Raisin in the Sun

Analysis of the Dreams in a Raisin in the Sun

In a Raisin in the Sun one of primary themes is about dreams. Each person in the play has a different and unique dream. Even though all the characters have different dreams, they each just want to do what they think is best for the family. When the opportunity comes to make some of the dreams come true, we see a long struggle about what to do with the money and how it can best benefit the family. Throughout the play we see the attitudes of the individual characters and the family as a whole go through large swings. At one moment, while everything is going according to plan, the family is ecstatic as they get closer to making their dreams come true. Just moments later their dreams are ripped from them and they are thrown back into what seems as a hopeless situation. This is a recurring pattern we see over and over again throughout the play. For a family who has constantly been beaten down by life and cannot seem to catch a break, it seems all they have in life is their dreams. The attitudes of the characters and the paly as a whole is directly related to how close they are to making their dreams come true.

The character where we see this swing of emotion the most is in the main character, Walter. Walter’s dream is to elevate the status of his family and bring them out of poverty. He has spent his whole life serving those who are better off than him, and all he wants is to have the same opportunity for his family. He is tired of working to support his family with all of his hard work seemingly for nothing, as they still live in the same old house with no chance of changing.

At the beginning of the play, before the money even arrives, Walter is in good spirits because he has a plan bring their family out of poverty by opening a liquor store with a few partners. Even though he has not yet convinced the rest of the family to use the money for his investment, this is the closet he has ever gotten to making his dream...