Another form of Ruth’s love for the family is in the way she sacrifices herself to go to work although she is not in a good condition. Ruth insisted to go although
Mama asked her to stay home and take a rest. She argues Mama with the reason that she might lose the job and she absolutely hopes that it never happens because she
knows that the family really needs money. As stated, “… I’ll work twenty hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago…I’ll
strap my baby on my back if I have to and scrub all the floors in America and wash all the sheets in America if I have to – but we got to move We got to get OUT OF
HERE” Hansberry, 1994: 140. It is fine for Ruth if she has to work very hard such as working twenty hours a day or washing all the sheets in America just to achieve
happiness which in this case is moving into a better place. She knows exactly that a dream will cost a hard work in achieving it.
B. The Ideas of American Dream as the Main Characters’ Motive of Life
There was a land, a virgin land that was known as the New World. The New World means a start of a new era and a new beginning for the newcomers that came
from others places which far away from the New World. The newcomers came to realize their dreams with a hope of better life for the family in the new place that they
called a New World or a new paradise Lemay, 1989: 1. In the 1950s, the New World seemed to promise the new Adam a chance to get better life. It showed in that
era, there were many immigrants came to the New World. They came with lots of reasons. Most of them left their country for a better life condition, freedom from
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wars, a greater economic opportunity, and the freedom from political and religious oppression. One of the examples is the Youngers, they came to Chicago, South
America to have a better life condition and a greater economic opportunity. American dream, as noted by Adams in Fossum and Roth 1981: 6 is a dream
of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. The dream might be ‘the
greatest contribution’ that the United States has ‘made to the thought and welfare of the world’. Started from that basic assumption, Fossum and Roth captures that the
ideas of American dream is related with the ideals of equality, liberty, prosperity, opportunity 1981: 6.
In this part, the analysis will focus on the relation between the characters’ motive and the ideas of American Dream. The relation is in how the ideas of
American Dream become the motive of life for the characters in Raisin in the Sun during their struggle in facing life especially in the middle of the white society. The
relation shows how an era and the society give big influences in someone’s motive of life.
1. Prosperity
One of the ideals of American Dream is Prosperity. Prosperity which is in The New Oxford American Dictionary
McKean, 2005: 1361 has the similar meaning with success or wealth has inspired and become Walter’s motive of life. This motive
has influenced Walter’s behavior. 50
According to Frank J. Burno in Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology the definition of motive is hypothetical state in an organism used to explain its choices
and goal-oriented behavior 1986: 140. 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. Motive makes human beings keep their effort in achieving their goal and
motivation supports them in the process of achieving their goal. Therefore, motive and motivation always influence someone’s action or behavior to pursue their goal.
Grown up as an uneducated man Hansberry, 1994: 24-25, Walter realized that it is hard for him to have a better job especially when there is a limitation for
colored people in having jobs in Chicago, the Southern of America. In order to fulfill his family needs Walter must have a job. Walter knows that as an uneducated colored
man, he has limited choice of jobs and one of the jobs which is available for him is a chauffeur. The story centers on Walter’s American Dream to stop being a chauffeur
and start being an entrepreneur. In his middle thirties, Walter is tired of being poor. Walter who works as a
chauffeur always deals with the rich people, especially whites, “… I been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in the living room—and all I got to give him
is stories about how rich white people live…” Hansberry, 1994: 34. He sees white people living style almost every day and because of that, he started to have in his
mind that living as a rich man is nice. Just like Worchel and Shelbilske theory of 51
