Posted by Emily Frost-Morgan (24.10.89.143) on June 23, 2005 at 9:30:49 p.m.:
Emily Frost-Morgan
ENGWR 301
Jeanne Guerin
Drama Essay
23 June 2005
“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore¬¬- and then run? Does it stink like rotten mean? Or crust over and sugar over- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?” (Langston 1371). This poem by Langston Hughes not only is the source for where Lorraine Hansberry called her play “A Raisin in the Sun” but the poem correlates with the main theme of the play, dreams. Like any other family in the world the Younger family had dreams and we are driven by those dreams, in wanting them to be fulfilled.
The Younger family lived in the ghetto, the poor South side of Chicago. Being a black family living in poverty around 1959, they endured racism and prejudice. Most of the action in the play takes place in the little apartment that houses their five family members. From the description of the apartment, “The Younger living room would be a comfortable and well-ordered room if it were not for a number of indestructible contradictions to this state of being. Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too many people for too many years” (Hansberry 1372).
Seeing past the worn out couch upholstery that have covers to hide the wearing and tearing, and the tables and chairs that were moved to disguise the worn places in the carpet, is a family that is full of pride and love and care. The small apartment and worn out atmosphere definitely does not describe the Younger family. The Younger family had dreams, as any other family in America. They had dreams as a whole, and had dreams individually.
Walter Lee Younger is the husband of Ruth, a father to Travis, an older brother to Beneatha and a son to Mama Lena Younger. Walter Lee Younger, who was also called brother in the play, is the protagonist of the play. Being that he had lived his whole life living in the ghetto and in poverty, he dreams of escaping poverty. Walter wanted to be able to live in a nice neighborhood. Though Walter has big dreams, he is not very sensible when it comes to them being fulfilled. Walter dreams of being a successful business man, in which he wants to buy a liquor store with the insurance check from his father’s death. Walter is so caught up in wanting to buy the liquor store and getting the insurance check he starts to ignore his family, especially his wife Ruth. When the insurance money did come, and his mother Mama Lena didn’t hand over the check to him to invest, Walter became hostile and bitter. When he found out that his mother had bought a house for the family with most of the insurance money, he told his mother that she had stolen his dreams “So you butchered up a dream of mine” (Hansberry) and before his Mama Lena could explain Walter stormed out of the room closing a door behind him like he was a little child instead of his son Travis being the child. Walter seems to take his wife Ruth for granted, always talking about his dreams and how she should back him up and be there for him when he really treats her badly.
Mama Lena is a proud mother to Walter Lee and Beneatha. She has pride and love for her family, which you can see from when she buys the house with the insurance money. Mama Lena dreamed of having a house with a garden so that her grandson Travis could play. Mama Lena is the antagonist of the play. She wants nothing more but for her family to live out of poverty and grow. Mama Lena intended on giving three thousand dollars, of the ten thousand, to Beneatha for her education. Mama Lena is a devout Christian, at one point in the play Beneatha uses God’s name in vain and Mama Lena scowls her and makes her repeat that there is a God in her place. When Walter loses the rest of the insurance money in a selfish act, she in the end forgives her son because her family is worth more to her than money.
Beneatha is Walter Lee’s younger sister. Beneatha is the foil of the play. She knows that there is a lot of money coming into the family’s hands but she also knows that it is her mother’s money. Though Beneatha is young, she has high aspects in life, dreaming of becoming a doctor. Everyone in the family gets on her for not following anything through completely but Beneatha is a free-spirited, feminist. “I don’t flit! I-I experiment with different forms of expression”. “People have to express themselves one way or another” (Hansberry 1384). Beneatha’s family question her if she was going to marry George Murchison, who is a rich black man, Beneatha see the real him and looked beyond his money. “He’s- he’s so shallow”, she sees that money isn’t everything and can not buy happiness. Beneatha is also a very outspoken, humorous person. Always saying what is on her mind and not caring what others think of her.
Ruth Younger is Walter’s wife. Throughout the play she is quiet and seems depressed. Ruth Younger has the same dream as the rest of her family, to live out of poverty. But Ruth also knows that they must make it through every day hassles and practicalities than just a dream. She just wants her family to be a family. Ruth comes off as a quiet and reserved character but she is not at all a weak one. She notices that her marriage is getting rough, and will argue with Walter’s hard-headed ideas. Though Walter takes her for granted, she is there for her husband.
Walter in a selfish act to fulfill his dream lost the rest of Mama Lena’s insurance money in an investment from an untrustworthy friend. As he lost the money, along with it he lost his family’s dreams. Mr. Lindner, from the welcoming committee for their house that Mama Lena bought, comes and tries to sell them out from buying the house in the white neighborhood. Walter basically jumps all over the notion; wanting the family to do it, because they would be getting the money they used to buy the house plus more.
Walter’s childish acting toward being greedy did not last that long, he finally grew up. He finally realized that Mama Lena wanted her family to be able to grow and fulfill all their dreams in moving out of their grungy apartment into a house of their own. Walter finally realized that money could not buy happiness; he overcame greediness and told Mr. Lindner that they were going to move into the house that was in an all white neighborhood. “And we have decided to move into our house because my father earned it for us brick by brick. We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, and we will try to be good neighbors...we don’t want your money” (Hansberry 1432).
The Younger family was a poor black family living in the South side of Chicago. They were a family like any other family. They fought, dealt with issues, had dreams but most of all they had each other. Being a black family that wanted to move into an all white community, they got their share of racism and prejudice. But because they had each other, they were able to stick together through the hard times and make their dreams come true. They prove that a family of love and pride is more important than a family that has money.
Word Count: 1303