A Raisin In The Sun American Dream Essay

To pursue the success of an American dream at any cost, can unknowingly result in the destructive nature of dreams. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, provides a remarkable depiction of the destructive nature of an American Dream. Walter Younger is the head of the family, which fights against poverty, racial, and social injustice. Walter aspires to rise above his class status to gain dignity, pride, and respect. Walter believes his dream can only be achieved by opening a liquor business with the money obtained from his mother, Lena. In the film, American Gangster, a loyal driver, Frank Lucas, witnesses the death of his boss, Bumpy Johnson who was a mob boss. Frank was the right-hand man of a Harlem Gangster, Johnson. After Johnson …show more content…
Walter is overly obsessed with the task of planning to open up a liquor business that he has no time for his current job. Walter 's wife, Ruth, is concerned for his lack of interest in his career and his well-being as she states, "Walter, you ain’t been to work for three days! Where you been, Walter Lee Younger? You’re going to lose your job." In which he replied, "That’s right…"(Hansberry 101-102) Walter is too caught up in his dream of owning a liquor business that he does not seem to care about his career. Walter has not been to work in three days and he does not show any ounce of guilt. Consequently, this shows that Walter 's dream is ruining his career life. Furthermore, if Walter loses his job, the family will not be able to sustain themselves. On the other hand, in the film, everything seems to go as Frank planned; his drug dealing business is flourishing and he is living the rich lavish life, however, his life soon turns around in the blink of an eye. Frank 's business starts to go downhill when he cannot smuggle the drugs back into the United States due to the end of the war in Vietnam. Frank relied heavily on the imports of these drugs, otherwise he would ruin his reputation for selling the best drugs on the market. Frank was so obsessed with his dream of taking ownership of the business, that it lead him to ruin his career. Frank did …show more content…
With a heavy heart, Lena notices the change in her son, due to the way he is acting with his family considering he has never reacted in such a way before. Thereby, increasingly harming Walter and Lena 's mother-son relationship, which may never be the same due to the actions of Walter and his obsessive dreams. Aside from Walter, Frank also had struggled with maintaining a strong relationship with his family. By putting Frank 's dreams first, Frank did not consider the well-being of his family, when he decided to involve them with his drug dealing business. In the film, American Gangster, the thirty members of Frank 's family who joined his business, were convicted of drug trafficking and were sent to prison. Frank obviously did not think about the future of his family, he only cared about making money and accomplishing his dreams. In addition, Frank believed that the more help he got from his family, the more money he would make, therefore, building a successful business. Hence, this shows that Frank cared more about the money at this point, than his family. Consequently, due to Frank 's dreams of owning a business, his family was negatively affected and taken to jail for illegally selling drugs. Walter and Frank 's dreams are not only tearing themselves apart, but are also greatly impacting the relationship and well-being of their family