.

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In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry and the speech, “I have a Dream”, by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have many similarities to having many dreams, a urge for power, and a want to make a change in the world for the many years to come. In Lorraine’s play, Lena Younger, is a mother who has two children and a step daughter with a kid all living in a two bedroom apartment. Lena wants nothing more than to give her family a better life. In Dr. Martin Luther King speech he wants nothing more than to give the world a better life.

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Reader Response: 3 “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, is a play about a black families experience in 1950s South Side Chicago. The story revolves around what happens to the family when Lena Younger, the matriarch of the family, receives a ten thousand dollar life insurance check upon the death of her husband. Everyone from the family has different plans for what they want to do with the money. Lena Younger serves as the head of the family. She is Walter and Beneatha’s caring mother so they and Ruth call her Mama.

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Ruth states to Mama, “You know what you should do, Miss Lena? You should take yourself a trip somewhere. To Europe or South America or someplace—(…). I’m serious. Just pack up and leave!

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Trusting Walter, her son, she mistakenly gave him the money. Mama specifically told Walter to put away some money away for Beneatha Walter's sister. Like Walter Beneatha has big dreams. She wants to go to medical school

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In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Loraine Hansberry, both Walter and Mama have great dreams and encounter barriers on the path to achieving their dreams. Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and being able to better provide for his family, a dream that changes when he faces the barrier of his money being stolen by Willy Harris. Mama dreams of living in a real house with a garden and also encounters barrier of her money being stolen by Willy Harris. Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and being able to financially support his family. Walter’s dream is shown in act 1, scene 1 when he explains to Ruth how the liquor store he and his friends are buying will help their family have enough money to do more than just make ends meet (32,33).

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The family starts to tear apart as Walter decides to sell the house to Mr. Lindner and take the check. Mama and Beneatha try to explain to Walter that their family, through generations, would have never thought about taking money in hard times. Beneatha then begins saying that their dream of moving to a new house is now dead, which Walter replies, “What’s the matter with you all! I didn’t make this world. It was give to me this way!

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1499 Words | 6 Pages

She is clear- headed of what she wants. Although Lena is a woman of the 1950s, she is progressive. With the insurance money she received, she decides to buy a house in a white neighbourhood because she wants a better life for her family. Such a masculine personality in Mama comes from her experience to true oppression – slavery. Mama says that Walter is a “disgrace to [his] father’s memory” as she challenges Walter to fulfil his moral duty to succeed his father.

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