Raisin In The Sun Dreams

In the play a Raisin in the Sun, the characters have dreams that represent a desire to achieve something, to be something, and to have something as their own. Dreams represent a subconscious drive, which creates the desire to be willing to do whatever it takes to complete that goal. It is a passion that will go unsatisfied without completion, that could turn into depression and loss of hope.

For Walter Lee Younger, dreams are everything. Walter’s character in the play revolves around the hope that his dream will come true. He desperately wants to be somebody in the world. He wants to be someone that is respected, someone able to acquire the better things in life, to provide for his family. He wants to be somebody other than a chauffeur whose vocabulary consists of “Yes, sir; no, sir; very good, sir; shall I take the Drive, sir?”-pg. 73. A chauffeur that only opens and closes doors for the rich white folk with a big fake happy grin on his face.

As his dream slowly gets squashed and pummeled, he has no hope left. He becomes more and more depressed. Walter
feels as if he has one chance to make this dream come true. One opportunity to turn his life around by using his father's life insurance money, yet sadly for Walter, it belongs to his mother. He needs the money to start up a new liquor store, along with Willie Harris and Bobo. A liquor store that he believes will make him somebody, because he will be an owner of a business with respect. Unfortunately for Walter, finalizes his proposition and gives it to his mother, she squashes his dream with a single sentence. “And there ain’t going to be no investing in no liquor stores.”- pg. 70.
Beneatha Younger’s pursuit of a dream is also quite similar.
She wants to become somebody in the fact to be a doctor. Her pursuit is to not be like all the other woman of the time and to marry some rich person to provide for her, she wants to make a living and life all by herself. She even says she doesn’t know if she will get married at all. She attempts to push through her “role” in society, through other characters. An example of this being George Murchinson. He tries to fit into the rich man culture with his “faggoty white shoes” as Walter so kindly puts it. Although everyone in the family says she should marry him, she doesn’t want to because she doesn’t want to stick with society's norms. She instead admires Asagai, who treasures the past and heritage of his culture, and all the african americans culture too. She battles her way through the field that men dominate, even today;
medicine.