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"What happens to a dream deferred?" Langston Hughes asks in his 1959 poem "Dream Deferred. " He suggests that it might "dry up like a raisin in the sun" or "stink like rotten meat"; however, at the end of the poem, Hughes offers another alternative by asking, "Or does it explode?" . This is the view Lorraine Hansberry supports in her 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun. The drama opens with Walter reading, "Set off another bomb yesterday", from the front page of the morning newspaper; however, he is unaware that bombs will soon detonate inside his own house. These bombs are explosions of emotion caused by frustration among members of Walter's family who are unable to realize their dreams.
Although they all have a common dream of having a better life, they must compete with each other for the insurance money from the untimely death of Walter's father. Walter wants to get rich quickly by investing the money in a liquor store, but his sister, Beneatha, would rather use it to finish medical school. Mama and Walter's wife, Ruth, both want to leave their worn house in the ghetto for a nicer one where Walter's son, Travis, can have his own bedroom and a yard in which to play. The dreams of these characters, however, are deferred for so long that frustration grows inside them and eventually bursts out. Each day Walter has to continue working as a servant, his internal frustration and anger build, and he eventually releases his anger against Beneatha, Ruth, and Mama. "Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor?" he demands of Beneatha. "If you so crazy 'bout messing 'round with sick people&em dash; then go be a nurse like other women; or just get married and be quiet." When Walter explains why he dislikes being a chauffeur, he tells his mother, "I open and close car doors all day long. I drive a man around in his limousine and I say, 'Yes, sir; no, sir; very good, sir; shall I take the Drive, sir?' Mama, that ain't no kind of job...
that ain't nothing at all." Once the check arrives, Walter can think only of investing the money, which to him "is life"; consequently, he does not give Ruth a chance to tell him she is pregnant and has decided to abort their baby. Mama interrupts Walter to encourage him to listen to his wife; however, this causes a problem of Walter's anger when he yells, "WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE LISTEN Ruth has made a habit out of not listening to Walter: rather than exploding in a fit of rage, the timid Ruth releases her frustration by nagging and ignoring her husband, but at times she explodes with joy. Ruth is tired and worn out like her house in the ghetto, and nagging Walter has become part of her daily routine; for instance, each morning Ruth complains, "Why you always got to smoke before you eat in the morning?" . When Walter says he wants his eggs "Not scrambled", Ruth ignores him and automatically begins to scramble his eggs.
She gives similar treatment to Walter's sister: Ruth pesters Beneatha about cleaning her room and makes fun of her experimentation with "different forms of expression" by reminding Beneatha of her "fifty-five-dollar riding habit that's been hanging in the closet." Because she is afraid of not having enough money to support her new baby, Ruth decides to have an abortion; however, she does not consult her husband before making the decision. Walter believes, "Ruth wouldn't do that", and he is astonished when she tells him, "I gave her a five-dollar down payment [for the abortion]." Ruth would rather avoid conflict with Walter, and she explains to him later, "I&em dash; I'm sorry about his new baby, Walter. I guess maybe I better go on and do what I started." Because of all the frustration and anger in the family, Ruth is very anxious to leave the "rat trap" she calls her home. When Mama tells her she put a down payment on a new home, Ruth exclaims, "PRAISE GOD!" ; additionally, when the family is ready to move, she shouts, "LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" . Ruth's explosions of happiness&em dash; a happiness she shares with Mama&em dash; are a welcome change from her nagging.
Mama has hoped for a new house with "a little garden in the back" ever since her husband was alive, and she is elated when she can finally buy one; however, Mama punishes Walter and Beneatha both verbally and physically when they threaten her fundamental pillars of hope: faith in God and the memories of her husband. To give Walter more responsibility and encourage him to gain more self-respect, Mama makes him the head of the household and entrusts him with the money remaining after the down payment on the house, but instead of setting aside a portion for Beneatha's education, Walter gives it all to his investment partner, Willy Harris. Willy betrays Walter's trust by running away with the money, and when Mama learns of Walter's irresponsibility, she beats him "senselessly in the face" and reminds Walter of his father's suffering: "I seen him grow thin and old before he was forty... working and working and working like somebody's old horse...
killing himself... and you&em dash; you give it all away in a day." Walter is not the only one who is slapped by Mama: when Beneatha is angry with her mother for treating her like a child, she proclaims, "There simply is no blasted God; there is only man and it is He who makes miracles!" . This outburst causes Mama to slap Beneatha and make her repeat, "In my mother's house there is still God" however, Beneatha does not want to rely on God for fulfillment of her dreams: she wants to create her own future by To become a doctor, Beneatha must have money for college from Mama's check, but she does not share her mother's moral standards. Beneatha thinks the rich George Murchison is "shallow" and says, "the only people in the world who are more snobbish than rich white people are rich colored people." She would rather have the African Joseph Asagi as her boyfriend to get in touch with her "identity." Joseph asks Beneatha to marry him and move to Africa after Walter loses her school money, but Beneatha is too angry with Walter to give Joseph an answer. She calls Walter "Monsieur le petit bourgeois noir", an insult he cannot understand, and tells him, "I look at you and I see the final triumph of stupidity in the world!" . Beneatha loses all faith in the brother she calls "a toothless rat", and she says, "Well; we are dead now.
All the talk about dreams and sunlight that goes on in this house. It's all dead now." Their dreams appear dead until Walter, Ruth, Beneatha, and Mama cooperate with each other to achieve a common goal: standing up for themselves by resolving to move into an all-white neighborhood. The opposition of Mr. Lindner (who offers a substantial amount of money to buy the house from them) unites the family in their beginning goal, and Walter finally comes "into his manhood": he declines Lindner's money and declares, "we have decided to move into our house because my father&em dash; my father; he earned it for us brick by brick." When cooperation replaces competition, the family can finally realize its Bibliography:
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