Julie Arballo

Block 4
English 3 Honors
Mrs. Storer
Biggest Takeaway of A Raisin in the Sun
The biggest thing I took away from A Raisin in the Sun is how money and dreams are so
closely related. For example, Mama and Walter are having a conversation about why Walter
always talks about money. “Mama: Oh—So now it’s life. Money is life. Once upon a time
freedom used to be life—now it’s money. I guess the world really do change . . .Walter: No—it
was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it” (Hansberry 74). Walter relates the idea
of life to money. His mentality is that he need money to make money. If he wants to make
money from the liquor store, he needs to invest in it first, but he needs money to do that in the
first place. Another example is Beneatha’s dream of being a doctor. She longs to be a doctor
because she wants to help people and save lives ever since she was a little girl. However, in order
to achieve this ambitious goal, she needs money to go to medical school. She describes this this
necessity to achieve dreams by means of money as a circle, “Don’t you see there isn’t any real
progress, Asagai, there is only one large circle that we march in, around and around, each of us
with our own little picture in front of us, our own little mirage that we think is the
future”(Hansberry 134). Whenever she thinks that she can achieve a goal she feels like it is
pulled out from under her feet because of money. In this case money is indeed necessary for the
happiness of these people regarding their hopes and dreams.
I have noticed that money is necessary for success throughout my soccer career. My
dream is to commit to a D1 college within the next year. This dream is burning a hole in my
parents’ pockets. The best way to get exposure to colleges is by going to showcases and college
I.D. camps. Showcases are very expensive because you have to travel, for example this next
month I am supposed to go to North Carolina to play with my club team. Without even paying to
play on the club team the showcase alone is about $600. On top of that I have to pay for the
flight to get to North Carolina, the hotel, and food. It is also necessary to go to I.D. camps to
show college coaches your skills. These camps usually cost around $300 to attend, then you must
pay for travel and a hotel room. This just proves how if I did not have money at all I would have
little to no chance of achieving my dream. Money plays a huge part in going places in life, and
from reading A Raisin in the Sun, I have recognized how truly lucky and blessed I am to have the
opportunity to achieve my goals.