A Raisin in the Sun

All people in the world have dreams. No matter if they are big or small, they are still dreams. For some people it may be to become rich and famous or for others it might be to go to Disneyland. The characters in "A Raisin in the Sun" all had dreams too. The dreams of Mama, Ruth, Walter, and Beneatha are all different. Mama and Ruth both dream of a better life and a new house, Walter dreams of being rich, and Beneatha's dream is to become a doctor.

Both Mama and Ruth's dreams are very similar; they both want a better life and a new house. Mama and Ruth live in a one-bedroom apartment in Chicago's south side, where Ruth's son has to sleep on the couch. They have to share a bathroom with the other families on their floor. They have lived like this for years and they want a better life for their family. They would like to have a nice house in a good neighborhood. Mama wants a garden in the back of the house to grow plants. She says "Well, I always wanted me a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home." Mama says this because her plant she has now is the closest thing she has had to fulfilling her dream and now she might be able to make that dream come true. Ruth is pregnant and is thinking of an abortion because there is no room for the baby in the apartment. She wants a house so she can keep the baby. Mama goes and buys a house in a nice residential neighborhood with a nice patch of dirt for her garden. Ruth says "Praise God!" after hearing that Mama bought a house. Ruth yells "Hallelujah! and good-bye misery I don't never want to see your ugly face again!" Saying this, Ruth intends to move into the new house and leave the apartment and her bad life behind.

Walter dreams of becoming rich. Walter is thirty-five years old and all he is, is a limousine driver. Walter talks of investing in a liquor store with a man named Willy Harris. Ruth says "Willy Harris is a good for nothing load mouth." Walter then comes back saying;" ...And what do you know about good for nothing loud mouths? Charlie Atkins was just a good-for-nothing loud mouth too, wasn't he! When he wanted me to go in the dry-cleaning business with him. And now-he's grossing a hundred thousand a year." This is what Walter hopes to achieve financially, and to him the liquor store is the way to achieve that. Walter also wants a better life for his wife and son. He tells his son Travis " your daddy's gonna make a transaction, a business transaction that's going to change our lives . one day when you 'bout seventeen years old I'll come home . and I'll go inside and Ruth will come downstairs and meet me at the door and we'll kiss each other and she'll take my arm and we'll go up to your room to see you sitting on the floor with the catalogues of all the great schools in America around you . and I'll say . what it is you want to be, and you'll be it" When Walter said this he was saying that he is going to be rich and able to give his son and wife whatever they want.

Beneatha's dream is to become a doctor. Beneatha to be able to help and cure people. She says "When I was very small we used to take our sleds in the wintertime and the only hills we had were the ice-covered stone steps of some houses down the street . and it was very dangerous you know . and sure enough one day a kid named Rufus came down too fast and hit the sidewalk and we saw his face just split open right there in front of us and I remember standing there looking at his bloody open face thinking that was the end of Rufus. But the ambulance came and they took him to the hospital and they fixed the broken bones and they sewed it all up and the next time I saw Rufus he just had a little line down the middle of his face I never got over that... I wanted to cure." Beneatha was so amazed after seeing that happen to that boy, she decided to commit herself to become a doctor so she can help people. Her family does not understand this though because she wants so many things, her brother thinks that this is just a temporary thing and she is just wasting money. Mama says "Lord, child, don't you know what to do with yourself? How long it going to be before you get tired of this now, like you tired of that little play-acting group you joined last year? . Why you got to flit so from one thing to another "

Mama is telling Beneatha that she can never make up her mind. Beneatha finally says "I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that!" Beneatha says this to let them know that she is going to become a doctor.

Each member of the Younger family has a dream, be it Mama and Ruth's; for a better life, Walter's; to be rich, or Beneatha's; to become a doctor. Their dreams are what they live for. Some of them are unanswered and will remain that way, while others will be fulfilled. The Youngers are a fictional family, but they are very similar to many real families and their dreams. No matter who you are in the world you have a dream, it may never come true, but it is still there and will always be there.