“If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but think you can’t, it is almost
certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost.
For out in the world, we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will-it’s all in the state of
mind.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks
he can.”
-Anonymous
Did I
write this?
No, my
name is not anonymous. This is so
amazing that I would have put my name on it if I wrote it.
My dad
always recites this for me. He has it
memorized.
As you’ve
probably guessed, I’m on Walter’s side in A
Raisin in the Sun. That man has an
honest dream, and he believes he can succeed with it, and for that I commend
and support him. I don’t care what color
your skin is, what religion you follow, or anything else that makes us all
different; as long as you understand that your culture, your history, your
disadvantages, your “limits,” and your failures are no reason to quit trying to
succeed.
Obviously I missed some question concerning whether I agree with Walter or not, but I didn't write about that. Walter was a bit of a huge jerk. Regardless if his dream is honest or not, you can't treat people like that. Well, of course, you can, but you really shouldn't. It's not that his dream was all right or whatever, it was that he was a terrible person and he undermined his sister's dream to be great so he could achieve his.
ReplyDeleteBy the time she gets through school, the sister's going to want to be something else, just sayin'.
DeleteWhile I immensely respect Walter for trying to improve his life, I cannot help but feel apprehensive toward his inexperienced naivete. He also seems incredibly selfish, betting his family's security and comfort on an ultimately risky entrepreneurial scheme. I'm not comparing the validity of his dreams with his sister's but simply pointing out that he doesn't have the right to so vehemently argue for that money's fate.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the idea that if you think you won't succeed, you never will. And while I feel that Walter should have been more sensitive to the dreams of his mother (who works hard to support her family and only wants a better life and nicer house for them), I believe that he has just as much of a right to his dreams as Beneatha does to hers. He is forced to wear one pair of shoes for a year to help pay her tuition while she cuts class to go to guitar lessons (which will probably come to an end in a mere month). Walter wants to pursue the American Dream of taking great financial risks so that his family can never worry and forever live in luxuriant prosperity.
ReplyDelete