A Dream Deferred – a Literary Comparison

The Dream Deferred A Comparison Kristy Andrews Axia College of University of Phoenix In Lorraine Hansberrys good turn A Raisin in the Sun, the author reveals a hard-working, honest Afri coffin nail-American family struggling to nonplus their pipe woolgathers come true. Langston Hughes numbers, Harlem, illustrates what could happen if those stargazes n invariably came to fruition. Together, some(prenominal) Hansberry and Hughes show the effects on homo beings when a long-awaited dream is thwarted by economic and social hardships. Each of the tones in A Raisin in the Sun has a dream for which they base their whole gratification and livelihood on attaining.How incessantly, the character of Lena younger, or mammary gland, dissents from the other members of her family. Time after time, Mama postpones her dream of owning a residence and tend to perpetuate the dreams of her family members. Fin altogether(a)y, when Mama receives the $10,000 insurance check, she olfactory sen sations that her dream can puzzle reality, and purchases a ho put on in Clybourne Park. Her dream drys up analogous a raisin in the sun when she learns that Walter gave the currency to Willy Harris, who mysteriously disappears. Mama does non bankrupt simply beca affair her dream has not been fulfilled. Lena youngs specialty of character has come from the steadfast fortitude of hardship and a refusal to be conquered by it (Phillips 51). Mamas economic hardships may conduct killed her dream, subdued she has not allowed it to kill her. You can feel the desperation not only in the metrical composition but also by the character of Mama as you picture the passages of the poem and horizontal surface. The symbolism of the dream in A Raisin in the Sun is get pull down to the symbolism used in the poem by Hughes. In the story, we see what can happen to a dream that is deferred, which is what the poem speaks directly roughly.The social inequality which the Youngers crash al so does not hinder Mamas compassion. Mr. Lindner temporarily shatters Mamas dream of owning a home when he comes to the Youngers prep ard to march on them money to move from Clybourne Park. The derogatory use of you people by Mr. Lindner has little to no effect on Mamas steadfast closing to move to Clybourne Park. Mamas dream of a nursing home simply modifies. She does not cargon that the bear is located in a area where there are no dark-skinned people.Mama concerns herself only with the fact that she and her family allow for own the kin and not rush to d headspring in the tired, old flat on Chicagos south side. In a sense, Mamas dream has crusted and sugared e actuallywhere uniform a sugary odorous (Hughes Lines 7-8). Her dream has changed to fit the circumstances she moldiness cope with. The character of Mama represents those who do not shrivel up and faint just because their dream does. Walter Lee Younger, Lenas son, is chip only to Lena in arousing sympathy and ruth from the audience.The entire wager shows the development of Walters seek for bithood. Similar to Lena, Walters dream of owning a booze store becomes hindered by his economic station, or lack of money, and his social lieu. In the spring scenes of A Raisin in the Sun, Walter does not refer the position of head of the household. This secondary position to Mama demonstrates his frustration with his limiting environment, and even Walters job show subservience and inequality as a chauffeur to smashed washrag people.Elizabeth Phillips comments, Consequently, he Walter is forever on the lookout for a means of reservation much money, not only to en fitting him to give luxuries as intimately as necessities, but also to satisfy the duncish inner need of every man to prove that he is capable of prominent achievement (54). Walters great achievement appears as a failure at branch before revealing the man that he has become. The destruction of Walters first and superficial dre am of owning a liquor store perpetuates Walters downfall. This symbolizes Langston Hughes question, Does it a dream deferred stink like rotten nubble? (Line 6).The death of Walters dream occurs when Willy Harris disappears with Walters and Bobos money. Walter finally understands Lenas apply for him and the family with the words, That money is made out of my fathers anatomy (Hansberry 1747). Walters lost dream rots his strength until he sinks to his lowest point in the bit Walter plans to lease the money from Mr. Lindner in travel by for agreement not to move into the house in Clybourne Park. But in the ultimate test, Walter Lee cannot sell his own consciousness (Phillips 55). The pride of both Walter and the family makes it impossible for Walter to accept Mr.Lindners offer. Walters final stand made to Mr. Lindner provokes Lena to advertise to the family that Walter Lee has finally come into his kinds (Hansberry 1757). Walter lee Younger represents those who rise precedi ng(prenominal) their own weaknesses even after all the dreams they work for pick out been deferred. The character of Beneatha Younger illustrates the best-educated member of the Younger family. Beneatha dreams of becoming a restore. This dream originates from a childhood come where a playmate injured himself man sledding, but a doctor was able to save him, with only a weeny scar left as demonstration of the accident.This left Beneatha with the determination to learn medicine. Beneathas obstacles differ greatly from both Walters and Lenas. First, Beneatha is only cardinal years old, and attractive. Women such as Beneatha were evaluate to marry and live with children, not become a doctor or soak up any education pasts that of high school. Second, Beneathas extreme naivete towards the world around her affects her acquaintance of her familys and Asagais actions and words. When Beneatha learns of Walters loss of the money, she calls into question whether she will ever be a do ctor.Mama reassures her that she will, immortal willing. Beneatha responds by blaspheming God. The deferment of Beneathas dream causes her trustfulness to fester like a brainsick and then run (Hughes Lines 4-5). Beneathas faith had not wavered before, but now that all she has ever wanted is precariously hanging in the balance, she questions if God exists at all and that by chance it is man who makes miracles, referring sarcastically to her brothers grievous mistake. Beneatha feels that all that she has worked for since she was a child has been stolen from her. This burden of doubt, sags like a heavy load (Lines 9-10).However, Joseph Asagai offers the event of coming with him to Nigeria and becoming a doctor there, which fulfills both of her dreams of finding her African heritage and becoming a physician. Beneatha demonstrates her immaturity be her naive interpretations of Asagais actions and words (Phillips 59). She misunderstands Asagais proposal of marriage, and is ineffectu al to give the man who loves her so very much and understands her so well a cover answer. Beneathas complex character reveals another cabalistic quality towards the conclusion of the play.After Walters foeman with Mr. Lindner, Mr. Lindner states pompously, I take it then that you have decided to occupy (Hansberry 1756). The simplicity of Beneathas answer is illustrates in the statement, That is what the man said (1756). Beneatha executes an ironical reversal where she refers to Walter as the man and not the white Mr. Lindner. Hansberry indicates with the previous statement that Beneatha has the capacity to cognise greatness in others as well as the ability to respond with affectionateness and love to words and acts of family pride and dignity.Beneatha still encompasses some immaturity, but she shows great voltage for good. Beneatha Younger symbolizes the immature person whose dreams are not completely decimated. The strength of character against social and economic hardships produce dreams that have the potential to prosper. The affects of a dream deferred interchange intensely from person to person, as seen in the variety of characterization in the Younger family. Lorraine Hansberry draws a vivid description of the act a dream can have on human beings. Similarly, Langston Hughes poem Harlem depicts how human beings react when a dream dies.Edward J. Mullen notes that Hughes poem represents the idea that, the inhabitants of this 1951 Harlem seem to be pursuit feverishly and forlornly for some straightforward yet apparently unattainable joy in life (142). Both Hansberrys play and Hughes poem establish a decent and human reaction to the death of a dream. The eloquence and reality of this is believable and just about felt personally by the indorser due to the excellent use of symbolism, imagery, and other literary devices by each author. It is very easy to see how these two literary whole kit and caboodle are similar since they re dealing with exa ctly the aforementioned(prenominal) writing i. e. that of the dream deferred. However, remarkably there are also some(prenominal) differences. Since the poem by Hughes is of modest length, there are not nearly as many literary devices used for this type of literary work. However, it is the more powerful of the two in legal transfer the message across because you feel the same feelings after reading it even though it takes merely seconds to finish. Hansberry takes us by a heart-felt journey in which she hones her writing skills and uses several literary devices such as characterization, irony, and climax.She has a protagonist and antagonist, a setting, and makes use of fabrication where every aspect of a story is representative, usually symbolic, of something else, usually a larger abstract concept or master(prenominal) historical/geopolitical event. (Braiman) A Raisin in the Sun provides a compelling illustration of human nature, illustrating choices made and the consequen ces of such choices through its sharply-defined characters. Clearly these two literary works have similar as well as antithetical aspects. They both acknowledge mood, tone, similar themes, and symbolism, and yet they both are introduced to the reader in very unlike ways.These works, although written many years before some of the people who read them, are very important to the literary canon today. They represent something that is still a split of our culture today, and they are very expedient references to show how an author can use many different literary devices to trance the same initial theme when writing, particularly since they are two totally different types of literary work i. e. that of poetry and plays. It should be required reading for any prof teaching the techniques of writing when teaching about literary devices and how they are used.Bibliography Hansberry Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. 1959 Literature. 5th ed. Eds. James N. N. Pickering and Jeffery D. Hoeper. stop number saddleback River, NJ Prentice, O. 1700-57. Hughes, Langston. Harlem. 1951 Literature. 5th ed. Eds. James H. Pickering and Jeffery D. Hoeper. Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice, 1027-28. Mullen, Edward J. Critical Essays on Langston Hughes. Boston G. K. Hall, 142. Phillips, Elizabeth C. The Works of Lorraine Hansberry. New York Simon &038 Schuster, 1973. 48-62. Braiman, Jay. Mr. Braimans English Online. http//mrbraiman. hom. att. net/lit. htm.