A Raisin In The Sun And The American Dream

The idea of the American Dream was first introduced in the mid 1900's, it was the idea that everyone had the equal opportunity to achieve happiness and financial stability. People that believed that equal education and determination could lead them to content, but in reality, many struggle to make ends meet after letting their dreams collect dust. While the majority of people can achieve the American Dream, it is much more difficult to succeed unless one is wealthy to begin with. The play, "A Raisin in the Sun", captures the struggle of young Americans who want to own their own house, become a doctor, start a business and maybe even leave a legacy. All of these dreams are unique, but they all have one thing in common, they all require a decent
amount of money to pursue. Walter Lee is the main focus of the story, he lives with his wife, son, sister and mother in a cramped apartment located in Chicago during the 1950's. Their futures are quite bleak because Walter is a chauffeur, Ruth (his wife) is a maid and Beneatha (his sister) is a student who is unsure how she is going to pay for medical school. The story begins when the family receives a 10,000 dollar check for Mr. Lee's life insurance. Earlier that day, Walter rants on about how he is set on starting a liquor store with his friends with the money after he his friend Charlie Atkins made hundreds of thousands of dollar from his dry-cleaning business, while his wife just tells him to eat his eggs. Walter says "That’s it. There you are. Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs. Man say: I got to take hold of this here world, baby! And a woman will say: Eat your eggs and go to work. Man say: I got to change my life, I’m choking to death, baby! And his woman say your eggs is getting cold! (1.1 33) which shows that he his trapped in the repetitive loop of life with nothing bright in his future. The only way out of his depressing life is money, which he finally now has. His mother, on the other hand, disapproves of selling liquor since she is a devout christian, but his wife tells her, "Mama, something is happening between Walter and me. I don’t know what it is – but he needs something – something I can’t give him anymore. He needs this chance, Lena." (1.1 42). His entire family starts to see how hellbent he is on starting his liquor business and Lena (his mother), finally gives in. His sister is more reasonable because she wants to use the money for medical school, but Walter thinks that too far-fetched. She bickers with him all the time but one day she says " And forgive me for ever wanting to be anything at all! FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME!" (1.1.123), she wants to be successful and important just like her brother.
Mama just wants a larger house to live where there's a small garden in the backyard and a home they don't have to share a bathroom with everyone living on the same floor. Mama's dream is materialistic which obviously require money, but even achieving dreams like Beneatha's and Walter's require money too. While the characters in the play couldn't achieve the dreams, many US citizens and immigrants still struggle to become financially content.
Back in the 50's, bankers and blue collar laborers lived together in the same neighborhoods and their children went to the same schools. Nowadays "The American dream has morphed into a split-screen American nightmare…" (Putnam). The bankers prosper financially but the workers either get replaced by machines, or get paid even less. The statistics show it too, from 2007 to 2012, "The richest 5% earned $28,000 more, while the poorest 20% saw income drop $4,000."(Mendoza). The wealth gap increases even larger today, indicating that the poor stay poor while the rich get richer. Another sign of the increasing income gap is the subtle separation of housing. The wealthy can outbid the average person for rent and that means that city area housing is absurdly high. "An $800-a-month, two-bedroom apartment near AT&T's Dallas headquarters would cost about $1,700 near Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. Dental visits, hamburgers, washing machine repairs, movie tickets - all are above national averages." (Mendoza). The wealthy, have in fact influenced entire cities and made it only accessible to them. While the rich prosper many have given up. Arwin Buditom, an Indonesian immigrant, moved here for a brighter future but reality has hit hard. He has been in America for 30 years, but Arwin still works as a security guard for a multi-billion tech company for only $13 an hour. When interviewed by USA Today, he claims, "I'm so passed over by the American Dream, I don't even want to dream anymore… It's impossible to get ahead, I'm just trying to survive."(Mendoza). Another struggling person is Joseph Farfan. He is an electrician/plumber for multi-billion dollar company yet he still has rely on his local food pantry to afford rent and living expenses (Mendoza). These jobs are not seen as valuable, so the only way to be financially stable
is to have an expensive higher education which requires a great deal of wealth to begin with.
In conclusion, the American dream was always more difficult for some to achieve, but the main problem is one's financial situation. In reality and in fiction, character struggle to be happy and consider themselves successful unless wealth is involved.