The play, A Raisin in the Sun, is all about dreams that are deferred. Everyone in the play has a dream that they wish to achieve. Some are more selfish than others, but they all want to be able to provide good things for their family. The author, Lorraine Hansberry, used objects, which are otherwise unimportant, to symbolize other objects or meanings that she wanted the readers to be sure to understand. There were many symbols used throughout the play. Some of them were obvious but some of them were not. It is up to the individual reader to decide which objects are symbols and which ones are not.
The play begins with the family eagerly waiting for a check of $10,000.00 to come in the day's mail. The money is from the life insurance of Lena's husband who has passed away. Lena and her family each have their own ideas for what to do with the money. Walter, who doesn't know that his wife Ruth is pregnant, only dreams of being rich like the white men he passes on the streets. He wants to invest the money in a liquor store along with his friends Willy Harris and Bobo. Beneatha is in college and is dating two men at the same time. The first one, George Murchison, is materialistic and snobbishly rich. Her family wants her to marry him because he can provide money for the family. The second guy, Asagai, is very intellectual and deeply cares for Beneatha (A Raisin in the Sun para. 1). She dreams of becoming a doctor someday and wants to use the money to pay for the rest of her schooling. Mama, who realizes that her family is falling apart, much like her withered plant, only wants to buy a new home so that her family can once again live together peacefully. After the family has relentlessly tried to persuade her with what to do with the money, Mama finally comes to her senses and puts a down payment on a new house in a predominantly white neighborhood named Clybourne Park. She then gives Walter the remaining money and strictly tells him to put half of it away in the bank for Beneatha's schooling and that he can do whatever he pleases with the other half.
