A Raisin in the Sun Essay: Importance of Deferred Dreams

Importance of Deferred Dreams in A Raisin in the Sun      Ã‚   A dream is a hope, a wish, and an aspiration. Young people have dreams about what they want to be when they grow up. Parents have dreams for their children's future. Not all of these dreams come true at the desired moment - these dreams are postponed or "deferred". A deferred dream is put on the "back burner of life"(Jemie 219), and it matures to its full potential, and is waiting when you are "ready to pursue it"(Jemie 219). It is assumed that the deferred event, though later than hoped for, will eventually come true.    Deferred dreams are a significant component of "A Raisin in the Sun"; the word "dream" is used a total of fourteen times throughout the play. Mama, from "A Raisin in the Sun", experienced a "dream deferred" (Hughes). Mamas dreams were for the happiness of her children, and a new house. She and her husband Big Walter put everything they had into getting that house "with a little garden in the back" (Hansberry). When she gets the insurance payment after her husbands death and puts money down on a house in Clybourne Park, she is ecstatic. The dream was deferred many times. She and Big Walter simply didn't have the money to purchase a house and move out of the apartment. "I s... ...ill likely come true.    Works Cited: Hansberry, Lorraine.   A Raisin in the Sun.   New York:   Signet, 1988. Hughes, Langston. "Dream Deferred." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Thomas R. Arp. Ft. Worth: HBJ, 1998. 637. Jemie, Onwuchekwa. "Langston Hughes." CLC. Vol. 35. Ed. Daniel G. Marowski. Detroit: Gale, 1985. 219-220. King, Martin Luther, Jr. "A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., ed. James M. Washington. San Francisco: Harper, 1986. Wintz, Gary D. "Langston Hughes." CLC. Vol. 10. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Gale, 1979. 279-280.