The American Dream In Wikipedia's Cycle Of Poverty

The Younger Family had worked all their lives to achieve the American Dream and faced setbacks that would push against them, diminishing their chance of success. One contributory hindrance that affected their achievement of the American Dream was their inability to break the cycle of poverty. Characterized by Wikipedia’s “Cycle of Poverty” article, the Youngers had what could be considered “low salary,” “business failure,” as well as “an inability to access resources such as land, finance, information.” They did have a low income, judging by their apartment size compared to its number of inhabitants and the death of Water Sr., the breadwinner of the family, which added to the fact that they were struggling so much to make ends meet. Their lack of economic stability is shown in Act I of the play, when Travis had asked his mother, Ruth, for fifty cents because he needed it for school, to which she replied, “Well, I ain’t got no fifty cents this morning.” Travis then asks about if Grandmama or Daddy would have the money, and even asked if he could help carry groceries after school even though he is only ten or
This reveals that the family is very tight on money, because they cannot afford to give fifty cents, even if it was for Travis’ school. The idea of business failure as a cause of poverty was not truly prevalent until the middle of the play, when Walter had decided to carry out his dream of opening a liquor store. To Walter, money was life, and he had lost all the money that was given to him by Mama ($6500) Not only his dream was crushed, but Beneatha’s funds for medical schooling was lost, and the money was all gone, which could have been used to support them and get them out of poverty. And getting out of poverty would be especially difficult with their lack of