Abstract
Many individuals dream about many things that they one day will like to accomplish. A Raisin in the Sun really does a great job showing the different struggles that may occur when trying to live your dreams. Research actually shows that dreams can add a positive concept to our lives and they encourage us to better and understand how there are many possibilities offered in life. This paper roughly explains that having a dream is something that is truly special. The Youngers are a prime example of many families who are suffering with trying to live a better life and continue to rise above the average society.
Family Full of Dreams
Dreams are something that every individual face throughout their life. A dream allows people to live above and beyond the ordinary. It gives people hope and momentum to try. In the play, A Raisin the Sun, there is a family who has many dreams they hope to fulfill, although in reality every dream may not be met. When the father dies and leaves a lump sum of money with the family everyone has a plan on what the can do with the money to live their dream. With the time period of segregation taking place, this makes it even harder for the family to successful live out their dream in a certain area of town, but with the hope and integrity of the Mother, she will do her best to make sure the right thing is done for the family and be able to live out her late husband’s dreams as well. A Raisin in the Sun depicts the struggles how life is full of dreams and possibilities, but ambition, a positive attitude, and to never give up on you dreams you will never be a raisin being dried out by the sun.
Having dreams is something I view as a push for a better a life. Ambition allows me to push myself to achieve those dreams. The Younger’s life is an example of how ambition plays a huge role in achieving a dream. Beneatha’s strong ambition to become a doctor is greatly tested when the family finally does have enough money to pay for her education, but with everyone one else’s dreams at state her dreams of becoming a doctor may have to wait. Beneatha states, “Well – I do – all right? – thank everybody! And forgive me for ever wanting to be anything at all! FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME! (Hansberry & Robert ,1.1.123). Although , she apologized to her family for even having dreams , she remained ambitious to her dreams of becoming a doctor despite, what her family thought about her goal as becoming a doctor was to “above her means”. Your family may not always agree with your dreams, but that never means to give them up or not to have any at all. According to article, Confusion in a Dream Deferred, the authors feels that, “the film thereby assures us that our deepest desires can only be fulfilled by walking away from them” (Kodat, pg.149). Beneatha did right by not choosing to walk away from her dreams . She did not let Walter discourage her in her decisions. Sometime we may come across family, or maybe even people who we do not know to try to detour us from having dreams and making us feel like we cannot do the impossible because nothing is considered impossible if you keep your ambition. When you have a dream it is important to believe in that dream from the beginning to the end . An example from a Medical Journal of Indonesia states,” Well as consolidation of editorial member, have been attempted in order to reach this big dream . And finally , this effort is fruitful. Besides this important gain, this achievement however, never means a reliefs of tension.” (Widjaja & Felix, pg. 1). In that editorial it talks about how how the achievement of making a journal would not have been possible of they did not believe in their selves from the start. This just ties back to Beneatha , because her wanting to become a doctor is very possible and just because she believes in herself from the beginning it will one day happen for her.
Having a positive attitude contributes tremendously to a dream. Ideally, we do not except people to dream about anything negative because that then would be considered a failure. After Big Walter’s death, Mama continued to keep her positivity in dreaming big for her family. Although things were not on top for her family she remained positive for example when she sates “Seem like God didn’t see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams – but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worthwhile.” (Hansberry & Robert ,1.1.206). Mama felt that her dreams were for her family success, she felt God blessed her with children which was a big enough dream for her, and that other dreams can wait. A Raisin in the Sun is also beneficially with helping people so empathy and not sympathy for one another . The Younger’s family really learned to remain positive and show that each family member really cares for one another and cherishes each dream . In the article , Is the “American Dream” of Homeownership and Equal Opportunity Goal, the authors mentions that the , “Drama we believe is particularly helpful in promoting the development of empathy and thereby allowing students to connect with the past.” (Viator & Halper , pg. 76). The story offers a framework to the how students can picture the American Dream, and also have empathy towards their dreams . this plays a huge role in the topic of positivity because empathy just give the better understanding of what you want and why you want it .
Sometimes dreaming complex can be a struggle that cause burdens on your life. Through out the story the son Walter dreams of becoming a business owner and when his father passed away he planned for his dreams to come true. Unfortunately, Walter dreams were to much for him to bare and even cause dangerous situation to come up. He
began to realize it after stating to Mama ,” I want so many things that they are driving me kind of crazy…Mama – look at me” (Hansberry & Robert ,1.2.222). Walter had big dreams for himself , but for his son Travis as well. Unfortunately, the family took a downfall after the men Walter was suppose to invest the money with for the Liquor Store , took it and ran . Another struggle the the family did face was their living situations and how Mama wants to move her family out of the black ghetto. In the article written by Gordon , she emphasizes their struggles they went through in the moving process was like war. Stated by Gordon , Hansberry makes the story appear to be an , “aesthetics of segregation” “to generate public testimony about urban black life, to represent her radically expansive notion of the real, and to provide a prophetic framework for anti-racist, anti- colonialist movements gaining force in the US and the world. Within the competing realities of black and white life, she dramatizes Chicago’s white supremacist social order, and exposes its connections to the Jim Crow South, capitalist enterprise, and colonialism.” (Gordon, pg. 121). When the Youngers did find a nice house in the white part of town they were unwanted. This really shows how your dreams can have struggles that get in the way and try to overthrow your desire for it. This really did upset the family , but they still maybe a way for the family to move out of the current house to a bigger house suited for the family. This does not mean that the dreams of Big Walter are not met, because they still moved on to bigger and better.
A dream is a dream for a reason. It may take the right mind set, support from yourself and other to achieve, but we know that any dream is possible. The Younger’s struggles leave readers with the knowledge of knowing that it is okay to dream for anything. Their family support at the end really drew this family closer and showed them risk are dangerous. I have always believed that dreams are meant to come true , and we dream because we want more for ourselves. Just keep dreaming and expanding possibilities , because no wants to be like a raisin left to dry in the sun.
Annotated Bibliography
Gordon, Michelle. “Somewhat Like War”: The Aesthetics of Segregation, Black Liberation, and “A Raisin in the Sun.” African American Review, vol. 42, no. 1, Spring2008, pp.121133. EBSCOhost,ezproxy.nsula.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.apx? direct =true&db=a9h&AN=36902365&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Abstract
This article talks about the segregation issue in the scene of the play when the family attempt to move. The author criticizes Hansberry by showing an Aesthetic Segregation toward the family. She also compares the situation to something like a war.
Hansberry, Lorraine, and Robert Nemiroff. A Raisin in the Sun. Vintage Books, 1994.
Abstract
A Raisin in the Sun is a story that depicts life as it was back in the 1950’s. The authors, Lorraine Hansberry does a great job giving a similar autobiography of her life and how it was filled with different dreams that her and her family wanted to come true. Robert Nemiroff contributed to the story with a spectacular introduction. At the time period of segregation made it hard for those dreams to become possible, but at the end things fell through for the entire family.
Kodat, C. G. (1998, Spring98). Confusion in a dream deferred: Context and culture in teaching A Raisin in the Sun. Studies in the Literary Imagination. p. 149.
Abstract
In this article the author talks about his American Literature of the 1950s classroom and he uses a Raisin in the Sun as a reference. He asks his class many questions and asked how they felt about the dreams of each of the characters. The class felt that with all the dreams the family had there would be some confusions on which dreams are possible in reality .
Viator, Martha Graham and Sara Halper. “Is the “American Dream” of Homeownership an Equal Opportunity Goal?” Social Studies, vol. 105, no. 2, Mar/Apr2014, pp. 75-79. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00377996.2013.850052.
Abstract
This article focuses on the play A Raisin in the Sun displays empathy among the family as the all try to pursue their dreams. This article compares it to the “American Dream” and how many high school students and relate to the play to understand the concept.
Widjaja Nafrialdi, Felix F. “The Dream Comes True–Start for the New Beginning.” Medical Journal of Indonesia, vol. 25, no. 1, Mar. 2016, pp. 1-2. EBSCOhost, doi:10.13181/mji. v25i1.1413.
Abstract
This is an editorial of a Medical Journal of Indonesia and how they had dreams of finishing and publishing their work. From the beginning to the end they worked really hard for the outcome. They were finally finished with the journal and were astounded by their journey of their dreams coming true.