Our dreams and ambition is what makes us American. Sometimes we put these dreams on hold to encourage another dream. In the play “A Raisin in the Sun” the dreams of the Younger family vary by person. The poem “Dream Deferred” illustrates what happens to our dreams when we push them to the side. “The Lesson” is a story that shows what is possible if you believe in your dream. All three literary works are very different in delivering their messages, yet all three show the power of our dreams.
The Younger family all have different dreams. Mama is the head of the family and she is not ambitious. She just wants her family to be happy and plant a garden at her own house. Walter is Mama’s oldest child. Walter wants financial security and wants to open a liquor store. Walter also wants to be the head of the family; this is a role that Mama holds. Walter’s wife Ruth just wants to move out of the tiny apartment that the family shares. Beneatha is the youngest of Mama’s children. She is in college and wants to be a doctor. (Hansberry, 2007)
All of their dreams are very different, yet they all depend on the same money source. An insurance check from Big Walter is how everyone expects to finance their dreams. While waiting for the check to arrive the family squabbles about how the money should be spent. Mama’s children feel that their dreams should be realized with this money. Mama’s sees all of the heartache that the money is causing a tries to fulfill her own dreams first. (Hansberry, 2007)
Mama purchases a house in an all white neighborhood, just like Miss Moore in “The Lesson” Mama feels that “Where we are is who we are (Bambara, 2007)”. She is trying to keep her family together. Mama also saves part of the insurance money to pay for Beneatha’s medical school. Walter is feeling less than a man because he cannot provide well for his family. Mama rubs salt in his wound and it “festers like a sore” (Hughes, 2007) by not giving him the money to open up a liquor store...