Lorraine Hansberry’s play, “A Raisin in the Sun”, centers on an African American family in the late 1950’s. Her work focuses on the struggles African Americans face during this time. Racism was and still is, a major issue in the United States during the 1950’s. Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a different race based on the belief that person’s own race is superior. Throughout this play, Hansberry discusses many racial obstacles that the Younger Family experiences.
Walter Lee Younger is the protagonist of the play. He aspires to become rich; when the family receives the $10,000 check from the insurance company, his first thought is to open a liquor store. He believes money will solve all of the family's problems, but is not
…show more content…
It was in an all white, working class neighborhood and they did not want any blacks living in the area. Mr. Lindner, from the parks improvement association, was contacted by the neighborhood when they found out about the Youngers moving in. “I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply doesn’t enter into it. It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities.”(II.iii) He offers the family a settlement to not move into that specific neighborhood. The family was sick of being disrespected for their race and decided that the house was worth the fight, they did not want to give up. After all, this was their chance at success and obtaining that “American dream” that Mama always desired. The American dream consists of a steady job, a house, family, lots of happiness, a vehicle for mobility, hope and opportunity to grow in the future, a good education and wealth. Although the family didn’t have all of that, they did have hope, happiness, each other, all they needed was a newer
A Raisin in the Sun In the book “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, there were characters whose dreams were stated, some of which were shattered by greed and misfortune and others which would eventually come true. The first dream that came about was Walter’s dream of one day owning and maintaining a liquor store. He would do anything to attempt to get his dream to come true, but his mama wanted anything but that to happen. His mama had a dream of her own, though, she dreamed of one day owning her own house, where her whole family could stay comfortably.
The Younger’s, an African American family living on the south-side of Chicago in the 1950s, live in an undersized apartment for their family of five. Lena Younger, the mother of the house, receives a check of ten thousand dollars and dreams of owning her own house in a white neighborhood. Beneatha’s brother, Walter, has high hopes of investing the money in a liquor store. Walter’s wife, Ruth does all she can to support his ideas while caring for their son, Travis. But, to become a doctor, Beneatha wants and needs the money to pay for her schooling. Walter and Beneatha’s wants for the money cause disputes throughout the house.
The civil rights movement brought enlightenment towards the abolishment of segregation laws. Although the laws are gone does segregation still exist in fact? “What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?'; said, in a poem by Langston Huges. The story, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry showed segregation and its affects upon all races. This essay will show how Assimilationists and New Negroes fought for their own identity in the mid twentieth century. Whether they were being true to themselves or creating carbon copies of oppression was determined by one’s view upon society.
Walter Younger is a good example of a dynamic character because he changes from being blindly in love with money and dreams to turning into an adult who can make life decisions. Walter still loves money, dreams big, and has a hateful attitude, but he figures out how to regulate it. The Younger family faced racial and housing discrimination and segregation, and they were able to overcome it and set up a better life for themselves. This quote by Margaret Atwood, a Canadian poet, is a good way of summing up the thoughts and beliefs of Walter and the play: “I hope that people will finally come to realize that there is only one ‘race’ - the human race - and that we are all members of it” (Atwood).
A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, has often been dubbed a “black” play by critics since its debut on Broadway in 1959. This label has been reasonably assigned considering the play has a cast that consists primarily of African American actors; however, when looking beyond the surface of this play and the color of the author and characters, one can see that A Raisin in the Sun actually transcends the boundaries of racial labels through the universal personalities assigned to each character and the realistic family situations that continue to evolve throughout the storyline. As seen when comparing A Raisin in the Sun to “The Rich Brother,” a story for which the characters receive no label of race, many commonalities can be found between the characters’ personalities and their beliefs. Such similarities prove that A Raisin in the Sun is not merely a play intended to appeal only to the black community, nor should it be construed as a story about the plights of the black race alone, but instead should be recognized as a play about the struggles that all families, regardless of race, must endure in regard to their diversity and financial disparity. A succinct introduction and excellent writing!
The chasing of a mirage is a futile quest where an individual chases an imaginary image that he or she wants to capture. The goal of this impossible quest is in sight, but it is unattainable. Even with the knowledge that failure is inevitable, people still dream of catching a mirage. There is a fine line that separates those who are oblivious to this fact, and to those who are aware and accept this knowledge. The people who are oblivious represent those who are ignorant of the fact that their dream will be deferred. This denial is the core of the concept used in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The perception of the American Dream is one that is highly subjective, but every individual dream ends in its own deferment.
Where money is but an illusion and all it brings are nothing but dreams, one family struggles to discover that wealth can be found in other forms. In the play "A Raisin in the Sun," Lorraine Hansberry uses the indirect characterization of the Younger family through their acquaintances to reveal that money and materialism alone are worthless.
Hansberry conveyed the relatable struggles by using a black family “[sparing] us one of those well-scrubbed, light-skinned families who often appear in propaganda pieces about discrimination (Clurman 21). After Clurman identifies the benefit of Hansberry’s writing with vices and virtues he gives a quick summary of the play. The family is waiting for a ten thousand dollar check to arrive, and with that money Walter Lee, mammas son, wants to use the money to start a liquor store but momma, the head of the house, wants to use the money as a down payment for a house; the catch is that the house momma just bought is in a white neighborhood. At first, the idea is met with skepticism but then it is embraced when they decide to move. The money left over was meant to pay for Beneatha's school and help Walter start his liquor store, but that was all lost when Walter gave the money to a companion who takes the money and runs.
In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry there are many examples of the Younger family members repelled the blatant racism existing in their society. Throughout the play there have been incidents in which the Younger family has stood their ground as black people, especially the women of this play. The Younger family has experienced racism throughout the play, in the first act the character Ruth is sick and her mother-in-law tells her to call in sick with the ‘flu’ as it’s something white people can get. This remark from the character Mama really makes one understand that people of colour were seen to have abnormal diseases than white people and by Mama saying it in a mocking way, it shows an aspect of her resisting racism and making
Dreams. What do we do with them? Harlem by Langston Hughes asks, what happens to a dream deferred? Lorraine Hansberry opens up her book, The Raisin in the Sun, with this poem for a certain reason. We see that throughout the book each character suffers through many trials with their deferred dreams and different ways of handling them.
One of the first ideas mentioned in this play, A Raisin In the Sun, is about money. The Younger's end up with no money because of Walter's obsession with it. When Walter decides not to take the extra money he is offered it helps prove Hansberry's theme. Her theme is that money can't buy happiness. This can be seen in Walter's actions throughout the play.
Everyone would like to support their family financially and achieve financial success in their lives. Walter Younger is a thirty-five year old, married man who, is a limousine driver and has dreams like each one of us. Walter represents a 1950’s African-American male, who struggles, but tries to secure economic prosperity. Walter Younger has a dream to open a liquor store and he believes that this store will lead his family to The American Dream. A dream is a hope or a wish and Walter Younger, who is the hero and the villain of the play, wants to use Mama’s 10,000 to open up the liquor store. Walter Younger’s family is an African-American family that is struggling in poverty, but Walter’s idea of financial stability could lead the family to
A Raisin in the Sun is a play written during the Civil Rights Movement by Lorraine Hansberry. The title of the play, A Raisin in the Sun is built on a poem by Langston Hughes, Harlem; specifically the line, “a dream deferred.” The play shines light on the struggles the Youngers go through with oppressive circumstances. The Youngers struggles are still relevant for all races about 60 years later, how depressing that history repeats in such ways. Like a Raisin in the Sun society still expresses racial discrimination, a strain of identity recognition, and economic struggles.
...have some money. The Younger’s were well aware that they were not wanted in the white neighborhood. At this point, there is a feeling of dislike towards Walter because he had blown off all the money. So what was expected was the he would continue worrying about money and sell their dream house. But instead he does an unexpected, honorable thing. He surprises the family by changing his mind and deciding to move into the house. I was also moved by what Mama said. “Son—I come from five generations of people who was slaves and sharecroppers—but ain’t nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth. We ain’t never been that poor. We ain’t never been that—dead inside.” Walter finally showed pride in his family and let go of his dream for the good of his family.
Lorraine Hansberry herself clarified it when she spoke about the play. She states, “We cannot…very well succumb to monetary values and know the survival of certain aspects of man which must remain if we are loom larger than other creatures on the planet….Our people fight daily and magnificently for a more comfortable material base for their lives; they sacrifice for clean homes, decent foods, and personal and group dignity”. (Lester 417). Hansberry used Walter Lee to stand for that exact representation. Many African American men in the 1950’s and the 1960’s suffered pride and personal crisis issues because of the incapability to support and provide his family with the minimum of their basic needs. Walter Lee incriminated himself and his family for what he sees as his personal failure. (Lester 417). During the meeting with Mr. Linder the family, with the exclusion of Mama and Travis, stated that they was not interested in the offer of selling the house back to the welcoming committee of the neighborhood. This showed that the family stood firm for their moral values (dignity) that they share as a collective unit. Then something switch; Walter recklessly invested the family insurance money on a shaky liquor business startup. Feeling that all hope is lost and that his way of changing the family way of life is out of reach, he despairingly call Mr. Linder and