Similarities Between The American Dreamer And A Raisin In The Sun

The American Dreamer The American Dream mean so much too so many but in very different ways. If you surveyed individuals to get a definition of the American Dream, I’m certain that the answers would be very diverse. This I attribute to the Dream being an individual thing and not one that can be defined by all individuals in the same manner. In this paper I orchestrate to show the dreams of several characters as described in two works, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Dreamer by Charles Johnson. In both of these works, albeit the dreams were different for these characters initially, the cessation result was for the same purposes. Those purposes being unity, prosperity, and serenity. To begin I’d like to direct attention to the initial dreams of each individual characters in in both books in addition to some similarities that I found between some of the characters. Walter was a son, husband and father desperately seeking success in A Raisin in the Sun. To
Beneatha unlike Walter, was supported by her hard working family and with that developed a sense of entitlement that was demonstrated in many ways throughout the play. She struggles with her identity as an African American woman due to other characters opinions of who she should be. She doesn’t see the world as her family does and does not wish to become someone’s wife and caretaker. She wants to be independent and is constantly criticized about her dream of becoming a successful doctor instead of a homemaker of some sort. She’s criticized by Walter in the beginning of the play for wanting to become a doctor and in response to that criticism, Beneatha says sarcastically, (Hansberry)“Well – I do – all right? – thank everybody! And forgive me for ever wanting to be anything at all! (Pursuing him on her knees across the floor) FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE