Dignity and the American Dream in A Raisin in the SunThe American dream, although different for each of us, is what we all aspire to. In Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun, each member of the Younger family desperately hopes for their own opportunity to realize the American dream. The American dream for the Younger family is to own a house, but beyond that, for Walter Younger, it is to be accepted by white society. In the book titled “Advertising the American Dream,” Roland Marchand refers to the American Dream as the belief that “if you work hard and play by the rules, you will achieve your goals” (Marchand 1). In the play, Walter Lee Younger does neither of these things. Walter doesn't show up for work regularly, and he certainly doesn't intend to follow the rules to get a business license. Walter Lee is a man stuck in a dead-end job that he considers humiliating and he is desperate to break free. the bonds of poverty, oppression and racial discrimination. Walter Lee believes that with money he can change the hegemony's view of him as a poor, stupid black servant. The social construction of hegemony of black people being inferior and the ethnocentric perception of hegemony being superior is corroborated in an article titled “The Color Bar of Beauty” from The Peak. Cristina Rodrigues, a member of the black cultural and social activist group Olodum, says, “In Brazil, no one wants to be black because the media equates black with poor and stupid” (Aujla 2). Walter has a romantic relationship with his family members. , but he also has a relationship that frustrates him. Walter's family frustrations are caused by the lack of society o...... middle of paper ......y. " The Peak. May 4, 1998: 1-5. Available: http://www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/98-2/issue1/colourbar.htmlHansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun in New York: Signet, 1988. Johnson, Lyndon B. “The American Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon Johnson, vol. .org/resoures/teach/basic/par6/40.htm Marchand, Roland, University of California Press, 1985 Margolin, Michael. http://www.metrotimes.com/arts/stories/18/. 26/RasnInSn.htmlU.S. Census Bureau. Available: http://www.census.gov/prod/3/98pub/p20-509u. .pdU.S. Federal Law. Available: http://law.cornell.edu/supct/html/97-156.ZS.html.