Dreams are the core of our achievements for without them, there'd be nothing to yearn for in life. In Loretta Hansberry play, "A Raisin in the Sun," the theme is that it is possible to live the American Dream by overcoming barriers that stand in the trajectory of that dream, and being persistent. This theme is supported by the mood created by the setting, characters, and their barriers throughout the play. In "A Raisin in the Sun" the theme of being persistent is thoroughly supported by the mood of the play that is created through the setting: a low class, roach infested, cramped apartment. It forms an irritable, "fed up" mood within the play. Before act 1, Hansberry spends a significant amount of time describing the apartment where the dream manifests as a desire to obtain a bitter living environment, in a more size appropriate house. This dream is shared equally amongst the Younger Family and expressed deeply by Ruth. She exclaims, "Lena – I'll work I'll work twenty hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago I'll strap my baby on my back if I have to and scrub all the floors in America and wash all the sheets in America if I have to – but we got to move! We got to get out of here!" (Hansberry 112). This shows how the characters were tired of the living conditions of the apartment and wanted to move on to something better. The dream begins to take form.
Character also supports the theme of "Raisin." A character, who overcame this barrier to achieve their dream, was Mama. Her dream was to own a house, with her family. This dream of hers is similar to the American Dream at the time. Which was to own a home with a white picket fence, and a happy family. Mama's barrier to her dream was her financial status, and later, her race. She never had the economic resource to fund her dream until the inheritance of her husband's life insurance policy.