A Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred? In A Raisin in the Sun, each character holds onto their dreams of transcending their problems and improving their situation. Mama reluctantly gives in at the end, wondering if dreams perhaps were never meant for people of her status. However, Walter becomes a man at last, realizing that money is not worth losing pride and dignity, all associated with his manhood and dream of being the man of the house.

Walter Younger fantasizes day in and day out about his glorious future and acts recklessly, innocently handing over the insurance money to fulfill these hidden dreams. Mama chides Beneatha for being too hard on her brother, and not understanding how many times he has been denied those dreams. Walter's desperation stems from the fact that he does not hold the position as the man of the house, and cannot provide the bacon for his family. This is seen in Act One where Walter gives his son a dollar easily, angered by his wife's blunt remark that the do not have the money. Walter hands the money without question to Willy (who we never see), because he wants to display his ability and manliness to his whole family. Ultimately, Walter's manhood is linked to his hopes, and by not being able to come to terms with them, he remains subservient to the women in the household. At the end, he breaks free of this and becomes the man his father was, realizing that there are other forms of happiness in the world.

Those Weary, Lonely Blues

Minorities have always had a long history of being ostracized for their differences, and it's not just African-Americans that I'm talking about. Jewish people have been shunned from almost the beginning of time, women only received voting rights in 1919, and there have been numerous "anti-" laws against immigrants from Europe, Asia, etc. How do the ones without a voice speak up? Through jazz, poems, and other forms of media, they prime the audience to slowly begin accepting them as equal individuals.

Women began to express their discontent quietly through poetry, like the poem from Le Beau Monde about a woman's repulsive husband; this was not unusual, and African slaves had long expressed their sorrow in gospels. This led the way towards The Harlem Renaissance, which was a complete explosion of jazz, literary works, and art, covered with and representative of their rejection, loneliness, and a desire to be seen as equals. While jazz entertained the upper crust of white society, it also brought them closer to each other, allowing whites to realize that African Americans as a whole were a force to be reckoned with, and not as ignorant as first believed. It is at this time that Hughes and others became a prominent figures in literature, expressing the suffering of their people and the hopes that someone can rise and change the tides.

This idea runs deep through the veins and rivers of America. Thoreau's Civil Disobedience stressed the need of a single individual to work against the machinery of society and to stand up for his/her beliefs; his work inspired many civil rights activists to do what was right. I feel like Hughes' and other African-American poets' works appeal not only to the whites who deny equality, but also to their own people. His poems appear innocent to the untrained eye, but reveal themselves to be calls to action, imploring everyone to make a difference. Martin Luther King Jr. was successful in that he "stood on the shoulders of giants" such as Langston Hughes and other African American revolutionaries.

American Dream

Where do I begin? The Great Gatsby has been a jumble of events that ultimately shook me forever; you can always tell that you've enjoyed a book when you're left thinking about it on sleepless nights. What I realized in the very end was that "a dream is a wish your heart makes", and the material gains are simply ways of keeping score. The American Dream is abstract. While we can get close to it, it is impossible to attain our desires without wanting more. Likewise, it is simply impossible to turn back time and rewrite history (unless, of course, you're Stalin). 

Gatsby, a poor Westerner, moved to the East years ago in order to make his fortune in New York City, a name which has become synonymous with the American Dream. He comes into the acquaintance of a "nice girl", and obsessively makes her his goal to attain. Because Daisy is so glamourous and the "it girl", she in effect becomes linked to Gatsby's dream. In some corner of his heart, Gatsby understands that he can never get Daisy, yet he uses her as his raison d'être and begins to rise up, trying to achieve everything that he never had before. He creates a new persona for himself in all of the colors he wants to use, presenting himself as an ideal character who has it all.

However, Gatsby has been living in the past for so many years that when he finally gets his golden girl, he realizes that it's not the same as five years ago; Daisy has moved on and the situation is different. There is nothing left for Gatsby because his idealistic past has gone by, and he can't prepare himself for the future. Unlike the classic Humbert who has destroyed his dream, Gatsby has been destroyed by his. Overall, The Great Gatsby has been a novel of lost dreams and hopes, with romance and partying tossed in for seasoning; it is a representation of our society and our American Dream. Gatsby becomes the romantic hero because he has grown so attached to his innocent wishes that he can't expose them to the hard, cruel reality, resulting in his ultimate downfall. 

Like Zarrin states, "Anyway, I enjoyed reading it, and that counts too, can't you see?"