The 19th century was a difficult time for many people, especially people of color. During this period, racial segregation was pervasive. Even though slavery had been abolished, people of color were not treated equally. This is a direct depiction of how the Younger family felt in the play A Raisin in The Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry. With a people always belittled and never seeming to have an advantage, their only hope was to dream. Dreams are like a defense mechanism of using fantasy to try to escape a situation, representing the eagerness or desperation to change the ever-changing circumstances of life. Each of the characters in the Younger family was trying to escape reality by each having their own individual dream. Among the three main characters, Mama (Lena Younger), Beneatha and Walter; one wants to move to a bigger house, one wants to attend medical school, and one wants to exceed his requirements, even though he doesn't necessarily have a plan to do so. Each person's dream serves an important conceptual function, for example character aspiration, motivation, or orientation; however, the different dreams also divide the characters, creating conflict between them. Thinking of the Langston Hughes poem from which the title of this piece is taken, the key concept of dreams deferred comes to mind. The title of Hansberry's piece is a direct reference to Langston Hughes' poem, "A Dream Deferred." “What happens to a dream deferred?” asked Hughes. “Does it shrivel like a raisin in the sun?” Lorraine Hansberry answers this question from Hughes through play. The play proves through different altercations and situations that, no matter how long a dream has been deferred, it continues in reality. Mom, Walter Lee and Beneatha have cherished dreams. These dreams reveal a lot about the nature of the characters' desires that society's unfair expectations cannot destroy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay set in the 1940s and 1950s and written in 1957. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by an African American and produced on Broadway. . Lorraine Hansberry's inspiration came from the different lives of the African American working class who rented from her father and those who went to school with her on the South Side of Chicago. She also said that she "drew inspiration for her characters from family members." Hansberry noted similarities between Nannie Hansberry and Mama Younger and between Carl Hansberry and Big Walter. Walter Lee, Jr. and Ruth are composites of Hansberry's brothers, their wives, and his sister, Mamie. In an interview, Hansberry said with a laugh: “Beneatha is me, eight years ago. » Like the characters in the story, Hansberry lived a very similar life. Although her family lived a rather above-average life due to her father's financial situation, Hansberry had faced segregation herself. In Michelle Gordon's critical essay, she reveals the many parallels between Lorraine Hansberry's childhood life and that of the fictional Younger family in her first play: A Raisin in the Sun. As a young girl, Hansberry was directly attacked by the forces of racism when her black family moved into an all-white neighborhood. Gordon explains that the neighborhood's "improvement association" justified its refusal to accept the Hansberrys by claiming that the neighborhood was subject to a "race restrictive covenant." Directly affected by this refusal of equality and thisrequirement of segregation, Hansberry was inspired to create the Younger family to reflect his family's fight for freedom and equality. Hoping to end any unequal treatment, Hansberry used his views to raise awareness about the cultural problem of segregation and racism. Gordon argues that Hansberry's true realism opposes the deterministic tendencies of naturalism. The required reform that Hansberry stipulates in the play was therefore intended not only as a drama but also as a call to action. Lena Younger, also known as Mama, is the matriarch of the family who keeps them together and makes the final decisions. Recently widowed, she is a retired housekeeper who works vigorously to ensure that her family is taken care of. All while keeping his religious faith and remaining optimistic despite multiple financial and social challenges. As her actions and faith show, Mom is a proud black woman and is the family's source of strength and stability. Mom's dream is to move her family out of the slums on the south side of Chicago and into a house with a big yard where the kids can play and she can grow her garden. Her dream has been postponed since she and her husband moved into the apartment that was supposed to be temporary accommodation. However, life happened years later, after her husband's death; and Walter grew up with a son and a wife, the Younger family remained there. Every day, his dream encourages him to earn money. But despite their best efforts, she and her husband could not raise enough money to make their dream a reality. His death and the resulting insurance money give Mom the first opportunity to finally realize her dream. Mom's plant shown in the first act is one of the symbols used to demonstrate the importance of her dream and, in turn, will benefit her children. She constantly feeds this plant to see it grow and blossom into a beautiful flower. Mom's weak but resilient plant represents her dream of living in a bigger house with a lawn. By tending to her plant, she symbolically shows her dedication to her dream. Mom pulls out her plant early in the morning. It's the first thing she does in the morning; thus, at the beginning of the play, we see that her plant — and her dream — are of the utmost importance to her. Mom admits the plant never got enough sun but still survives. In other words, his dream has always been deferred but remains strong. At the end of the play, Mom decides to take the plant with her to their new home. In doing so, she gives new meaning to the plant. While she initially represents his dream deferred, now, as his dream comes true, she reminds him of the strength of working and waiting for so many years. However, this plant seems limited in the sense that it never has enough light or space to grow. This represents his children as they also seem limited. In Walter's case, he is economically limited, which directly affects his self-esteem, and in Beneatha's case, she seems limited not only because of her color, but also because of her gender. Mom's dream for her plant is the same as for her children. She wants to see them grow up and become beautiful people. During one of her confrontations with Walter, we can see that she suffers from the limitations of her children. She said as she gave him the money: "What you never understood is that I have nothing, that I don't own anything, that I never really wanted anything that wasn't for You. There is nothing so precious to me… There is nothing worth holding on to, money, dreams, nothing else – if that means – if.