Charterer Analysis and Theme

Through out the novel many literary terms intervene in the story in order to incorporate a deeper meaning to the story For example, "Now the once loved patter of the couch upholstery has to fight to show itself from under acres of crocheted dollies and couch covers which have themselves finally come to be more important than the upholstery." (pg 1.) The imagery here portrays the degree of poverty they are enduring since the furniture is about past its time giving us an insight on their life. Not only this but the dialogue through the first act shows us the slang the Youngers' use. 

The title of the play references a conjecture that Langston Hughes famously posed in a poem he wrote about dreams that were forgotten or put off. He wonders whether those dreams shrivel up “like a raisin in the sun.” Right from the start we can infer a theme: the value and purpose of dreams. Most of the individuals have dreams but whose dream is the most important. The Younger's family dreams clash with each other as they argue and bicker over who deserves the money to fulfill a part of their dreams. Little do they know Ruth is pregnant and about to add a whole new mouth to feed and provide for. Is abortion the right decision here in order to save the family going deeper into poverty?


As Mama’s only son, Ruth’s defiant husband, Travis’s caring father, and Beneatha’s belligerent brother, Walter serves as both protagonist and antagonist of the play. The plot revolves around him and the actions that he takes, and his character evolves the most during the course of the act one and obviously through the rest. Throughout the play, Walter provides an every man perspective of the mid-twentieth-century African-American male.