Comparing Sonny's Blues And A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry

In James Baldwin's short story, "Sonny's Blues" and in Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun both address the gist of the "American Dream". The term "dream" for Baldwin and Hansberry means going through the worst to realize the best. In Baldwin's short story, Baldwin goes through the worst in life dealing with many hardships. He takes drugs to ease the tensions he has. He realizes what's best for him is music. Music is what helps him communicate about everything. In Hansberry's play, each character goes through the worst by living in one place together. The family places problems living together, whether it's the money, roaches, and their dream. However, in the end, the family realizes what's better for them. They realize that family is what matters the most than their dream. Also, that dreams can come later,
Each family hopes to achieve their dream. In "Sonny's Blues," Sonny has a dream to become a musician. His brother questions him by saying, "are you serious?"(258). Sonny responds back by saying, "Hell yes, I'm serious"(258). Sonny feels confident about his dream, which makes it seem realistic and achievable. However his aspirations don't seem illusory or unattainable, but for his brother it does. It's because of how his brother feels dissatisfied with him wanting to become a musician. He doesn't see the point of why he would want to become a musician and how he could make it a living out of it. In A Raisin in the Sun, the Mama has a dream to get a house, Walter has a dream to start a liquor shop, and Beneatha has a dream to become a doctor. Mama's dream is realistic and achievable because of what she mentions to Ruth. She mentions to Ruth that "we [could] use part of the insurance for a down payment and everybody kind of pitch in"(8). The mama feels that by doing this can actually help her family. Walter's aspirations seem