A Raisin In The Sun And Fences: Literary Analysis

In Death of a Salesman, A Raisin in the Sun, and Fences, spiritual and emotional resources of the mother characters in each play has an effect on the families’ social and economic status. In Death of a Salesman, Linda Loman’s lack of resources moves her family towards poverty, but In A Raisin in the Sun and Fences, Lena Younger’s and Rose Maxon’s resources help to keep their families from falling further into poverty. The mother characters have a significant role on the families’ classes in each of the plays.

Spiritual Resources According to Ruby Payne (2013), spiritual resources are defined as, “Believing in divine purpose and guidance,” (p. 8). This resource is not necessarily religion based, but it stems from believing that there is a higher power, typically God. Payne (2013) explains that this resource is important because it it gives the individual a bigger picture and a feeling of importance on a larger scale. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lena Younger makes it obvious to her family that God is a part of her life. Anytime things seem to be getting bad, she mentions the presence of God in her life. In Act I scene i, Beneatha mentions that she “gets sick and

Of all three mother characters, Linda Loman seems to be lacking resources the most. Like Rose, Linda is dealing with a struggling marriage. Linda though, does not use spiritual resources as a way to try to fix it. According to Ruby Payne (2013), spiritual resources are able to “provide a person with a ‘future story,’ which gives him/her hope for the future,” (p. 9). Linda Loman knows her husband is struggling in his job and possibly knows he has cheated on her, but because she does not have strong spiritual resources, she does not have that view of a better future. If Linda had the kind of spiritual resources that both Lena and Rose do, she could have had a hope for a better