"What happens to a dream deferred?," (1) Langston Hughes asked in his 1959 Poem "Harlem: A Dream Deferred." In Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 play "A Raisin in the Sun," she expr In her play, Hansberry described the dreams of the Younger family and how those dreams became "dreams deferred." The family consisted of Mama (Lena Younger), Walter Lee (her son), Ruth (his wife), Travis (their son), and Beneatha (Walter younger sister). They all have a common dream of having a better life. Mama Walter wants to get rich quickly by investing the money in a liquor store. Mama and Walter's wife, Ruth, both want to leave their house in the ghetto for a nicer one where Walter's son, Travis, can have his own bedroom and a yard in which to play. Walter's sister, Beneatha, would rather use the money to finish education. The Younger's dreams are deferred for so long that frustration grows inside of them and eventually bursts out.
Walter is Mama's son, Ruth darling husband, Travis caring father, and Beneatha's belligerent brother. Critic Ossie Davis said that Walter was "corrupted by the materialistic aspirations at the heart of Western Civilization, and his corruption is bodied forth in his petty, little dream. But it was his dream, and it was all he had." (401) Like his father, he wants his family to have a better life and wants to invest the money from the insurance check in a liquor store. He wants to give his family what they never had and he feels like a slave to family economic hardship. His dream has been deferred by his poverty and his inability to find decent employment. Over the course of the play, his character evolves and material wealth is no longer his top priority.
Walter Lee has never wanted anything more in his life than the $10,000. He tries to convince mama to give him the money by telling her it would be profitable to the whole family. He thinks that money is the only way he can be successful.