Story Map
Title: A Raisin in the Sun
Setting: Chicago’s South Side sometime between World War II and the 1950s.
More specifically, the play centers on the five living relatives of the Younger family after the death of the father – “Big Walter Lee” Younger. The location in which the entirety of the drama unfolds is in the Younger’s compact, but increasingly uncom-fortable two-bedroom apartment (although in the 1961 screenplay some scenes took place in other settings). The situation they are in is compounded by the fact that the only bathroom available is also shared by all the other tenants in the building.
The atmosphere of the play presents many different conflicts faced by a single family which are symbolic of the situations dealt with by African-Americans as a whole during that era, including inter-related issues such as racial indifference and oppression, economic disadvantages and just an overall sense of low self-esteem & hopelessness nurtured by continual let-downs.
In the end, I believe the setting is best described by the self-explanatory poem cited at the beginning of the dramatic piece: “A Dream Deferred”.
Characters: “Big” Walter Lee Younger George Murchinson
Walter Lee Younger Joseph Asagai
Ruth Younger Karl Lindner
Travis Younger Bobo
Lena “Mama” Younger Willie Harris
Beneathea “Bennie” Younger Mrs. (Wilhelmina
The Moving Men Othella) Johnson
Problems: “Big” Walter Lee Younger has...
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... endeavors to solve the multiple money woes they face, he is mistaken in believing that wealth (e.g. having an expensive car & beautiful home), is the answer to all of life’s problems; that it will automatically solve his marital difficulties and cause him to feel more fulfilled in life.
In essence, he thinks that money can buy happiness, make those around him appreciate him more and raise his own self esteem; while clearly ignoring the fact that those virtues come from the inside and that his family would be grateful for his love and true concern about the above any material gifts he could ever give.
Eventually, his out look is mostly greatly summed up in what he says to Mama in Act I, Scene ii during which in the course of a heated argument he finally blurts out what he has truly believed all along - Money “…is life!”
Works Cited
A Raisin in the Sun
The thought of having an immense sum of money or wealth bring certain people to believe that money can buy almost anything, even happiness, however in reality, it will only lead to lost and false hope. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald writes a story about a man named Gatsby who is a victim of this so called 'false hope' and 'lost.' Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald clearly demonstrates and elaborates on the relationship between having money, wealth, and one's ethics or integrity by acknowledging the idea that the amount of money or wealth one has attained does affect the relationship between one's wealth and one's ethics whether or not in a pleasant manner. Although money and wealth may not be able to buy a person happiness, it surely can buy a person's mind and action given that a wealthy person has a great deal of power. Fitzgerald analyzes the notion that even though many people dream of being both rich and ethical, it is not possible, and therefore, being poor and ethical is much better than trying to be rich and ethical.
Gilbert states, “Anybody who says “money doesn’t buy happiness” should go talk to somebody living under a bridge. But anyone who says “money buys happiness” should go talk to Bill Gates.” Gilbert argues that neither are true and once people have their basic needs met to make us happier, more money won’t buy us happiness. He also mentions the theory that we are walking on the hedonic treadmill, which is whatever levels of wealth or material goods we have, we adapt to it and we’ll always want more. We think that getting more will make us even happier which in fact, doesn’t. This adaptation is the enemy of
In the “Rocking-Horse Winner,” D.H. Lawrence wrote about the house and the people inside as if they represents society. The events and characters in the story demonstrates when people in life that are obsessed with money will have the wrong values in life. The obsessiveness will often lead people results in tragedy. The author is trying to tell us there ae more to life than just materialist things like money. No one in this world isn’t in need of money. We work our entire life to get income for our satisfying needs. Ones can differ from other. One will work hard for money to satisfy just their needs, while others would go above and beyond to reach their dream homes or dream cars. And those are different types of obsessiveness. Meanwhile, in my family it’s the total opposite. We value hard work and education
The first example of the belief that money can buy his happiness is when Nick Carraway describes the West Egg, where he lives. The houses are very luxurious but there is a distinction
Within the real world individuals constantly ask: Does money actually equal happiness? Money doesn’t equal happiness, money equals superiority or privilege and happiness equals desire. Similarly, in Scott Fitzgerald's’ The Great Gatsby, Tom, Daisy and Gatsby portray money equals superiority and happiness equal desire by the actions they chose to make as well as their deep sentiments.
2. PLACE: Pittsburgh. The play is set in the dirt yard of the Maxson house. We're told that it's a two-story brick house, set off a back alley. Two junky chairs sit on a porch that's in bad need of a paint job.
Money can’t buy happiness. People have been disputing this claim for hundreds of years. While some believe that a luxurious lifestyle, full of extravagant goods and enormous palaces, does not fulfill a person’s desire to be happy, others feel that an endless budget can satisfy all of our wants and needs. In an excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston’s autobiography Dust Tracks On a Road, Hurston describes her childhood as being empty through her comparisons between her excess of tangible substances and her lack of connection with the outside world, as well as through her depictions of her parents.
The household cannot afford society's riches, so the character feels greed. The setting plays into effect this way.
Paul is so obsessed with money that he believes money will solve all of his problems. The thought of the shame associated with those who have little or no money compared to the life of the rich persists in the mind of Paul. Paul enthusiastically analyzes his own vaguely poor existence and hates every detail of women’s graceless conversations as well as confined houses, filthy bathrooms, and men’s respectful manner toward their bosses. Due to Paul’s misunderstanding regarding work and money, it is evident that Paul will probably never become as successful as his idols. While listening to a discussion between Paul’s father and a young clerk Paul becomes fascinated by the talk of the “iron kings;” however, “he was interested in the triumphs of these cash boys who had become famous, though he had no mind for the cash-boy stage” (par. 25). Paul craves the results of hard work but refuses the manual labor that precedes the riches. Paul believes that he is the only one that understands the best way of building wealth. Those around him, more importantly his neighbors, obsess and pride themselves with their conservativeness and even pass down their money-saving techniques to their children. Paul believes that their money-saving techniques are outrageous and ridicules their poor man mentality; however, Paul does not realize that one must save money in order to move up in the social hierarchy. Paul is certain that he was to be born rich; it comes as no surprise when he steals one-thousand dollars in cash from Denny & Carson’s, where Paul works. In a strange way, Paul feels he deserves the money without working for it. Paul’s obsession with wealth along with his misunderstanding of money drives Paul to commit a felony.
The theme, money cannot buy a person happiness connects to the text, The Bible. In, The Bible, the pharaoh of Egypt has all the riches he could ever want. His life begins to tumble down once Moses comes and God sends the 7 Plagues. During Passover, the pharaoh lost his son and was in deep remorse. He couldn’t be happy even though he had all these riches. This relates to, The Great Gatsby, because Gatsby tries to buy Daisy’s love but, he lost her to Tom. Gatsby would lose all happiness because what made him happy was now gone just
life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.
Walter Lee Younger, a man who is vehement for his family, has many ambitions in life, and dreams of the biggest dreams of anyone else in the play. Walter wants the best for his family and he thinks the liquor store will provide him with the financial security needed to keep them out of poverty. I'm thirty five years old; I've been married eleven years and I have a boy who sleeps in the living room (Hansberry 34). best describes the sympathy and compassion Walter feels for his son. Although his family's financial position has a strain on it, Walter doesn't want his son to see him struggle.
In prevalent society, wealth and the achievement in the American Dream seems to be the equivalence to happiness. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, incorporates the themes of social class and money by describing the contrasting lifestyle between the rich and the poor in the 1920s. In this story, Jay Gatsby spends time trying to recreate his image in order to impress the love of his life, Daisy. Although Gatsby’s interpretation of happiness was to have the American dream and become the stereotype of white men living in luxury, he ultimately doesn’t reach the level of happiness he wants. The story of The Great Gatsby discusses the characters’ careless spending of money and their belief that happiness comes from money.
The center of many stories is the inspiration that money can’t buy happiness and that people can live healthy and happy lives without money. In the passage; “On the Want of Money” by William Hazlitt, the author completely disagrees with this, money may not buy happiness, however, without money agony is sure to follow. Money is such an important aspect in or lives, that if we have none it is just like taking away your ability to breath, tormenting and distressing. According to Hazlitt, the idea of being without money is pure craziness; your life will become full of anguish and sorrow. Hazlitt makes the argument that money the key to a prosperous life, and by using despondent word choices and engrossing syntactical strategies, Hazlitt successfully reveals that, if money cannot buy happiness, a lack thereof can certainly led to misery.
If you think that winning the lottery will leave you feeling content for the rest of your life, think again. Acording to American Psychological Assocation, the researchers had observed people and came to a conclusion that family and friends can provide true happiness. In observations they found that while wealth improves quality of life and 'life satisfaction', it has only a small impact on day-to-day mood. Support of family and friends and working at a fulfilling job were also far more important than income, the researchers found. This survey is agreeable because without the support of your loved ones you would be like a lost cat in the streets. The people surrounded by you are the ones who you can turn to when you are in a time of need. The quote “Riches are for spending.” by Francis Bacon. This quote is saying that money is only used to spend and you can not attain true happiness. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway never took advantage of Jay Gatsby one of the nicest people he had ever came across even though he had money. Nick always ha...