Photosynthesizing Dreams
Why should people hold onto their dreams? Dreams are crucial to a person’s life, and without them, they may never know the feeling of fulfillment. In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, published in 1959, she uses the character Mama to portray ideas about dreams. The play was written eight years after Langston Hughes’ poem, “Harlem” which served as inspiration for Hansberry to write the play. In addition, she uses specific characters in the play to represent varied lines of the poem, thus portraying ideas about dreams. Hansberry uses symbolism that Mama’s plant represents her dreams to reveal, through similarities, that dried up dream is not dead. Mama’s dreams to live in a house and for her family to have success both dry up throughout the play, but eventually they are reinforced …show more content…
Soon after being awakened by her family, Mama has an exchange with Ruth who informs her that Walter and Beneatha have been arguing. Mama acknowledges that they have been fighting and speaks about the tempers that her children have. She then turns to her plant which she was checking on shortly after waking up, “Lord, if this little old plant don’t get more sun than it’s been getting it ain’t never going to see spring again” (Hansberry 40). She describes the plant as ‘little’ and ‘old’ revealing she is aware of the state of her dreams; that they are weak. However she remains hopeful that even though it is little and old, with sunlight, it has a chance to thrive. This statement reflects that her dreams have regularly been deferred but still remain strong. Through her plant, Mama acknowledges that dreams need support and, without it, there is no opportunity for them to flourish or the formation of new dreams. As Mama argues, dreams will often be delayed, but they can always
Why should people hold onto their dreams? Dreams are crucial to a person’s life, and without them, they may never know the feeling of fulfillment. In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, published in 1959, she uses the character Mama to portray ideas about dreams. The play was written eight years after Langston Hughes’ poem, “Harlem” which served as inspiration for Hansberry to write the play. In addition, she uses specific characters in the play to represent varied lines of the poem, thus portraying ideas about dreams. Hansberry uses symbolism that Mama’s plant represents her dreams to reveal, through similarities, that dried up dream is not dead. Mama’s dreams to live in a house and for her family to have success both dry up throughout the play, but eventually they are reinforced …show more content…
Soon after being awakened by her family, Mama has an exchange with Ruth who informs her that Walter and Beneatha have been arguing. Mama acknowledges that they have been fighting and speaks about the tempers that her children have. She then turns to her plant which she was checking on shortly after waking up, “Lord, if this little old plant don’t get more sun than it’s been getting it ain’t never going to see spring again” (Hansberry 40). She describes the plant as ‘little’ and ‘old’ revealing she is aware of the state of her dreams; that they are weak. However she remains hopeful that even though it is little and old, with sunlight, it has a chance to thrive. This statement reflects that her dreams have regularly been deferred but still remain strong. Through her plant, Mama acknowledges that dreams need support and, without it, there is no opportunity for them to flourish or the formation of new dreams. As Mama argues, dreams will often be delayed, but they can always