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What Is A Dream In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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What Is A Dream In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”- Pope John XXIII. Everybody has dreams or goals that they want to achieve in order to better their future, or the future of their family. Everybody also has challenges that they have to overcome in order to make these hopes and dreams come true. An example of this can be seen in Lorraine Hansberry’s most notable and landmark play A Raisin in the Sun. This groundbreaking play is about the younger family who are a poor black family that lives on the Southside of Chicago. In this play Walter, Elaine, Beneatha have …show more content…
He is the husband of Ruth, the brother of Beneatha, and the father of Travis Younger. He works as a chauffeur in the city. He dreams of becoming rich and being able to provide for is family, much like the white people he drives around. He wants to gives his family, especially Travis, with the things that he never had as a child. To try and achieve these dreams, he constantly tries and gets into some get rich quick schemes with his friends Bobo and Willy. Walter believes that these dreams are often deferred by his family, and himself. He often believes that his family, especially Ruth, are constantly putting him down and preventing him from elevating himself economically. Walter says in the play “that is just what is wrong with the colored women in this world… Don’t understand about building their men up and making ‘em feel like somebody” (1514). He feels like all women especially black women are always the one that hold their man down from achieving their goals and wants in life. He also blames society for his problems, because he is black. He thinks that since is black that is the reason why he can never get a descent and respectable job in life. The main reason that his dreams are deferred however is he. He constantly puts the blame on his family and society. While some of these reasons are partially true, he uses them more as a crutch and an excuse for not making anything of himself. He doesn’t take responsibility for his own hardships and learn that he has to work hard to be successful in life, which he doesn’t want to do. Walter’s dream is not the most important in this play because he wants to achieve his dreams more so for himself then his family. He wants to make these dreams happen for his own pride and ego, much like

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