can be seen in Raisin in the Sun where the main characters’ motive influenced by the surrounding society. In Raisin in the Sun, the idea of success in American dream
influenced the main characters’ motive of life. It is related to Ralph Barton Perry’s opinion. 1949: 10 in his book
Characteristically American “Success is thought of as the fruit of marriage between
circumstance and action”. It means that success is a combination of action, effort, and society. A Raisin in the Sun examines a family’s dreams, human motivation, and
social prejudice. In A Raisin in the Sun, Youngers are African-Americans who lived in America
because they think that America is a promising land to get a better future, in fact their opinion is not true. The flow of the play shows that “life is like a game”. People have
problems, and problems in life are things that come and go as if they were endless. Sometimes people think it is hard, but it is sometimes easy to face. Problems always
exist in everyone’s life, and everyone makes the decision, in which it could effect on the happening situation forward, whether it is good or bad.
As the example, the struggle to rise from economic adversity as the most problem of the family was present in the protagonist in the play. It was described by
Walter Younger’s character. He had dreams of achieving economic success, as the central issue in this play. The ideas of American Dream brought lots of motivation for
him to open a liquor store and reap from the profits. However, this could not be accomplished unless his Mama gave him the money from a 10,000 insurance check
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that she received from her husband’s death. The other characters that can show the ideas of American dream are Mama, Beneatha, and Ruth characters.
The setting, the flow, the dynamical emotion of getting involved in this play, the sense, and the scope of understanding the play are the things that can be reached more
in this play. The writer also admits that this play is considered to be really touchable in revealing it with the real life. Yet, what the writer means “real” is something that
constructs certain senses and mind sight blended into one portrait of such condition. Considering the term non-fiction in categorizing this play, we can precisely guess that
the way the story goes by the main characters’ experiences of fording such condition through life must be something that we can consider to happen mostly in the real life.
The life which is described in the play shows a process in which the characters want to have dreams of changing positions, from the ordinary life into the extraordinary
one or into a better future. That is why “THE IDEAS OF AMERICAN DREAM AS THE MAIN CHARACTERS’ MOTIVE OF LIFE AS SEEN IN LORRAINE
HANSBERRY’S A RAISIN IN THE SUN” is chosen as the title of this thesis.
B. Problem Formulation
As a guide for the writer in referring to the particular elements to discuss, these questions below will direct the writer’s writing on the certain scope of the
analysis. They are stated to be the problems, as well as the basic construction of the thesis.
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1. How are the main characters’ characterizations portrayed in the play A Raisin in the Sun
? 2. In what way are the ideas of American Dream revealed as the main characters’
motive of life in the play A Raisin in the Sun?
C. Objectives of the Study
Studying the topic proves that literature has a relation with the real life and the social condition, related to the time of the author’s work. The aim of the study is
to answer the two formulated problems above as clearly as possible. Firstly, the writer tries to find how Lorraine Hansberry describes the main characters’
characterizations in the play A Raisin in the Sun. Second, this study aims to explain in what way the ideas of American Dream are revealed as the main characters’ motive
of life.
D. Definition of Terms
To avoid any misinterpretations in the title, this thesis will provide some explanation on an important term mainly used and closely related to the topic. The
writer tries to explain them by borrowing mainly from the media, particularly from some books.
1. Character
Character is one of the elements of play or novel that has significant role to show the qualities of the novel or play. According to Abrams 1981: 20 in A
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Glossary of Literary Terms , character is the person presented in a dramatic or
narrative work who naturally possesses moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that all reflected in the dialogue and action among the person.
2. Characterization
The process by which an author creates a character is called characterization. Murphy in Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and the
English Novel for Overseas Students 1972: 161-173 describes characterization as
the way in which an author attempts to make his characters understandable and come alive for his readers.
3. Motive and Motivation
According to Frank J. Burno in Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology 1986: 140 the definition of motive is hypothetical state in an organism used to explain its
choices and goal-oriented behavior. Furthermore, in Psychology and Life the definition of motivation is the process of starting, directing and maintaining physical
and psychological activities toward a certain goal Gerring and Zimbardo, 2002: 364.
4. American Dream
According to Random House Webster’s College Dictionary 2001: 43, “American Dreams is the ideal of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally
held to be available to every American”. In the book “The American Dream” by 7
Robert H. Fossum and John K. Roth 1981: 6, they said that the term American Dream
was firstly used by a historian namely James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America
which was written in 1931. He states that “The American Dream is dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man,
with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement”. 8
