Other Possibilities of a Deferred Dream

FEI PAN

Langston Hughes’s poem to starts off A Raisin in the Sun. It explores the different possibilities that can happen when dreams are laid to rest for a while, and having to postpone one's deepest desires can lead to destruction. It is similar to the theme of In Cold Blood, which reveals an important dream or goal that must be delayed can have serious negative affects.

Herbert Clutter served on the Federal Farm Credit Board under President Eisenhower. He is always the community leader, getting involved with many organizations. He possesses a harmonious family with his beloved wife—Bonnie, two older daughters who have moved out, and Nancy and Kenyon. His large property, River Valley Farm, keeps him moderately wealthy. Starting with little, he has built up a large, successful farm. He reaped harvest of his constant hard work. However, his achievements were completely dried up like a raisin in the sun— hard and impossible to eat. No matter how much he attained and gained, his whole life was ended by two robbers who were discontented with the social society and their miserable plight.

Many of us believe that a man without an education is an unfortunate victim of adverse circumstances deprived of one of the greatest opportunities. Neither Perry nor Hickock get that precious opportunity. Perry’s dream festers like a running sore. He wants very much to be educated, and he considers himself quite intelligent and artistic. His childhood was lonely and disorganized. He wanted to get love from his divorced parents and shattered family, but family members’ attitudes toward him made his sore infected and no longer able to heal. He is disgusted with society and wanted to avenge those lucky fellows with fortune. His criminal record seems to be a natural extension of the strange environments in which he grew up, striking back at those who are deferring the dreams.

Hickock, another ruthless murder of the Clutter family, was jailed for passing bad checks. He used to earn wages to support his family in a legal way, like other good citizens who observe disciplines and obey laws. However, he was not satisfied with his ordinary life, with his limitless efforts, and he could not make his ends meet to afford his heavy expenses by his thin-paid work. In other words, since his dreams were not realized in a timely fashion, he lost patience and went to an extreme, which made his dreams like rotten meat giving off horrible odors.

All in all, almost all main characters’ dreams exploded, like bombs explode and cause great destruction. If all the other possibilities of a deferred dream are bad with some worse than others, then the last possibility is the worst. If the person whose dream is deferred loses all hope, he might “explode” with his despair. He might commit suicide, homicide—or both. However, I maintain that both Hughes and Capote want us to give positive motivation and attitude to achieve, to realize our dreams in our real life. Finally, all people must believe in their dreams and do the possible to achieve them because there is no life without dreams.