Like the America’s Playhouse production for television, it restores to the play two scenes unknown to the general public, and a number of other key scenes and passages staged for the first time in twenty-fifth anniversary revivals and most notably, the Roundabout Theatre’s Kennedy Center production on which the television picture is based. America’s history of racial tension between black Americans and white Americans is established in the Youngers’ everyday lives. All of them have dreams and aspirations. Due to the unfortunate circumstances the Youngers face, Hansberry excellently correlates this to the reality of today’s times. Hansberry approaches the narrative with a positive attitude despite the grim circumstances.
Lena Younger (also called Mama), her son Walter, and her daughter Beneatha, along with Walter’s wife Ruth and son Travis, each have a dream they are striving to make come true. Mama and Ruth wish to leave their small apartment in the poor, Black section of Southside Chicago, and move into a bigger house in a predominantly white neighborhood. Walter wants to open a liquor store so he can be his own boss and not have to work for others. Beneatha dreams of attending medical school. For the longest time, these dreams have been on hold, causing each family member to be frustrated with life. Beneatha and Walter are more self-centered in their considerations. Beneatha wastes money on trivial pursuits and focuses on her personal relationships, while Walter is oblivious to everyone else’s needs, except possibly his son’s, in his obsession with becoming a businessman. Travis manipulates all the adults in the play to achieve his own ends. The death of Lena’s husband and the ensuing $10,000 insurance check create an opportunity for the family members to realize their dreams. Hansberry effectively compares this to the reality of that era.
The idea of hope and dreams that Black people had during that time of discrimination and segregation, and how the Youngers have hope of being successful, shows how everyone wants to achieve their dreams and the best for each other. In the play, dreams and aspirations motivate the characters to improve their lives; their dreams give them hope that one day they can become something beyond what’s expected of them. They hope that by accomplishing their dreams, it will bring fulfillment that hasn’t been present in their lives before. However, the way they pursue these dreams depends on the kind of person they are. Dreams are good, but if a dream isn’t met or fulfilled, difficult and bad decisions can be made. Each character has goals they feel they need to fulfill to be successful and accomplished. The prospect of having $10,000 in their hands has made the Younger family eager and anxious to finally fulfill their aspirations, and since their dreams are very different, some tension arises among them.
Hansberry has a fairly positive and optimistic view of the American Dream. She rightly concedes that for people of color, specifically African Americans, there are significant challenges in terms of race and society’s perception of it that make this pursuit difficult. She also accurately depicts that economic class plays a large role in how one can pursue their version of the American Dream. Yet, she rightly does not confine people to these stratifications in their pursuit of the American Dream. Hansberry’s view of the Dream appears to be that it is difficult and requires a sense of spirit and commitment to pursue it. She also suggests that there are many distractions on this journey that one must be aware of. In this sense, those who are in pursuit of the American Dream are no different than Homeric characters who must navigate through much adversity on their quest, and even then, success is not guaranteed. For every Odysseus, there are more Hectors. For every successful person, there may be more Bobos or prying neighbors who envy others. In the end, Hansberry believes that the pursuit of the dream is worthwhile, in that it allows our own growth and strength. She acknowledges Hughes’ literary work but offers a vision that might diverge from its last line.
Ambition is something many people desire. The mindset or belief that anyone can be successful if they work hard for what they’ve been wanting is considered to be an ideal life; it can be filled with money, happiness, or even love. Walter says that ambition is usually money and how Mama can’t use it in the right way. Walter later responds that money is life, explaining to Mama that success is now defined by how much money someone has. This conversation takes place early in the play and reveals Mama’s and Walter’s economic struggles. However, when Walter plans to accept Mr. Lindner’s offer, Walter is not concerned with the implications of the deal. It was a way to recover some of the lost money. Hansberry challenges Walter’s interpretation of the ambition by forcing him to confront the deal in front of his son. Walter’s inability to deal with Mr. Lindner marks a significant turnaround in his interpretation of ambition. Walter realizes that money is not everything and that family is more valuable. During the late 1950s, money was defined as one of the main characteristics of a man, and who that man would become. Walter’s dream is to earn enough money to provide for his family, suggesting that his ambition is also misplaced, as money was a big part of his dream. This act of standing by your family to achieve the ambition of succeeding regardless of who you are and where you come from unites them. They learn to support one another and place their families before themselves. By owning a house, having high morale, and the support of their family, each of them is on their way to fulfilling their ambition. For Mama, success is growth and putting her family first. Her struggling plant is a symbol of this. Mama feels that if she can keep her family together and happy, she is successful. But Walter has an opposing view of success. He wants to be his own boss, make his own money, and do whatever he wants. He is tired of having his male role taken, whether it is by all the women in the house or by being a chauffeur to a white man. He knows that he is not the head of the household and feels unsuccessful as a man because of it. Hansberry portrays how Black people had the task of trying to be accepted or please the white community. Even today, Black people have to find a way to gain respect from white people and want them to accept us for who we are. An example would be when Mama used some of the check from the insurance to buy a house in an all-white neighborhood. The community already living there sent a representative of the committee to deter them from settling there. They also said that “Negro families ought to be happier when they live in their own communities.” They believed that Blacks were not good enough to stay in the same neighborhood as them. Though this doesn’t stop her from buying the house despite her concern over recent attacks on Black families that move into white neighborhoods, Lena summons up her spirit and pride and makes the move.
The importance of family is a crucial aspect of this play. The Youngers struggle socially and economically throughout the play but unite in the end to realize their dream of buying a house. Mama strongly believes in the importance of family, and she tries to teach this value to her family as she struggles to keep them together and functioning. Walter and Beneatha learn this lesson about family moving forward when Walter must deal with the loss of the stolen insurance money and Beneatha denies Walter as a brother. Even facing such trauma, they come together to reject Mr. Lindner’s racist overtures. They are still strong individuals, but they are now individuals who function as part of a family. When they start to place the family and the family’s needs before their own, they merge their individual dreams with the family’s dream.
“A Raisin in the Sun” portrays some weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. This money comes from the deceased Mr. Younger’s insurance policy. Each of the adult family members has an idea about what they would like to do with this money. The matriarch of the family, Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with her husband. Mama’s son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. He believes that the investment will solve the family’s financial problems forever. Walter’s wife, Ruth, agrees with Mama, hoping that she and Walter can provide more space and opportunity for their son, Travis. Finally, Beneatha, Walter’s sister and Mama’s daughter, wants to use the money for her medical school tuition. She also wishes that her family members were not so interested in joining the white world. Beneatha instead tries to find her identity by looking back to the past and to Africa.
As the play progresses, the Youngers clash over their competing dreams. Ruth discovers that she is pregnant but fears that if she has the child, she will put additional financial pressure on her family. When Walter says nothing to Ruth’s admission that she is considering abortion, Mama puts a deposit on a house for the entire family. She believes that a bigger, brighter living space will help all of them. This house is in Clybourne Park, a wholly white neighborhood. When the Youngers’ future neighbors learn that the Youngers are moving in, they send Mr. Lindner, from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to offer the Youngers money in return for staying away. The Youngers refuse the deal, even after Walter loses the rest of the money ($6,500) to his friend Willy Harris, who persuades Walter to invest in the liquor store and then runs off with his money.
“He brings her gifts and has a special nickname for Beneatha in his language. Beneatha has ambitions to become a doctor, which would be a significant accomplishment considering the standing of the Younger family. Asagai brings her a robe from Nigeria and encourages her to wear her hair naturally. He has a nickname for her: Alaiyo, which means One for Whom Bread Isn’t Enough. Both the gift and the name are appropriate for Beneatha, because she wants to become someone else, a better version of her current self. The African clothing can also be seen as a symbol of pride in oneself, a quality needed in the Younger family.” (Sparknotes)
This essay examines the characters’ aspirations and struggles within the context of societal and familial expectations, illustrating Hansberry’s portrayal of the pursuit of the American Dream amidst the harsh realities of racial and economic challenge.