A Raisin in the Sun
Blog Post 1
Before the introduction even begins, the reader is shown a poem that is written by Langston Hughes. This is a very famous poem written by him, and it’s called “A Dream Deferred”. It is shown because it is an inspiration to the book, “A Raisin in the Sun”, and various connections can be made between the two. After reading the first Act, even just the first scene, the reader can infer and understand that every character in the book has a dream. For instance, Beneatha’s dream is to become a doctor. In this time that’s unusual because of her gender and her race. Walter dreams of living a better life, and he believes that opening up a liquor store with Bobo and Willy Harris will bring him the riches he needs in order to live better. Everyone in the family believes this is sketchy and not worth it. Mama and Big Walter want / wanted to buy a house for their family. Everyone has dreams and wants to accomplish them. However, a dream can become deferred because of many things; love, work, or just life in general.
Langston Hughes’ poem is a brief examination of what happens to these deferred dreams. In the case of , “A Raisin in the Sun”, Mama’s dream is the biggest dream as well as the one that has been deferred the longest. For years she has been putting this dream aside, just trying to keep her family together and put food on the table for them. Mama puts everyone else’s dreams before her own, which is why her’s has been postponed. Hughes poem states, “..or crust and sugar over – like a syrupy sweet?”. Mama’s dream has been deferred over and over because she has been managing the circumstances she has been faced with. She is “the rock” of the family and prioritizes the family over herself.
Walter’s dream has also been deferred, but in a sense that is more realistic. His dream is to live a better life, leave the South Side of Chicago and become a wealthy family. That can be classified as “The American Dream” , and most people/Americans want that. Walter’s dream is always deferred by an economic problem, money issue and / or his lack of social status. He is a chauffeur for a rich white man and his job makes him feel like a failure. He is in his thirties and can barely supply for his family. He has the right intentions in life, but the wrong mindset. Walter is a nasty, short tempered, drunkard who wants to be his own man and run the household. He believes the ten thousand dollar check and the liquor store investment can turn his life around and he finally become the man he wants to be; his own boss who can supply for his wife and kids. Walter’s dream can be related to Hughes’ poem, because his dream “fester(s) like a sore-”. His dream and the reality behind it become more and more harder to reach as his life goes on. In a not-so-maniacal way, he is getting old and really is not going be able to provide the basic fundamentals for his family.
Beneatha is the complete opposite of most of her family. She is a well rounded, smart individual and knows what she wants to do in life. She goes to college and has a higher education than everyone else in her family. However, this sometimes creates feuds in the family. Her dreams and beliefs collide and disagree with that of Mama’s, which sometimes creates problems. Hughes’ last line of his poem can relate to Beneatha and her dream. When I read the poem, the stanza lists negative things that can happen to dreams. But when I read the last line, “Or does it explode?”, I took this as a dream exploding and becoming a reality, and connected Beneatha’s dream to it.
- How do the character’s personalities / characteristics relate and influence their own individual dream?
- How does the setting and time period affect the character’s dreams and how they try to accomplish them?
