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A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

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“Every dream has a story behind it”

In “A Raisin In The Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, all of the characters in the play have difficult dreams. Each individual dream answers the question in the poem, “What happens to a dream deferred?” Mama, Walter, Beneatha and Ruth’s dreams come with many obstacles that discourage them; however, throughout the play it results to building their character. At the end of the play, the Youngers come together as a family to fight for what is right. Hansberry chose “A Raisin In The Sun” to portray that even with the difficulties of trying to pursue dreams like a “raisin” being dried out; the “sun” is the hope to a brighter future for each character. Therefore, the characters dreams being deferred represent the meaning behind the title “A Raisin In the Sun”.

The dreams of Mama are brought out to be the main source of believes for the family. Buying a new house for mama is a better hope for the future for the union of the family. Dealing with the families’ financial struggles, it inspired mama to make a drastic change in order for their family to overcome poverty. According to, J. Charles Washington, from the article “A Raisin in the Sun' Revisited”, “In fact, she is still a fighter, and she proves it by buying the house to bring about the change she now feels is needed for her family's welfare…”(Washington par.10). Mama’s dream is being deferred when Walter loses the insurance money. For example, mama putting her trust on her own son and putting forth to believing in him shows her hope for a better future. Even after the raisin is being dried up in the sun, at the end of the play, Mama’s dream for a better life for her family, getting a new house with her own garden shows how the...

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... Window. Lorraine Hansberry. Ed. Robert Nemiroff. New American Library, 1987. 9-20. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz and Cathy Falk. Vol. 62. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Hansberry, Lorraine. “A Raisin In The Sun”. Literature For Composition, 10th Edition, 2014. Print.

Washington, J. Charles. "'A Raisin in the Sun' Revisited." Black American

Literature Forum 22.1 (Spring 1988): 109-124. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz and Cathy Falk. Vol. 62. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Weales, Gerald. "Thoughts on A Raisin in the Sun." Commentary 27.6 (June 1959): 527-530. Rpt. in Drama for Students. Ed. David M. Galens and Lynn M. Spampinato. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
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