Lorraine Hansberry 's A Raisin And The Sun, There Is A Poem By Langston Hughes

A delayed dream can be tough or sweet at the moment, but can overall benefit one in some way. In the play, Raisin in the Sun the Younger’s family is seen with various dreams being handled in different ways. The opening scene starts off with a poem by Hughes Langston called Harlem which brings out the certain problems the family faces with dreams. This poem relates to the characters dream in such cases, Walter relating to the line of festering like a sore, Mama relating to the line raisin in the sun, and Beneatha relating to the line crust and sugar over.

Dreams are important to everyone. Some little girls dream of being a ballerina while some little boys and even teenage boys dream of being a major league baseball player for their favorite team. In the famous drama A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, dreams have a prominent role. The title, even though there’s never a raisin in the drama, is important because: it refers to a poem written by famous poet Langston Hughes and it relates to the dreams of each of the characters.

Out of all the characters in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, there are two main ones that influence the plot. Mama and Walter impact the plot the most because both characters have different perspectives and their actions significantly shape the plot.

A Raisin in the Sun is a family drama about the importance of sharing a collective dream. A Raisin in the Sun is essentially about dreams, as the main characters struggle to deal with the oppressive circumstances that rule their lives.

Discrimination is seen constantly throughout the book A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Mrs. Hansberry has shown us that the 1950’s was a time of racism and she depicts it through her book and with her characters. Walter for example can’t even talk to Bobo on the street without a cop telling them something. She clearly demonstrates this through her book on how the 1950’s was like with racism, segregation, and gender inequality. In fact racism was a major part in her play and in the 1950’s.

     Beneatha is an intellectual. Twenty years old, she attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family. Some of her personal beliefs and views have distanced her from conservative Mama. She dreams of being a doctor and struggles to determine her identity as a well-educated black woman. She realizes her brother, Walter, dislikes the idea of spending the insurance money on the college tuition but is determined to be successful in her life: “BENEATHA: What are you talking about Ruth? Listen, I’m going to be a doctor … first I’m going to be a doctor! (I.i pg. 50)” Beneatha builds her frustration upon the doubts of her brother. When Walter

“The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it's possible to achieve the American dream.” This quote by Tommy Hilfiger perfectly explains how the Younger family in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry discovered the American dream. This play brings us through the struggles of an African American family living through racism and poverty during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Even with their many obstacles they eventually realize the American dream.

In Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” he discusses the idea of unfulfilled dreams and their plausible outcomes using symbolism and imagery. He initially describes a “deferred” dream as a sun-dried raisin, depicting the dream originally as a fresh grape that now has dried up and “turned black” (Jemie 63). This idea provides Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun with its basic foundation, for it is a play about a house full of unfulfilled dreams. As the poem goes on, Hughes depicts the idea of a deferred dream as something rotten or gone bad. According to Onwuchekwa Jemie, this may be an allusion to the American Dream and its empty promises (Jemie 64).

Have you ever played monopoly with cheaters? Although monopoly is just a game it’s not fun playing with cheaters, games like monopoly are a lot like living under systems. Especially when there’s cheaters involved because people don’t like living under systems when people in power aren’t fair. The historical fiction play A Raisin In The Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, is about the struggles of living under an unfair system for an African-American family in the 1950’s. This family is large and living in a very small home, in this time period that was common because people were still adjusting to the idea of racial equality in the U.S.

Beneatha, being somewhat of an outcast, understands that she does not have to follow the status quo of her society by becoming a housewife, so she decides to work hard in order to become a doctor. Beneatha wants to fulfill this dream because she realizes that she enjoys helping people, as she explains to Asagai after the money is stolen, “That was what one person could do for another, fix him up — sew up the problem, make him right again” (III.i.900). Beneatha wishes to help people by taking care of them and ridding them of their problems. She does not want to become the typical, by standing woman that is not able to help if there is a dilemma. Even after Willy runs off with all of the money, Asagai offers Beneatha a way to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor. Beneatha reveals this wonderful opportunity to Mama as they exit their apartment, “To go to Africa, Mama -- be a doctor in Africa”

There are several themes present in A Raisin in the Sun. The subjects of hope, dreams, and values are all recurring motifs throughout the play’s entirety. Despite the repressive conditions faced by the Younger family due to the racist and sexist societal views of the sixties, they still maintain a degree of hope throughout their ordeal. They hold onto the hope that, in the face of their circumstances, things will get better and they will be able to achieve their dreams. The symbolism used in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun helps emphasize the themes and tone of the play.

Lorraine Hansberry uses the Younger’s dreams as a symbol of the struggles African-Americans went through in the 1960’s. America, like Walter grew and changed in that time but there were still major issues. “A Raisin in the Sun,” teaches us that we must nurture and take care of our dreams but not let them blind us and take over our

“A Raisin in the Sun” and "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)," written by Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes, respectively, represent the complimentary themes of dreams. “A Raisin in the Sun” depicts a family’s struggle for survival. The Younger family who lives in Southside, Chicago, fights for their civil rights during the 1960’s. They each have dreams and goals. Hughes illustrates, in “Harlem” that sometimes dreams dry up like raisins in the sun. Two stories analytically provide unexpected irony at the end. Jason Miller’s article, “Foreground and Prereading,” references these pieces to illustrate ideas and obstacles in the character’s lives – defining how obstacles strengthen the family’s perseverance while demonstrating how dreams and hopes can be deferred but are not soon forgotten.

Her two grown children, Walter and Beneatha (Bennie), have high aspirations; Travis wants to open a liquor store and become a businessman man while Bennie is in college studying to be a doctor. Both hope that some of the insurance money will go in helping them achieve their respective dreams. Mama and her late husband always dreamed of owning a home. When Mama and Mr. Younger initially rented their apartment on the Southside, it was supposed to be a temporary residence before they bought their own house. But more than thirty years later, the family still resides in the same apartment. The Younger family composed of Mama, Bennie, Walter, his wife Ruth, and their child Travis, all live under the same cramped roof. The play is about the unmet dreams of each member of the family.

The title of this play, A Raisin in the Sun, reveals relevance to The Covenant School. The name of the play came from a poem by Langston Hughes about the outcome of dreams that do not become reality. The selection relating to the title reads: “What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?” (Langston Hughes). This quote is relevant because it is asking what happens when we put off our dreams. As a Covenant high school student, my peers and I have dreams for the future, and many of them will not be achieved for many reasons, like losing motivation or not having time. All the characters in A Raisin in the Sun have dreams, such as Walter’s dream to invest in a liquor store, or Beneatha’s dream to become a doctor. Most of these dreams in the play do not become a reality, similar to most dreams that high schoolers have. So, seeing how other people deal with their dreams helps high schoolers in dealing with their own dreams. For example, Walter’s lack of patience ended up destroying his dream, because he gave the money to someone that he should not