Comparison of A Raisin in the Sun & I Have a Dream Speech

A Raisin in the Sun and I Have a Dream are perfect examples of each other. I Have a Dream talks about Martin Luther King Jr’s hopes and dreams for America’s future. A Raisin in the Sun is a play about Walter and his family’s struggle to move into a new house, while also discussing the dreams of the family members in the apartment. A Raisin in the Sun and Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have a Dream speech are alike because both discuss the depressing realities for African Americans in America and breaking free from oppression and despair.

One reason A Raisin in the Sun and I Have a Dream are similar is because they both discuss the depressing realities of African Americans. In A Raisin in the Sun, it says, “ Travis: I have to-she won’t give me the fifty cents… Walter: Why not? Ruth: ‘Cause we don’t have it.” This shows this family is struggling with poverty, which is one struggle that is portrayed in the play. In I Have a Dream the passage says, “One hundred years later the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” This shows that African Americans in the real world have to deal with poverty. In conclusion both passages discuss poverty as one of the struggles that African Americans have to deal with.

Another reason A Raisin in the Sun and I Have a Dream are similar is because they discuss breaking free from oppression and despair. In A Raisin in the Sun it says, “MAMA: matter-of-factly) Four o six Clybourne Street, Clybourne Park. Ruth: Clybourne Park? Mama, there ain't no colored people living in Clybourne Park.” and “MAMA: Them houses they put up for colored in them areas way out all seem to cost twice as much as other houses. I did the best I could.” These pieces of text explain that in order to break free from oppression and despair, this family is going to move into an all White neighborhood instead of living in their small, packed apartment. In I Have a Dream it says, “This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” This means that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. hopes that men, women, and children of all color and religions will help each other break free from oppression and despair. 

Although I have a dream and a raisin in the sun are alike in many ways, some may say that A Raisin in the Sun has also talked about sexism while I Have a Dream does not. In A Raisin in the Sun, it says, “Walter: Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy 'bout messing ‘round with sick people-then go be a nurse like other women-or just get married and be quiet . . .” and “Walter: (defensively) I'm interested in you. Something wrong with that? Ain't many girls who decide Walter and Beneatha: (In unison)-"to be a doctor." This shows that multiple parts of A Raisin in the Sun discuss Walter’s sexism towards women. However, A Raisin in the Sun and I Have a Dream have more in common than they have different.

In conclusion, A Raisin in the Sun exemplifies the points Dr. King made in his speech. Although A Raisin in the Sun talks about sexism, both I Have a Dream and A Raisin in the Sun discuss breaking free from oppression and the struggles African Americans have to go through to live in America.