Dreams Destined to Come True

How would you feel if you were told your dreams wouldn’t come true? A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is about an African-American family who lives on the south side of Chicago where they are told that they can not follow their dreams and move into the white neighborhood. The main character, Walter, is a dynamic person. At the start of the play, he is optimistic then depressed in the middle, and in the end, he is prideful.

The first way Walter changes is at the beginning of the story, at the start he is very optimistic about the future. He’s eating his breakfast his wife, Ruth, made for him and he tries to share his dreams with her but she brushes it off like a silly fantasy. Walter responds with, “Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: eat your eggs”(33). His optimistic outlook is displayed through him believing his wife was the crazy one for not believing in his outlandish dream, when in fact it’s just a “get rich scheme”.

Another way his optimism is shown is when he’s telling his son that his get rich quick plan will solve all their problems by saying, “You wouldn’t understand yet, son, but your daddy is gonna make a transaction…A business transaction that’s going to change our lives…”(108). This shows optimism because he talks about his idea like it’s a perfect deal and that nothing could go wrong with the plan.

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When in the end he just loses money rather than gain any. The way Walter changes in the beginning is shown through how optimistic he is with talking about his dreams.

Another example of Walter changing is around the middle of the play, is when he gets depressed that he can’t pursue his dream with Mama’s money. Walter stops going to work to go drive around and drink at the Green Hat bar, Ruth tells him his boss’s wife called and said if Walter doesn’t come into work they will fire him. All Walter replies with is, “Ain’t that sad- ain’t that crying sad”(104). This shows him being in a depressed state because he doesn’t even care about his job, all he seems to want to do is get drunk. Walter also shows his sadness when Mama is telling him there’s more to life than just money, but he says, “No- it was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it”(74). This shows him being depressed because he thinks money will solve all his problems and now without it his life is meaningless. Walter changes in the middle of the story by going into a depressive state of mind, which leads him to do nothing except drinking and wishing he had money.

The last way Walter shows change is at the very end when he shows his pride and has more realistic thoughts. Walter thought to call Mr. Lindner to tell him they will take the offer, but at the last moment he changes his mind and tells him, “-What I mean is that we come from people who had a lot of pride”(148). This shows his change because he was ready to give up but then remembered where he came from and needs to fight for what is right. This last example of Walter being prideful is him telling Mr. Lindner that they aren’t stepping down and taking the money by saying, “What I am telling you is that we called you over here to tell you that we are very proud”(148). This further shows him being proud because he was ready to take Mr. Lindner’s deal but remembered what he and his people have been through. The way Walter changes in the end is shown by him becoming prideful and deciding to move into the house anyways.

Walter is a good example of a dynamic character, this is shown such as him being optimistic by hoping for his dreams to all come true, becoming depressed which is shown by him not caring about anything except drinking, and finally being prideful by telling Mr. Lindner that he and his family will be moving into the white neighborhood after all. These are the ways Walter changed throughout the play.