Diaz 1

Le’Isys Diaz

Mr.Taylor

English I Honors

25 May 2021

“ A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry

“ Vision without action is just a dream, action without vision just passes the time, and

vision without action can change the world.”~ Nelson Mandela. It’s effortless to become

distracted by things that are related to, but not our core vision. We frequently believe that

if we straightforwardly believe that our dream will come true in a blink of an eye, that all

will be better. Having a dream comes with failure, hardships, privation, stress, anger, and

sometimes bitterness. Dreams are the actions in which we do not think distinctively. To

dream, we need action; Without action, there’s no vision. Our dreams deferred can

destroy us and physically tear us apart. We see these similarities in Walter Younger, In the

famous broadway hit “ A raisin in the sun.” Like Walter, We become filled: with rage,

sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness. We push away the people we care about, we

become distant, and we give up on our dreams. The massive weight on our shoulders

continuously brings us down, as we desperately try to find our way back to our dreams

that feel as though they have vanished. However, When you're able to achieve your

dreams, it feels like a whole weight has been lifted off your shoulders; It is as though you

can finally breathe again. We have our ups and downs when it comes to our dreams

being fulfilled and our dreams being deferred. The most important thing to look at is, you
 Diaz 2

tried your hardest and you did the best that you could. Learn from your mistakes, strive

harder for your dreams, and take action.

CONSEQUENCES OF A DREAM FULFILLED:

Family is one of the greatest blessings anyone can have. As a family, we laugh together,

we cry together, and we make memories together. Lena Younger believes in this because

her family has always been her top priority. With no significant dreams of her own, she

lives through her children, for even her dream of having a house is only motivated by her

desire to make living conditions better for her family, “ Big Walter used to say, he’d get

right wet in the eyes sometimes, lean his head back with the water standing in his eyes

and say, “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.”(Act I, scene I). Mama’s

dream isn't solely focused on herself, but on her family and their prospects of a brighter

future. Mama uses Big Walter’s statement to make a point that for Black parents, their

dreams always seem deferred to their children, but their children are the ones who make a

black man’s dream feel alive. Nevertheless, All dreams come at a price, unfortunately.

This can affect ourselves and the people around us, Like Walter. Walter’s dream was to

own a liquor store business with Willy Harris and make thousands of dollars from this.

Lena didn’t want her son wasting Big Walter’s insurance money on a liquor store and

continuously told him that she won’t give him the money for the liquor store, “ There

ain’t gonna be no one investing in a liquor store.” ( Act 1, Scene 2). This shows how

Walter can be a very bitter person and often blames everyone else for no one believing in

him, “ Bitter? Man, I'm a volcano. Bitter? Here I am, a giant-- surrounded by ants! Ants
 Diaz 3

who can’t even understand what it is the giant is talking about.. Ain’t nobody with me!

Not even my own mother. ” ( Act 2, Scene 2). The consequences of our dreams fulfilled

can cost the dreams of others. Society encourages you to follow your dreams, find your

passion, and never let go; however, the reality is that we cannot achieve our goals without

facing hardships and seeing things in a realistic perspective. As a whole, Walter is the

main character who dreams unrealistic things and continuously blames others for not

understanding his dreams. It is not the fact that they don’t understand, it’s the fact that

they are looking at his dream in a different light instead of believing in his dream. He

feels as though Willy Harris is the only one who understands when that’s not the case.

His family, including his mother, understands him completely but he’s too blind to see

that. Family comes first, yet walter puts money over his family and again, tries to

convince his mother that his business would make a lot of money.

CONSEQUENCES OF A DREAM DEFERRED:

We become bitter and resentful towards people who achieve their dreams. Why? Why

can’t we be happy for those who reach their goals? The truth is, we become envious of

people who have greater things than we do. For example, Walter was bitter and angry

towards George Murchison because he’s jealous of him. George is a rich black man,

which is something that Walter has always wanted to be ( Act 2, Pg. 84). Walter shows

his bitterness towards George by throwing insults at him for the way he dresses, “ I know

I ain’t nothing in this world as busy as you college boys with your fraternity pins and

whitey shoes… you ain’t bitter man? Ain’t you just about had it? Don’t you see no stars

gleaming that you can’t reach out and grab?” ( Act 2). As I stated earlier, George is a
 Diaz 4

wealthy black man who represents a new age of successful african americans in society;

Where black people are financially stable and wealthy. Walter despises George because

of this, but this just brings to light his jealousy and loneliness,” I see you all all the

time—with the books tucked under your arms—going to your “clahsses.” And for what!

What are you learning over there? Filling up your heads— with sociology and

psychology —but they teaching you how to be a man? How to take over and run the

world? They teaching you how to run a rubber plantation or a steel mill? Naw—just to

talk proper and read books and wear them funny- looking white shoes..” ( Act 2,Scene 2)

. Walter younger is a very selfish person who doesn’t understand that you are going to

meet people that’s already successful and financially stable, but that does not necessarily

mean you have to insult them because of this. “ I been out talking to people with people

who understand me. People who care about things i got on my mind.. People like Willy

Harris.

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, our dreams deferred or fulfilled can make us feel like we’re on cloud 9 or

it can utterly destroy us. We become cold and distant towards each other when we’re at our

lowest. We lose a sense of hope and often ask ourselves “what went wrong?” or “ why is this

happening to me?” we feel as though the world is against us; And like Walter, we believe that

everyone IS against us and no one believes in our dream and what we want to achieve in life.

We step back and look at ourselves as if we’re the problem, when really it's just a matter of us

not thinking realistically instead of aiming for beyond. Yes, you should always aim the highest,

yes, no one is going to understand where you’re coming from.. But that’s life. People won’t
 Diaz 5

always be able to see your dreams and that’s okay. Dreams are deferred and dreams are fulfilled

all the time; we do not need to become bitter because of someone reaching their goals.