Dreams Deferred in Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play, A Raisin in the Sun, culls its title from the infamous poem â€Å"Dream Deferred† by Langston Hughes, and both works discuss what happens to a person when their dreams -- their hopes, their aspirations, their lives -- are endlessly put on hold. For this analysis of the dreams and character of Beneatha Younger in Raisin, I would like to pull on another dreamy poem of Langston Hughes’ entitled â€Å"Dream Boogie.† Like all the characters in the play, Beneatha has dreams that are dear to her, but their deferment does not cause them to dry up, fester, rot, crust, sag, or explode. Rather, the deferment of Bennie’s dreams expresses itself in her â€Å"dream boogie†: in her sarcastic, biting wit and her life perspective that†¦show more content†¦To a stranger watching, it may seem to be a relatively simple conflict; however, much like the melody of a boogie, there’s much more than meets the eye (or ear), and the reality of the situation may surprise the unprepared. We see the literal expression of a â€Å"dream boogie† in a scene that encapsulates the brother-sister dual-dreamer relationship of Beneatha and Walter Lee. After a heavy bout of drinking, Walter comes home to find Bennie dancing away to an African beat, and he joins in, at first comically, and later with the same spiritual intent that Bennie has. This connection between the two intensifies, climaxing with Beneatha calling â€Å"OCOMOGOSIAY† (79) at the top of her lungs while Walter chants atop the kitchen table. This distinctly un-boogielike dance is an expression of each character’s repressed dreams. Their rumblesome â€Å"happy beat† hides a distinctly unhappy sense of unfulfilled dreams on the part of Bennie, who sees the world working against her dreams of becoming a doctor and is fighting against all those who â€Å"still think that’s pretty funny† (50), including Walter Lee, who early on expresses his disregard for her ambitions. Thoug h most of their interactions in the play are bitter and embroiled in conflict, this example of their shared dream boogie demonstrates that they share a commonShow MoreRelatedEssay on Dreams Deferred in Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun915 Words   |  4 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lorraine Hansberry, the author of A Raisin in the Sun, supports the theme of her play from a montage of, A Dream Deferred, by Langston Hughes. Hughes asks, â€Å"What happens to a dream deferred?† He suggests many alternatives to answering the question. That it might â€Å"dry up like a raisin in the sun,† or â€Å"fester like a sore.† Yet the play maybe more closely related to Hughes final question of the poem, â€Å"Or does it explode?† The play is full of bombs that are explosions of emotion set off by the frustrationRead MoreA Raisin Review673 Words   |  3 PagesA Raisin Review Kenneth Hawthorne English/125 3/15/2016 University of Phoenix A Raisin Review â€Å"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or faster like a sore and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode†. (Langston Hughes, Harlem) The author Lorraine Hansberry was born May 19, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. 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This denial is the core of the concept used in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The perception of the American Dream is one that is highly subjective, but every individual dream ends in its own defermentRead More Racism and the American Dream in Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun1340 Words   |  6 PagesA Raisin in the Sun is written by a famous African- American play write, Lorraine Hansberry, in 1959. It was a first play written by a black woman and directed by a black man, Lloyd Richards, on Broadway in New York. The story of A Raisin in the Sun is based on Lorraine Hansberry’s own early life experiences, from which she and her whole family had to suffer, in Chicago. 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American society only allows for African AmericansRead Moreresearch paper to raisin in the sun3138 Words   |  13 Pagesï » ¿May 5, 2014 Eng- Sunday Evening I have a dream†¦ â€Å"A dream deeply rooted in the American Dream.† â€Å"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live without the true meaning of its creed: â€Å"we hold these truths to be self- evident: that all me are created equal.† â€Å"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judge by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.† â€Å"I have a dream that one day little black boys and black girls