Finding oneself is one of the main motivations in life. Going through life without a goal or purpose for what you want to accomplish is not a successful or fulfilling path. Furthermore, the experiences we have as humans help determine who we are and who we will turn out to be. Using the psychological theory of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, he describes the necessities of life that will eventually lead to self-actualization. In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Younger reaches the stage of belonging/love, but fails to climb the ladder even higher to achieve self-esteem and self-actualization. To elaborate, Walter does reach Maslow’s stage of belonging/love, but makes it quite difficult for his family to care for him because of …show more content…
He is constantly getting into arguments with his sister Benetha and is quite dismissive of her dream of becoming a doctor. Even with his wife, Ruth, Walter Lee frequently rips at her, even once telling her, “Who even cares about you” (Hansberry 87). Despite all of this detestation that spews out of Walter’s mouth, his family still finds a way to care about him. His character went through a lot of development throughout the reading, originally being a man who only cared about making money to someone who understands (to an extent) that he must put his family on a higher stool than himself. At the end of the play, he finally chooses to put his family's needs above his own and shuts down Mr. Lindner’s plan to buy the Younger family out of the white neighborhood. This action gave the Youngers more trust in Walter, loving him for knowing that he would finally be there to support the family’s needs instead of going off on his own to pursue his dream. The way that Walter projects his goals in life proves that he has not reached the stage of self-esteem in Maslow’s pyramid. Throughout Hansberry’s play, it is evident the materialistic values that Walter Lee
Ronils Review of A Raisin in the Sun. This is probably the first play I've ever seen that I REALLY HEATED. A Raisin in the Sun The Madison Repertory Theatre has produced many plays by African American playwrights recently, such as last year's From the Mississippi Delta, but their most recent, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is certainly one of the veryWorst. The play starts in a darkened living room. Ruth Younger wakes her family on a Friday morning. Her father-in-law has recently died
an oppressive society does not have the capacity to foster a harmonious, flourishing populous, Lorraine Hansberry unmasks the effect of the oppression of racial, gender, and class groups on the lives of the members of a society in her play A Raisin in the Sun. Sunlight plays a key role in the growth of both plants and the Youngers. The Youngers’ residence lacks sunlight, so Ruth is thrilled when Lena informs her that there is an abundance of it in the house that she has just bought (Hansberry 4).
A Raisin in the Sun: From a Young, Talented, Black girl’s heart to Broadway From the 1860’s when African Americans gained their legal freedom, it wouldn’t be until an arduous century of resilience and civil rights seeking for the Black American community to finally attain social equality, as white racism worked against their prosperity in every way possible. One of these major setbacks was housing; Chicago’s housing market was on demand even before the end of WWII due to returning veterans. African
and outs, mainly through guess work. Maslow spent much of his time and resources learning the intricacies of human needs. The Hierarchy of Needs by Abraham Maslow is incorrect in its representation of the needs of characters within the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The ordering of the Hierarchy of needs pyramid is flawed, it fails to progress from one level to the next linearly, and the level of self-actualization is unobtainable for any character in the play. The order in which pyramid
is a playwright, author, and an activist. She is the first black playwright and the youngest American to win a New York Critics' Circle award. She wrote A Raisin in the Sun which is a real story that happened to her and her family. It is a significant play that shows the struggles the Blacks face in their lives. A Raisin in the Sun is a clear example on the kitchen sink drama. In the play, Walter plays the role of the angry man. He is dissatisfied at a world that offers him no social
attended the New School. In 1951, she joined the staff of the black newspaper Freedom. Hansberry married Robert Nemiroff on June 20, 1953. In 1959, she wrote “A Raisin in the Sun” and she was the fifth woman to receive the New York Drama Critics Circle award for Best Play. Hansberry died of pancreas cancer on January 12, 1965. “A Raisin in the Sun” portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African American family that are living on the
“Harlem,” he discusses the idea of unfulfilled dreams and their plausible outcomes using symbolism and imagery. He initially describes a “deferred” dream as a sun-dried raisin, depicting the dream originally as a fresh grape that now has dried up and “turned black” (Jemie 63). This idea provides Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun with its basic foundation, for it is a play about a house full of unfulfilled dreams. As the poem goes on, Hughes depicts the idea of a deferred dream as something
The Fruits of Passion and Dreams in A Raisin in the Sun and The Grapes of Wrath Passion! Passion is what both Lorraine Hansberry and John Steinbeck have in common. Their two major works, A Raisin in the Sun and The Grapes of Wrath, respectively, focus on the human struggle, love and dreams, which in turn are symbolized through the ideas of matriarchal images, prodigal sons and daughters and nature as an icon of dreams. In both these works, the mothers play the most important role in the development
what idea or item a person conquers, every piece of evidence will become something to value in the future. The three stories chosen to be wrote about for this essay will consist of A Raisin in the Sun; Everyday Use; and Road not Taken. Value has a significant meaning behind each story. In the story. A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry, there are many characteristics that make each character unique in their own role towards the story. This story shows racism, dignity, and individuality
Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, centers on an African American family in the late 1950s. Hansberry directs her work towards specifically the struggles faced by African Americans during the late 1950s. Through the dialogue and actions of her characters, she encourages not only a sense of pride in heritage, but a national and self-pride in African Americans as well. Hansberry promotes a sense of African heritage through her character, Beneatha. She characterizes Beneatha as a college
knowledge that people will do or say anything especially when it affects their loved ones. In A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Lee Younger is the only man left in Ruth, Beneatha, and Mama’s life. After many shortcomings, Walter seems to be struggling to find balance with his reality and his dreams. Ruth, Beneatha, and Mama all help him find new meaning in his life in their own ways. In the play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter is influenced by his mother, sister, and wife who ultimately change
In order to survive in today’s world, people need money which is something most of us take for granted. In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, she emphasizes how important money is to a poor African American family living in Chicago during the 1940’s. Walter Younger Sr. was a caring and loving man toward his family and when he passes away, the Younger’s receive $10,000 from life insurance. This changes his son, Walter Younger Junior’s attitude toward life. Money plays an important
Summer Journals A Raisin in the Sun Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban A Raisin in the Sun: Act I: 2 pages To begin with, A Raisin in the Sun, Act I , starts by introducing the five main characters; Lena, Ruth, Walter Lee, Beneatha, and Travis Younger. All of these characters, in my opinion, have unfulfilled dreams, which mostly involve money. Although this family is separated from the white middle-class culture, they too have the same type of dreams like the rest of the american society
Nathan Yip Mr. Erickson English 7 19 April 2024 An American Dream People say that the American Dream is like a guideline to success, and through this belief, anybody can achieve a higher social status, but that isn’t always true. In A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, the Younger family has dreams that they all want to fulfill, and they follow the American Dream. However, the path to reach their goals includes several difficult steps, such as hard work, sacrifice, and risk taking, and in
struggles to achieve their dreams and are driven apart from one another. It isn’t until the end of the play that the family unites together in hopes of achieving one unanimous dream among them. An analysis of characters in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun shows that dreams can be achieved with determination, effort, and unity. Walter Lee Younger, the protagonist, displays strong determination throughout the story. Walter is adamant about his dream of opening a liquor store with his partners