How Does A Raisin In The Sun Struggle To Have A Dream

The play A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry is essentially about dreams. The main characters struggle to deal with the brutal positions that they are put in, eventually having to put off their dreams. The title of this play credits a theory that Langston Hughes possesses in his poem, “Harlem”, where he wrote about dreams that were forgotten or delayed. He pondered if having a deferred dream is similar to having a dream shrivel up “like a raisin in the sun” (Langston Hughes). All members of the Younger family have a dream. This fantasy of theirs has a vast impact as they struggle to make their dreams become a reality. Dreams are important and they cause people to pursue at all costs a goal they would like to accomplish. The recurring
theme of the American Dream is seen in the play and is shown in the character Walter Lee Younger. Walter is Mama’s oldest child and Beneatha’s brother. He is also married to Ruth and is Travis’ father. Walter is a “lean, intense young man” in his mid-thirties and his “nervous movements and erratic speech habits” characterize his behavior. Walter struggles to define his position within the family and Mama’s eventual decision to make him head of the household refortifies his personal identity. Shackled by poverty, Walter is obsessed with a business idea that he thinks will solve all of his social and economic problems. He hopes that investing in a liquor store will suddenly accumulate all the money he will ever need. He finds his job as a chauffeur to be emasculating and he believes that with this he will improve himself socially and will be looked up to by all the people who (he believes) do not think much of him as a man.