Paper on A Raisin In The Sun and Harlem

"What happens to a dream deferred?" The first line of Langston Hughes' poem puts a lot of thoughts into a person's mind. Hughes answers it with questions in the form of similes such as, "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?," "Or fester like a sore - and then run?," and "Or does it explode?" Lorraine Hansberry made a play based off Hughes' poem titled A Raisin in the Sun. In the play, the Younger family has dreams that are deferred.

In the movie, A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Younger's mother was waiting for insurance money on her husband's death. The check was for $10,000 which was an extremely large amount of money for the Younger family. When Mama got the check she bought a house for $3,500 and ended up trusting Walter with the rest to put some in a bank account for his sister's, Benethea, college tuition and the rest to use wisely on the family.

Taliaferro, Lt. Walter

J.G. Smith, Lily Smith, Walter Brickett (LOC)

English:

Walter ended up investing it all on buying a liquor store. He gave all $6,500 to his friend Willy trusting him with it. When Walter's friend Bobo told Walter that Willy ran off with all the money and that it was all gone, Walter broke down. In Hughes' poem the line "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" relates to this incidence. All of that money was going towards a new life for the Younger family. Then Walter made a mistake and lost it all, causing it to "dry up."

Another thing that dries up is Ruth's, Walter's wife, happiness. As soon as the movie starts, you can tell that there is something wrong with Ruth and Walter's marriage. Ruth just tells Walter to "eat his eggs" when he gets on...