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Themes in a raisin in the sun
Raisin in the sun symbolic images and the meanings
Themes in a raisin in the sun
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Vincent Graziano Ms. Punting English III Honors- 5th(E) Period 9 May 2016 Symbolism in A Raisin in the Sun Symbols are often employed in order to highlight the theme of a play. Playwright Lorraine Hansberry uses several symbols in her 1959 play, A Raisin in the Sun. Though there are several symbols used throughout the play, Hansberry uses three main symbols to convey her messages. The three main symbols seen in A Raisin in the Sun are the breakfast eggs, the new house and garden, and Mama's plant. In Act I, Ruth tells Walter to eat his eggs after Walter begins to talk about his idea for owning a liquor store and how Ruth needs to support him more. The eggs symbolize the acceptance of the adversity faced in everyday life by the Youngers and Ruth's mundane approach to supporting Walter. Several times at the beginning of the first scene of the first act, Ruth shuts Walter's ideas out by telling him to eat his eggs. Walter points out that …show more content…
Mama's plant symbolizes her family and the African American community during this time period. Just as the plant is sickly and dying in Acts I and II, so too is the Younger family dynamic. At the end of Act III, however, the plant begins to look healthier after getting some sun, just like the family does after deciding to move and standing up to Mr. Lindner's possible threat. At the end of the play, after everyone exits the apartment, Mama "comes back in, grabs the plant, and leaves for the last time"(Hansberry 577), symbolizing that the family has moved on from the dark, sickly times of their past to a brighter, healthier day future. The plant also symbolizes the African American community during this time period. Just as the plant struggles to flourish and must live with limited opportunities for sunlight, the African American community in the early- to mid-20th Century struggled to flourish and was plagued by limited access to
The symbols that are used in literature can have a large impact on the story and what the reader pulls out from the story. If there was no symbol used in To Kill a Mockingbird, people would miss a lot of the story going on and they may not see the more innocent side of the story. Although symbols are used in many different forms, the one used in To Kill a Mockingbird made the story what it was. The mockingbird gave the story a whole different approach. By using a symbol in the story, the author was able to make th...
The play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry has many interesting characters. In my opinion, the most fascinating character is Ruth because of her many emotions and captivating personality. She goes through extreme emotions in the play such as happiness, sadness, anger, stress, and confusion. Ruth is very independent, firm, kind, witty, and loving.
Symbols are secret messages that are embedded in the texts of literature. Some symbols are more well-known and better understood than others. Authors use symbols to tell how they are feeling (Overview). The symbols in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe are very different; however, they are still very important throughout both pieces of literature.
In Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns the protagonist, Mariam’s father, Jalil, uses gifts, false compassion, and lies into deceiving his daughter into believing that he loves her unconditionally just as much as he loves his other children resulting in Mariam feeling betrayed and unloved throughout her adulthood.
In his play The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams uses a multitude of symbols. From these symbols, there comes a deeper understanding of the relationships between the play's four characters. The most obvious symbol in this play is Laura's glass menagerie, representing the world she lives in. Another recurring symbol is that of the fire escape. Outside the fire escape is the dance hall, a symbol for the reality of the outside world. Candles and rainbows are often mentioned in the play and carry a variety of meanings. Each symbol is a concrete substitution used to express a particular theme, idea, or character.
The play has an example of the technique of foreshadowing when Ruth faints. This foreshadows her later announcement of her pregnancy. The unchangeable setting is considered as a motif. Although the actions that affect the family happen outside. Yet the audience never goes out of the Youngers house. Mama goes out to buy a house, Walter goes to drink and Bennie goes for dates. All these actions are not shown, but the characters go out and come back to tell what they did. By keeping the actions in their apartment only, this reinforces the idea that the family is trapped in their small house and their life is not changing. Hansberry also uses the look of the apartment to convey the situation of the family that they are worn out of this life. Especially when Hansberry says that the furniture is placed to cover worn spots in the rug (loos40).
Everyone goes through dark times whether it’s something big or trivial. But even when things seem bad, there’s always a silver-lining. Paton uses literary devices to develop this theme in the scene where the main character, Stephen Kumalo, is in his hometown of Ndotsheni and is visited by Arthur Jarvis’ son. This scene starts with Kumalo internally voicing his concerns for the wellbeing of Ndotsheni. He makes it clear how bad the conditions are. Then, Arthur’s son visits, a ray of light in Kumalo’s otherwise dark world.
According to Google, symbolism in literature is defined as the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense. Symbolism can be seen throughout media and in many pieces of literature including To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In the book, the symbol of the mockingbird represents the character Boo Radley, and how his story teaches people to not always believe what others have to say about someone without being able to prove it true for themselves.
Ruth is Walter's wife. Her dream is to have a happy family but she also wants to be wealthy.
All forms of literature consist of patterns that can be discovered through critical and analytical reading, observing and comparing. Many patterns are discussed in the novel, How to Read Literature like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster. Among these patterns, he discusses the use of symbolism and the representation something can have for a different, underlying aspect of a piece of literature. These symbols tend to have multiple meanings and endless interpretations depending on who is reading and analyzing them. No matter
There are many symbols in books as well as short stories. In the book, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, as well as the short stories “The Masque of Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, there are many symbols representing many different things. The only things that determine the meanings of the symbols are the context and the reader; for example, glasses can represent wisdom, blindness, or education all depending on the way they are interpreted.
“WALTER: “.See, that just goes to show you what women understand about the world. Baby, don’t nothing happen to you in this world ‘less you pay somebody off!”(Hansberry). Walter says that money is a man’s domain, and that Ruth, being a woman, just wouldn’t understand. This sexist remark seems to come from his own lack of self-esteem. Unfortunately, for Walter and those around him, he feels the need to put people down in order to feel more powerful.”
In the opening scene of the play Mama goes to her plant and nurtures it. Mama tries to instill the value of family importance to her children as she struggles to keep them together and functioning (Kohorn). The plant symbolizes Mama's dreams of owning her own house. She uses part of the money to put a down payment on a house in a white neighborhood.
A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot. (2009 Open-Ended Question for AP English Literature and Composition).
There are many symbols used in this story such as the size changes that Alice experiences, games, and time. Other symbols are the animals such as the March Hare, the Cheshire Cat, the caterpillar, and the pig. The Mad Hatter, the Red Queen, and the child who turns into a pig are characters in the story that also serve as