Deferred Dreams
“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a Raisin in the sun?” Every human is born into this world with limited time before they take their last breath. The issue is life isn't fair and it isn't long enough. No one knows how much time they have left, the only thing that they know for sure is how they are going to spend it. The members of the Younger family were unable to pursue their dreams so they pushed them off to the side and left them for another day. Mama dreamed of moving into a proper home which so could call her own with Mr. Younger and her family. Walter dreamed of becoming rich, in starting his own business so his son Trevor and his new child on the way can live comfortably and not worry if they have enough money for school trips or food. Beneatha dreams of going to medical school and becoming a doctor but like so many they became victims of deferred dreams.
Why do we wait, what are we waiting for? Mama’s dream of moving into her own house was put on hold and was only partially achieved when the check for her husband's death arrived at her apartment. After moving into the apartment Mr. and Mrs. Younger believed that it would only be a temporary living situation. They believed that after working for a while they would be able to come up with enough money to put a down payment on their own house. After many years of having to deal with current problems and being unable to look at her dream, it had dried up been set aside. The only time the dream was rekindled was when her check had appeared.
We wait for life to become better as we all hope it might one day, that our stresses will be removed from our hands as quick as a bullet takes a life. In Walter’s case he believed that the only way he could achieve true happiness is if he became rich, he believed he could buy happiness like a kid buys a toy. Walter's dream was deferred the same way Mama’s was and the same way so many were, but the situation they were simply born into. Walter was incapable of making the amount of money he dreamed of and the only thing that brought him hope was the small chance at it, the liquor store. Walter could touch his dream he could feel it but it was all ripped away as all of his father's insurance money had been stolen. Walter's dreams sag like a heavy load and then they exploded.
Like her family members Beneatha too waited for the opportunity, she went through school wanting one thing, to become a doctor. Benethas dreams were unattainable from the start as African American Women doctors were unseen at the time and it didn't help that her brother had just lost her tuition money. Beneatha's dreams were set aside for the chance at someone else's, Walter believed so much in his dream that he risked Beneatha's too. After years of waiting and living his “normal” life Walter became desperate and reached too far for his dream to come true that he spent Beneatha's education money on his liquor store which never made it into existence. Beneatha's future was at the whim of others and her dreams were set aside to help keep the family in order.
They put off their dreams to deal with the issues of the present, leaving them to the side to look back at them in the future. Mrs. Younger (mama) dreamed of moving out of her apartment as soon as she moved in saying to her husband that it was only temporary. Though Walter has not lived as long as his mother he too has fallen victim to deferred dreams. Walter's dream was to become rich and live comfortably but like the rest of Walter's dreams sags like a heavy load and then they exploded. Beneatha's dreams put aside by a nation unwilling to accept who she is and by her selfish brother wanting the dream all for himself.