The Pursuit Of Happiness in A Raisin in the Sun

1985 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A raisin in the sun and the american dream

Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, we see the positive and negative effects of chasing the American Dream. Hansberry expresses her different views on the American Dream through the characters and she portrays the daily struggles of a 1950 black family throughout A Raisin in the Sun. In this play, she is able to effectively show the big impact that even small decisions can make on a family. Hansberry shows the many different attachments that come with the fulfillment of this American Dream. Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, each family member has their own pursuit of happiness, which is accompanied by their American Dream.

In the play, Mama has her own American Dream that she chases after, which heavily affects the family’s state of being. Mama has to go through many struggles and much frustration while in pursuit of her American Dream (Bloom 17). Mama says, “Yes, death done come in this house here….Done come walking in my house. On the lips of my children. You what supposed to be my beginning again. You what supposed to be my harvest” (Hansberry 134). She begins to see the harsh effects of what her American dream has done to her children. Mama goes through trials and tribulations to provide a good lifestyle for her children, but neither of them seem satisfied, they both want to accomplish their dreams and aspirations so badly that it blinds them to the reality of what is really important in life.

Mama having to carry such a heavy load on her shoulder by trying to hold the family together deprives her of the happiness she once obtained. Mama seems to be the commanding presence and head of the household. She has moral strength and dignity and this is why she is considered the stronghol...

... middle of paper ...

...as the support of the family as oppose to Walter. Each family member has a dream to improve the family situation; however, all of those dreams are depending on one insurance check which begins to cause trouble and tensions within the family (Bloom 18). However, all these dreams are counting on one insurance check to be funded.

Throughout a Raisin in the Sun, Each family member has their own pursuit of happiness, which is accompanied by their American Dream. Mama wants to have a better quality of life for her family. Beneatha aspires to be a successful Doctor and an Independent woman. Walter wants to invest in a liquor store and live in luxury. In A Rasin in the Sun, we see that each character goes through their own struggles and frustrations to accomplish their American Dream, but in the end, they all find their happiness within in each other unified as a family.

Show More
Related

  • Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play depicts the feelings and thoughts of the people of their time. Their feelings are different then what we see today in our lives. The family had to deal with poverty and racism. Not having enough money and always being put down because of the color of their skin held them back from having a lot of self-respect and dignity. I think that Mama was the one who had the most pride and held the family together.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Beneatha In A Raisin In The Sun American Dream

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mama has her own American Dream that she chases after, which heavily affects the family, she just wants a better life for her family, a life where her children can be happy, not really ever wanting anything for herself. Mama has to go through many struggles and

    Read More

  • Divergent Routes to the American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun

    2544 Words  | 6 Pages

    The American dream has been visualized and pursued by nearly everyone in this nation. Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is a play about the Younger family that strived for the American dream. The members of the Younger family shared a dream of a better tomorrow. In order to reach that dream, however, they each took different routes, which typified the routes taken by different black Americans.

    Read More

  • Dream Deferred in A Raisin in the Sun

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ccomplish this if they all understand what is important in life. All of Mama’s dreams are eventually recognized, although they certainly appear hazy throughout the play. The question about whether or not they should keep the house forms inside Mama’s head near the end of the play, but she quickly changes her mind. Mama never lost sight of her goals, no matter how hard nature attacked them.

    Read More

  • A Raisin In The Sun

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walter Sr. was Walter and Beneathas father he died and his wife mama received ten thousand dollar for life insurance. Walter wants the whole ten thousand dollars for himself and put it down on the liquor store. But Beneatha wants to go to medical school and be a doctor. Walter thinks that it is selfish of Beneatha that she wants to attend medical school because he then wouldn't get all of the money for the liquor store. Beneatha "that money belongs to Mama, Walter, and its for her to decide how she wants to use it. I don't care if she wants to buy a house or a rocket ship or just nail it up somewhere and look at it. It's hers. Not ours hers." Mamas getting all the money and it is up to her if she wants the money for herself give it to Beneatha for school or give it to Walter for the liquor store. Now that it is getting closer to the date in which the money will arrive. Walter is acting more and more desperate for that money.

    Read More

  • Symbols and Symbolism in A Raisin in the Sun – Dream Symbolism

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Oh--So now it's life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life--now it's money. I guess the world really do change." Mama is Walter and Beneatha's sensitive and loving mother and the head of the Younger household. She demands that members of her family respect themselves and take pride in their dreams. Mama demands that the apartment in which they all live always be neat and clean. She stands up for her beliefs and provides perspective from an older generation. She believes in striving to succeed while maintaining her moral boundaries. Money is only a means to an end for Mama; dreams are more important to her than material things, and her dream is to own a house with a garden and yard where Travis can play. The following quotation occurs in Act I, scene ii when Mama asks Walter why he always talks about money. Walter then replies "money is life," explaining to her that that he believes that success is all about how much money you have. This conversation takes place early in the play and reveals Mama's and Walter's money struggles, and it goes to show the difference in their generations.

    Read More

  • Generational Differences In A Raisin In The Sun

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the eldest person in the Younger household, Mama is the authoritative figure and has the most traditional views. Being a part of the GI Generation, she shares the

    Read More

  • Characters Dreams Deferred in Raisin In The Sun

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mama’s dreams were first deferred when she moved into the small apartment that the Youngers family stay in through out most of the play. She became too busy that she couldn’t accomplish her dream. She also could not for fill her dreams since she did not have enough money to do so. Her dreams were even more shattered with the death of her husband, but when she got the money from her husband’s death her dreams then became a reality again. Mama wants Travis to be happy and play in the garden but she cannot do this since they live in a dirty ghetto.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Oppression in Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    The conflict that involves Walter and Mama superficially concerns Mama's receiving an insurance check for ten thousand dollars, which she hasn't yet decided what to do with. Walter has hopes for using the money to invest in a liquor store, with the profits providing him and his family a better quality of life than what they have endured in the past. What really is at stake here, though, is more than money. Mama and Walter have different visions of what happiness is and what life is all about. For Mama, the best thing to do with the money is to make a down payment on a house. This house is to be situated within an all-white neighborhood, and represents assimilation. This is Mama's dream, and the dream ...

    Read More

  • Suffering and Surviving in James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mama, as a member of an older generation, represents the suffering that has always been a part of this world. She spent her life coexisting with the struggle in some approximation to harmony. Mama knew the futility of trying to escape the pain inherent in living, she knew about "the darkness outside," but she challenged herself to survive proudly despite it all (419). Mama took on the pain in her family in order to strengthen herself as a support for those who could not cope with their own grief. Allowing her husband to cry for his dead brother gave her a strength and purpose that would have been hard to attain outside her family sphere. She was a poor black woman in Harlem, yet she was able to give her husband permission for weakness, a gift that he feared to ask for in others. She gave him the right to a secret, personal bitterness toward the white man that he could not show to anyone else. She allowed him to survive. She marveled at his strength, and acknowledged her part in it, "But if he hadn't had...

    Read More

  • The Character of Mama in Alice Walker’s Everyday Use

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this last scene, Mama proves to herself that you do not need an education, or generation knowledge to be able to posses strength. For Mama had inner strength all along, she just needed her true rich and beautiful beliefs of her heritage to shine through, and they did.

    Read More

  • The American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry. The primary focus of the play is the American Dream. The American Dream is one’s conception of a better life. Each of the main characters in the play has their own idea of what they consider to be a better life. A Raisin in the Sun emphasizes the importance of dreams regardless of the various oppressive struggles of life.

    Read More

  • Walter Lee's Dreams in A Raisin in The Sun

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is a play about segregation, triumph, and coping with personal tragedy. Set in Southside Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun focuses on the individual dreams of the Younger family and their personal achievement. The Younger's are an African American family besieged by poverty, personal desires, and the ultimate struggle against the hateful ugliness of racism. Lena Younger, Mama, is the protagonist of the story and the eldest Younger. She dreams of many freedoms, freedom to garden, freedom to raise a societal-viewed equal family, and freedom to live liberated of segregation. Next in succession is Beneatha Younger, Mama's daughter, assimilationist, and one who dreams of aiding people by breaking down barriers to become an African American female doctor. Lastly, is Walter Lee Younger, son of Mama and husband of Ruth. Walter dreams of economic prosperity and desires to become a flourishing businessman. Over the course of Walter's life many things contributed to his desire to become a businessman. First and foremost, Walter's father had a philosophy that no man should have to do labor for another man. Being that Walter Lee was a chauffeur, Big Walter?s philosophy is completely contradicted. Also, in Walter?s past, he had the opportunity to go into the Laundromat business which he chose against. In the long run, he saw this choice was fiscally irresponsible this choice was. In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Lee's dreams, which are his sole focus, lead to impaired judgement and a means to mend his shattered life.

    Read More

  • The Role of Mama in A Raisin in the Sun

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mama is a powerful, strong witted person. She has a lot of control in this play and dominates as a woman character. This is unusual because this is usually a male’s position in life. She is a woman, “who has adjusted to many things in life and overcome many more, her face is full of strength”. In this play she is illustrated as taking over for the head of the family and controls the lives of everyone in her house. Rules are followed to Mama’s extent. She controls what is said and done in her house. After Walter yells, “WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE LISTEN TO ME TODAY!” (70). Mama responds in a strong tone of voice saying, “I don’t ‘low no yellin’ in this house, Walter Lee, a...

    Read More

  • Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun – Mama

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Pursuit Of Happiness in A Raisin in the Sun

Open Document