A dream deferred in A Raisin in the Sun and HarlemIn Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, the author reveals a hardworking and honest African. An American family struggling to achieve their dreams. Langston Hughes' poem, "Harlem," illustrates what could happen if these dreams never came true. Together, Hansberry and Hughes show the effects on human beings when a long-awaited dream is thwarted by economic and social hardship. Each of the characters in A Raisin in the Sun has a dream for which they base all their happiness and livelihood on achieving a dream. . However, the character of Lena Younger, or Mama, differs from the other members of her family. Time and again, Mom postpones her dream of owning a house and a garden to continue the dreams of her family members. Finally, when Mom receives the $10,000 insurance check, she feels her dream can come true and buys a house in Clybourned Park. Her dream "withers like a grape in the sun" when she learns that Walter gave the money to Willy Harris, who mysteriously disappears. Mom isn't broken just because her dream didn't come true. “Lena Younger’s strength of character comes from her ability to endure difficulties and refuse to be defeated” (Phillips 51). Mom's economic difficulties may have killed her dream, but she didn't let it kill her. The social inequality faced by the youngest does not hinder Mom's compassion either. Mr. Lindner temporarily shatters Mom's dream of owning a house when he comes to the young people's house, ready to give them money to move out of Clybourne Park. Mr. Lindner's derogatory use of "you people" has little to no effect on Mom's unwavering decision to move to Clybo... middle of paper ... beings react when a dream dies. Edward J. Mullen notes that Hughes' poem represents the idea that "the residents of this Harlem of 1951 seem to be feverishly and desperately seeking some simple but seemingly unattainable satisfaction in life" (142). Hansberry's play and Hughes' poem establish a powerful and human response to the death of a dream. Works Cited Hansberry Lorraine. A raisin in the sun. [1959] Literature. 5th ed. Ed. James N. N. Pickering and Jeffery D. Hoeper. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice, O. 1700-57.Hughes, Langston. "Harlem." [1951] Literature. 5th ed. Ed. James H. Pickering and Jeffery D. Hoeper. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice, 1027-28.Mullen, Edward J. Critical Essays on Langston Hughes. Boston: GK Hall, 142. Phillips, Elizabeth C. The Works of Lorraine Hansberry. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973. 48-62.