An Analysis Of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

The Progression of the American Dream “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, A Raisin in the Sun). The play A Raisin In the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, portrays a 1950s African American family struggling with the idea of the American dream and what to do with the money that they have come upon. Each character has their own idea of what they should do with their late father 's insurance money and how to achieve their own aspirations. The American dream is defined as the ideal that every US citizen should have equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. The main character, Walter Younger struggles with trying to achieve success and his desire of living his own American dream at the expense of his family and their pride.

In the article, What is the American Dream Today by Kimberly Amadeo, it explains how the American dream has shifted throughout the years. The dream began when The Declaration of Independence stated every American had the right to

He was one of those men that dreamt for many things but never really worked hard enough to actually earn them. He mentioned many times that he wanted to be able to provide for his family as his late father had done for them. Throughout the play he mostly complained about receiving the money that was never his to begin with. The money wasn’t well earned and it created tension and conflict between the family. As the article says, “The American dream is the ideal that the government should protect each person’s opportunity to pursue their own idea of happiness,” (Amadeo). This is the dream that Walter finally learns at the end of the play. Just as the American dream changed in America as the article explained, so did Walter’s