A Raisin In The Sun American Dream Analysis

From a young age everyone develops a dream that they strive to reach at some point in their life. For many Americans, that dream is the American Dream. However, that specific dream rarely ever comes true. Throughout “Harlem” by Langston Hughes and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the theme is: Dreams may develop, transform, or be destroyed, without the dreamer having any control. Everybody in the Younger family had a dream and their dreams are reflected in each of the verses in “Harlem.” Lorraine Hansberry conveys the theme through character development throughout the play. Langston Hughes conveys the theme using descriptive smells and sights to describe the themes. In A Raisin in a Sun, the main character, Mama has a dream in the beginning of the play, by the end of the play Mama dream has changed completely because of outside sources and a new outlook she develops on life. Ever since Beneatha and Walter were little, Mama dreamed to move her family out of the ghetto and into a house with a yard, a place for her to garden, and her family to live peacefully.. Her dream was deferred when she and her husband moved into the tiny little apartment. Everyday her dream allowed her to …show more content…
In the poem Langston Hughes states “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” A dream full of potential and hope becomes worthless in a matter of minutes, just like a raisin drying up in the sun. The readers can visualize the raisin drying up in the sun, by using that comparison Hughes allows readers to understand that the dream, once so full of hope, is never going to happen. Hughes also says “Maybe it sages - like a heavy load?” Hughes now allows the readers to understand that the dream has now become a burden to the dreamer. Readers envision the dream sagging low and aggravating the dreamer. Because of the displeasure the the dream causes the dreamer, the readers can infer the dream will never come