Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun - Dreams

A Raisin in the Sun - Dreams

Dreams

The play A Raisin in the Sun demonstrates the hardships and successes

of the members of a black family living in the south side of Chicago

during the 50’s. For the Youngers, dreams are life. They are what

bring the family together and pull it apart throughout the play. Each

member of the family has a particular dream, and each of those dreams

is like a wall being built between its owner and various other members

of the family. Everyone’s dream straddles the line between selfishness

and goodness for the family; however, some, like Walter’s, seem to be

pulled more by the gravity of selfishness. Both Mama and Ruth share

the same dream, but each has a slightly different reason for her

preference.

Walter’s dream is the most apparent from the beginning of the play,

and he presses his family and himself until he accomplishes his goal.

Walter focuses so much on his dream, however, that he leaves no room

for his family. One may ask, why is he so intent on his dream? Walter

is out to prove something to himself, to his family, and to the world.

He needs to show people that he is a man and is responsible. No one

ever trusted Walter with anything important as can be seen when he

says, “Ain’t nobody with me! Not even my own mother!” (Hansberry, 85).

In all of his life, Walter was not allowed to grow into a man and bear

the responsibility of his life and the lives of his family. Mama has

always been the head of the family, and Walter never got the chance in

his childhood to take responsibility with less important matters;

therefore, when he is handed a check for $6500, Walter does what he

never had the chance to do before. Walter’s father was a proud man who

wanted his family t...

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...s possessions in the minds of many people. They can

tear apart a family like the Youngers, or they can grasp and control a

mind like that of Walter. However, dreams are items not easily left

behind, and if they were, what would become of the people who owned

them? Dreams make up a part of the life of humans that without, who

can say where life may lead a person. Probably nowhere. For without

dreams, a human has no ambitions and no desire to make any impact upon

the world. Without dreams the human race would be one of idle

creatures that desire nothing more than to be like the cockroaches in

this play, searching only for the necessities of life between periods

of sleep. Maybe that would be better, though, for someone like Walter;

after all, what has he done but be a burden upon society? Or will he

someday succeed because of a dream, if only through his son?