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What Is A Dream In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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Life can be full of false hope and promises, but what we decide to make of the situation is the defining factor. As children we dreamed of becoming doctors, lawyers, or business owners with the idea that our goal would be achieved. As we grow older and the time has come for our goals to be met we sometimes fall short or give up on our lifelong dream. Life can get in the way and things do not always turn out the way we intend it to. Our dreams do not seem as easy to obtain as they did when we were a child with a big imagination. In her play, A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry portrays characters who appear to be strong, determined, and hopeful when it comes to living out their daily lives and following their dreams. Early in the play we …show more content…

It is clear that he is unrelenting towards his family. When his father’s ten thousand dollar insurance check comes in the mail, he practically assumes that the money is his “Old Willy Harris put everything on paper” (1, p. 948). Walter has a dream to open a liquor business and does not have enough money to do so. He wants to take the insurance check in order to open the business, but his family does not agree and doubts him. He tries to show his family, his credibility by explaining to them that he has the liquor business all planned out. He begs his family to listen to him and tries to convince them that they will no longer have to live in poverty as long as he gets the money. Later, after being discouraged, Walter’s mother Lena has a change of heart and after receiving the money Walter becomes foolish and leaves the money in the wrong hands. Walter 's dream is destroyed when his friend comes to tell him “...when I got to the train station yesterday morning—eight o’clock like we planned… Man—Willy didn 't never show up” (2, p. 979). This shows that Walter’s ambitions, passion, and stubbornness to live out his dream have backfired and have caused his family

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