It never leaves you forever. You can curse your life but you must not abandon it or dreams will be deferred for good. Walter for example gives up his dream of becoming his own boss. He wants to be financially secure- enough to at least raise himself above the servant class. He wanted Travis to have a better future. But all his dreams vanish when he makes the unwise investment and loses money. His dreams have not vanished however from his spirit, they have only started consuming him. this results in extreme frustration as he turns to alcohol for some consolation. George describes him as someone "wacked up with bitterness." (85) Mama cannot see her son consumed by failed dreams and the situation becomes alarming when Walter doesn't take his wife's threatened abortion seriously. Walter becomes a bitter lost soul.
Beneatha on the other hand is more of an idealist. She wants to become a doctor. However during the course of the play, even she loses hope as she cannot see how she would ever have enough money to become a doctor. Beneatha becomes despondent as her dreams appear to have gone up the smoke. For some time, she severs her commitment with the society as well. This is when she ridicules idealism of Asagai who wants to see Africa independent. This is an important scene because it puts author's views forward in the most precise manner. While Beneatha ridicules idealism, Asagai tries to restore her faith in the same. As Beneatha cynically states: "I wanted to cure...It used to be so important to me.... I used to care. I mean about people and how their bodies hurt...." Asagai wonders why she has stopped believing in her dreams. Beneatha responds bitterly: "Because [doctoring] doesn't seem deep enough, close enough to what ails mankind! It was a child's way of seeing things -- or an idealist's."
It is then that the author jumps to the defense of idealism through Asagai. He reminds Beneatha: "Children see things very well sometimes -- and idealists even better." Beneatha's response turns very sarcastic as she says: "You with all your talk and dreams about [a free] Africa! You still think you can patch up the world. Cure the Great Sore of Colonialism -- with the Penicillin of Independence -- !... What about all the crooks and thieves and just plain idiots who will come into power and steal and plunder the same as before -- only now they will be black... --WHAT ABOUT THEM?!"
Hansberry thus brings the crux of her play...
Raisin in the Sun Beneatha is ahead of her time in a Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Beneatha is the daughter of Lena Younger and younger sister of Walter Lee who is married to Ruth. Walter Lee and Ruth have a ten-year-old son Travis, who gets his way often being the only grandson. Beneatha is a college student who desires to attend
She misrepresents the proposal of marriage of Asagai and is unable to provide the man who loves her so much and who understand her well. The complex character of Beneatha demonstrates another hidden quality towards the end of the play. The confrontation of Walter with Mr. Lindner reveals the arrogant statement of Mr. Lindner, "I take it then that you have decided to occupy." The easiness of Beneatha's reply
.. Don't understand nothing about building their men up and making 'em feel like they somebody. Like they can do something" (Hansberry, I, i.). It is clear that Walter Lee still believes it is the woman's role to support the man in his endeavors, and not to make decisions or act on them. In her responses to him, Ruth displays her growing frustration with and rejection of this belief, which
As to Walter's decision to use the money as he saw fit, we find a man who's suffering and discontent had blinded him to the real sustenance and value in his family. Truly, for the unhappiness which he had bore, and for the racial abuse shown to the family through such archetypal figures as Mr. Lindner, Walter might have seen himself as fortunate for the presence of all the family
Although treated unjustly by her older sibling, Beneatha has begun to question her desire to become a doctor, and is considering trying to get more in touch with her African roots instead. She wants to fix things in a more meaningful fashion than merely physically. The end of the play is bittersweet, because it is uncertain if the family will be happy in the all-white suburb, or safe, and because
It is the last thing Mama carries out of the apartment when the family moves, symbolizing the family's failure to thrive in their neighborhood. Both the plant and the Younger family are expected to blossom in their new surroundings. Walter Jr. wants to use the money to buy a liquor store with his friends. He believes that owning a business will give the family the financial freedom that will make
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