Posted by Gary Walmer (67.172.168.223) on June 23, 2005 at 12:58:26 a.m.:
In Reply to: Re: A Raisin in the Sun and "Harlem" Wednesday Discussion posted by Gary Walmer on June 22, 2005 at 6:55:11 p.m.:
>>Discuss the title of A Raisin in the Sun
>>and the connection with Langston Hughes poem
>>printed right before the play.
>>Read and respond to your classmates
>>(8 sentences minimum).
>Raisin in the Sun was a title I did not prefer. I thought a Jury of her own peers had more depth and practical application that was addressed in the content of the story. Langstons Hughes poem "Harlem (A Dream Deferred) did not do much for me. Asking a question in the beginning of the poem brought the emphasis into a specific. I prefer poems, which allow my mind to wonder some. How the connection between the poem and the title of the play come into focus, is the authors view of the protagonists dreams being left to die. It seems obvious that her dreams were not even considered by her husband. The story however never addresses these dreams. Instead it leaves the reader with a view from the outside which allows them to imagine. I prefer this sort of writing which cause my mind to see through the trees in order to see the whole forest.
OPPS
I just realized I addressed the poem to the previous play. Having my mom go into surgery for a tumor being removed is a little stressful.
The poem addresses dreams not fulfilled. Our hero is faced with these same thoughts. His desire to fulfil big dreams is his driving force. He is so swept away in those desires that he almost explodes. If you see the poems flow of a dream left on the ground like a raisin in the sun, you can get an idea of how dreams can end up. Starting off as a fruit filled with life and energy. This fruit then falls to the ground where it becomes sweeter every day as it lies in the sun. After time however if this fruit is not picked up and eaten it begins to rot. So are the dreams of Walter who feels his time has come and might never come again. In this way the dreams are about to explode if they are not acted on.
Gary Walmer