Metaphoric Title

The title of Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun, is metaphorically revealing in light of the events that transpire throughout the stroy. Referencing Langston Hughe's poem A Dream Deferred, a raisin in the sun is an already weakened dream that has been left in the sun to "shrivel up" even more. This analysis can be directly applied to Walter Lee and his aspirations and feelings toward them. "I want so many things that they are driving me kind of crazy....Sometimes it's like I can see the future stretched out in front of me-just plain as day. The future, Mama. Hanging over there at the edge of my days. Just waiting for me-a big, lookng blank space-full of nothing. Just waiting for me. But it don't have to be" (75). This excerpt clearly shows Walters frustration with his dreams. For a few moments in time, they seem attainable. However, after the money, his apparent salvation, arrives and he is still unable to chase his dream of becoming a successful business man, he is even more pained. The close proximity can be compared to a raisin being left out in the sun; an already dried fruit continues to shrivel up with every passing minute. This is how Walter feels about his dreams. With the means of acting on them so close but the inability to utilize them, his visions for the future seem as hopeless as ever.