A Raisin in the Sun- Journal #2
By: Sarah Ko
Throughout Act 2, we can see the development of the characters. Beneatha continues to find her identity by appreciating her African heritage. Walter becomes depressed when Lena buys the house and fails to realize that Lena did something for the family to become whole again. However, I believe that Act 2 focuses more on assimilation, Walter’s childishness, and Mr. Linder and the community’s racism. Assimilation is one culture changing to become like another culture. I think this is important in A Raisin in the Sun because we are presented with two different opinions on assimilation. George accepts assimilation while Asagai and Beneatha does not. George wants to be accepted into white community so
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African Americans had been fighting against racial discrimination for centuries. Lorraine Hansberry was inspired by segregation and wanted to explore civil rights. She does this through her character Mr. Linder and the community of Clybourne Park. Mr. Linder, on behalf of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, comes to the Youngers’ home to offer them a deal to leave the community. He doesn’t seem recognize that the Youngers are hard working people, and he also is confused why the Youngers don’t want to accept his offer. He finally admits that the Youngers “aren’t wanted” and that the community feels “threatened” (Page 119). I can’t help but notice that the Youngers raised Mr. Linder on a pedestal. I also found it comical when Mr. Linder appeared to be intimidated by the Youngers because they were African American. I think that this part of the play is my favorite scene so far. I was amazed by the Youngers’ persistence to keep their house when Mr. Linder offered them more money. The Youngers’ hopes and dreams fuels their passion to move into their new home, even though it is in an all white community. Through this scene, I learned that the power of having dreams is greater than isolation. I also think that the Youngers know that by moving into a new home, their dreams and desires will come close. Moving into a new house means a new beginning for them. Mr. Linder is an …show more content…
Even though this story took place in the 1950s, there racism and prejudice continue to exist in today’s society. Many people are still judged because of their race, age, family, sexual orientation, etc. Of course racism has become much better today, however, it still exists. Some Caucasians still feel strongly against racial equality. No matter how much people try to suppress it, there will always be people against it. The Youngers face this problem throughout the play and continue to overcome everything thrown at them. “We 've got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire, but we say you put fire out best with water. We say you don 't fight racism with racism. We 're gonna fight racism with solidarity” (Fred Hamptom). This quote explains that although we may be hurt by the racism and prejudice, we can’t treat the racists the same way they treat us. We can only fight racism and prejudice by overpowering people with our hopes and
... Americans during the post-war period. While the working class Younger family makes the move from the inner city to the suburbs, it is without the encouragement from any other working or middle class African American characters in the play. The experience of the Youngers characterizes the class conflict felt by many African Americans during the suburban migration.
Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago on May 19,1930. She was the youngest child of four and died in 1964 at the age of 34 from pancreatic cancer. She was well known for writing her play A Raisin in the Sun.
This show takes place in the dilapidated, two-bedroom apartment of Walter and Ruth Younger, their son Travis, Walter’s mother Lena, also known as “Mama”, and his sister Beneatha. This award winning production of the 2014 revival of A Raisin In The Sun shows the talented Denzel Washington fill the shoes of Walter Younger, the story’s main character. He stars alongside LaTanya Richardson Jackson, who plays the part of Ruth. The 1859 classic depicting the lives of this African-American family’s life in South Side Chicago during the 1950s. Walter is barely getting by financially, due to his low income as a limousine driver, desperately has the desire to become wealthy--who doesn’t?. Walter plans to invest in his own liquor store which he will run alongside his good friend Willy, and plans to do so with his portion of his mother’s insurance check; did I mention that the check was for $10,000! Mama puts down money for a house --a house, in an all-white neighborhood, with a lawn, that her grandson will be able to play on. This has always been a dream of her and her husband, and now that he is gone, she only wants it more.
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.
You ever wonder how money can effect and change your life? A great example is a play called A Raisin in the Sun, the play was writing by Lorraine Hansberry. The play debuted On Broadway in 1959. The play is narrates the life of an African American Family living in Chicago in the 1950s. The family is about to receive an insurance check for 10,000. This money comes from the dead of the Mr. Youngers for his life insurance. But who would have known this money would cause the family so many problems. During the play the Youngers faced racial problems, conflicts between each other but they all have dreams in which they are trying to obtain but sadly some of the family members are making difficult for them.
First, through underlining messages in his speech, Karl Linder expresses his concerns about the appearance of an African American family in a delicate form to the Stoller family. On page twenty-eight, Karl makes the comment that the Youngers are “one hundred percent [black].” And that in Hamilton Park (community the Youngers moved from) had some “unsavory characters” (Norris). This implies that the Youngers come from a criminal society, and as residence of the community must be similar in character. In comparison, Steve from Act Two uses jokes to down play his racial concerns, for example on page seventy-five Steve states that a African American man rapes a Caucasian man in a prison (Norris). After seeing their efforts futile, both Karl and Steve drop their acts and say what is on their minds, which causes chaos to ensue in both cases. In contrast to both of these characters are Bev and Lindsey in their respective acts. They play the voice of reason in both cases, but both their...
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 is realistic fictional drama in which the play 's title and the character represent the play 's theme. The play focused on Black America 's Struggle to reach the American Dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness during the 1950s and the 1960s. The idea of everyone having the chance to achieve a better life should exist for all. Hansberry conceives her title using a line from Langston Hughes poem “A dream deferred”. The original poem was written in 1951 about Harlem. Hughes’ line from the poem state that when dreams are deferred “Does it dry up like a Raisin in the Sun”. This meant that they describe them as being small and already pretty withered. Hughes poem further suggested that when
Lena's husband, the family's father died and his life insurance brings the family $ 10,000. Everyone, especially the children, are waiting for the payment of life insurance in the cash. Now the question is whether the money should be invested in a medical school for the daughter, in a deal for the son or other dreams. But after the death of her husband Lena Younger gets the insurance money and buys a new house, where the whole family is going to move. It would seem that a dream came true. But soon we learn that the area, where the family purchased the house, is full of white people who do not want to see African-Americans in the neighborhood. The Youngers are trying to survive the threats or bribes, but they manage to maintain a sense of dignit...
Everyone encounters struggle and “ain’t nobody bothering you” but yourself (1872). Many African Americans encounter hardships and conflict in their own lives because of their race. Before integration, not only were African Americans facing internal struggles but also the external struggles caused by prejudices. A Raisin in the Sun elaborates on the conflicts of African Americans when dealing with segregation, discrimination, and few opportunities to improve their lifestyle. Hansberry expresses her hardships as an African American woman without civil rights in the 1950’s through the Younger family and the decisions they make when confronting their own struggles.
For example, in the text, it states, “You people must be aware of some of the incidents in various parts of the city when colored people have moved into certain areas”. (Hansberry 389). With this statement, it shows that even after segregation ended in 1948 by President Truman that whites were not willing to accept change. Mr. Linder is referring to the racial violence between blacks and whites until the 1960’s when blacks were considered colored. Overcrowded living conditions and not much room for change arise in Hansberry play, which shows the racial discrimination among the Youngers and the average American black family. The census of the 1940’s and the 1950’s showed that over 50,000 units were overcrowded and ruled unlivable. “At the moment, an overwhelming majority of people out there feels that people get along better when they share a common background”. (Hansberry 389). This is Mr. Linder’s way of trying to nonchalantly say that the majority of the people in his neighborhood don’t want to live near blacks. African Americans have faced multiple disadvantages during the 1950’s. They were discriminated from homes, public affairs, and restaurants. In Hansberry play, Mr. Linder stated, “Believe me that race prejudice simply doesn’t enter into”. (Hansberry 390). This is stating that they do not want to openly admit that race is the main
Poverty doesn't have to effect the people's personalities that I consumes like most of the Youngers. Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha did not let being poor make them envy any one who had money. Walter on the other hand was sick of the way he and his family had to live. He was fed-up and was desperate to make money any way he could think of for his family.
An Analysis of A Raisin In the Sun & nbsp; "A Raisin In The Sun" is a play written by an African-American playwright - Lorraine Hansberry. It was first produced in 1959. Lorraine Hansberry's work is about a black family in the Chicago South Side. the Second World War. The family consisted of Mama(Lena Younger), Walter.
Lorraine Hansberry in her play, “Raisin in the Sun”, attempted to explain the feelings of the average African American Male in the 1940s. This persona, which is portrayed in the character Walter, had experienced a severe feeling of depression and hopelessness. In order to understand this source of grievance, one must relate back to the Great Migration and the dreams it promised and the reasons why many African Americans sought to move to the North. A desire to achieve freedom from racial injustices and poverty was the prime factor that encouraged Blacks to abandon the south. However, these dreams where soon crushed as African American noticed that Northern whites had still maintained unequal segregation and where as stumbling block to Black advancement. The consequences of a “dream deferred”, as Langston Hughes called it, was dependency on others, alcohol addiction, as well as dysfunctional families.
In the words of Jim Cocola and Ross Douthat, Hansberry wrote the play A Raisin in the Sun to mimic how she grew up in the 1930s. Her purpose was to tell how life was for a black family living during the pre-civil rights era when segregation was still legal (spark notes). Hansberry introduces us to the Youngers’, a black family living in Chicago’s Southside during the 1950s pre-civil rights movement. The Younger family consists of Mama, who is the head of the household, Walter and Beneatha, who are Mama’s children, Ruth, who is Walter’s wife, and Travis, who is Walter and Ruth’s son. Throughout the play the Youngers’ address poverty, discrimination, marital problems, and abortion. Mama is waiting on a check from the insurance company because of the recent passing of her husband. Throughout the play Walter tries to convince Mama to let him invest the money in a liquor store. Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor while embracing her African heritage, and Ruth just found out that she is pregnant and is struggling to keep her marriage going. The Youngers’ live in a very small apartment that is falling apart because of the wear and tear that the place has endured over the years. Mama dreams of having her own house and ends up using part of the insurance money for a down payment on a house in an up-scale neighborhood. The Youngers’ meet Mr. Lindner, who is the head of the welcoming committee. Mr. Lindner voices the community’s concerns of the Youngers’ moving into their neighborhood. Is the play A Raisin in the Sun focused on racial or universal issues?