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The racial struggles between the white and black in the Raisin in the sun
A sample outline and critical analysis of a raisin in the sun by lorraine hansberry
The raisin in the sun essay
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"A Raisin in the Sun" Analysis Upon walking out of Krannert's production of "A Raisin in the Sun," an eerie silence drizzled about the audience as people murmured and slowly shuffled towards the exits. After witnessing such a powerful yet melancholy piece of theater work, words seemed inappropriate. For three hours, "A Raisin in the Sun" encompassed us with racial, economic, and social issues of the 1950s. Swirling portions of humor, disgrace, pride, and sadness into a smooth blend, the play developed many twists and turns that kept the audience and myself completely alert. Throughout the three acts I could feel the audience, as well as myself, totally devoting themselves to the play. But after taking a step back, the play proved to produce much more than tears, gasps, and laughter; it created a new perspective of African American lifestyles in the 1950s. When my father and I first settled in the theater, I immediately scanned the crowd. On the way to the production I envisioned, as superficial as it may seem, an auditorium crammed with African Americans and college students. But to my surprise, the majority of the playhouse flooded with middle‑aged Caucasian people. With suits and dresses on, clearly they were financially well off. On the contrary, I only observed a few African American people. I expected that more African American families would attend a play that pertained so relevantly to their past. Nevertheless, the demographics still posed an interesting point about who goes to these plays. As a side note, I also observed many young children there. I thought this reflected well of the parents/guardians who brought them. It thoroughly proved to me that adults willingly want to teach their children, whether they... ... middle of paper ... ...n in the 1950s. Sure, I studied the 1950's racial problems in grammar school, but it was a thoroughly different experience when told as an appalling story of discrimination. Noting the difference between my father and I, it clearly shows how times have changed for the better in our society. Overall, "A Raisin in the Sun" affected me in an enormously positive way. The contents of this essay do not even touch what the real experience was like. It not only provided an insight into a family's life in the 1950s, but also shaped a window into their personal lives. Spanning over only a couple of weeks, the play powerfully dove into the details and drama of the Younger's lives. With talented theatrical performances and a wonderful script, "A Raisin in the Sun" gave the audience much more than just an insight into the lives of African Americans, it let the audience live it.
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.
Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, centers on an African American family in the late 1950s. Hansberry directs her work towards specifically the struggles faced by African Americans during the late 1950s. Through the dialogue and actions of her characters, she encourages not only a sense of pride in heritage, but a national and self-pride in African Americans as well.
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!
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 America, every citizen is guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Although each person is given these rights, it is how each person uses them that defines how successful they will be in America. There are several obstacles that some Americans face on their pursuit of happiness. In this country’s past, Americans lived by a very specific set of beliefs that valued the importance of hard work, faith, and family. As time progressed and America began to evolve as a nation, this capitalistic society no longer devoted itself to family and faith but rather success, and the pursuit of prosperity. The shift from dependence on tradition towards a society that values success and how people struggle to b successful when society makes it difficult marks a common theme in Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun. Two of the main characters in this story Lena Younger (Mama) and her son Walter Lee directly reflect the shift from tradition to a focus on success and capital and the struggles they face in regards to racism. Mama and Walter Lee’s contrasting values about the American dream and the way in which they pursue their own dreams while facing racism exemplifies the shift from valuing tradition like in previous generations in America, to valuing success and prosperity like in more current generations.
In Lorraine Hansberry “A Raisin in the Sun”, the issues of racial discrimination, the debate of heroism, and criticism is vividly displayed. The play, which was written in the late 1950’s presents itself in a realistic discerning matter that implicates the racial division among the black family and white America. The play insinuates Walters’s heroism as well because of the black family’s struggle not to become discouraged in trying to obtain the world riches and still maintaining human dignity. When Hansberry wrote “A Raisin in the Sun”, many critics questioned the motive behind her play because it showed the America the world wants to grow oblivious to. This presents the reality of racial discrimination and heroism for the black man among
A Raisin in the Sun is a play set in the south side of Chicago during the 1950s. During this time the civil rights movement was happening and racial tension was at a high. Many African
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?
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.
Today in Chicago, life is different than life during the time A Raisin In The Sun took place. The time when this book was written, in 1966 the play was written in 1959, was during the African American Civil Right Movement(1954-1968). People who live in Chicago today would say that not only life has changed but as well as racial equality for many African Americans. In the story A Raisin In The Sun the Younger family had dealt with the hardships of being African American during 1966; whether it was trying to use the restroom in their apartment or even trying to buy a house. They faced racism as most African Americans did back then. As Rosa Parks stated, “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what
In Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, the author reveals a hard-working, honest African-American family struggling to make their dreams come true. Langston Hughes' poem, "Harlem," illustrates what could happen if those dreams never came to fruition. Together, both Hansberry and Hughes show the effects on human beings when a long-awaited dream is thwarted by economic and social hardships.
The late 1950s was filled with racial discriminations. There was still sections living as well as public signs of Colored and Whites. Blacks and Whites were not for any change or at least not yet. A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, tells a story of a black family that is struggling to gain a middle class acceptance in Chicago. The family of five, one child and four adults live in a tiny apartment that is located in a very poor area. Dreams of owning a business and having money to accomplish goals is two key parts played out throughout the whole play. Walter Younger is determined to have his own business and he will go to ends met to see that dream come true. Financial bridges are crossed and obstacles arise when Walter makes a bad decision regarding money that could have help the family and not only himself, if he would have thought smarter. His pride and dignity are tested throughout the story and he is forced to setup for his family. The Raisin in the Sun helps readers to understand history of racial discrimination and how racial discrimination has an effect on the people in the late 1950s and early 1960s as well as how that has an effect on the characters within the play.
In the 1950s, most writing was characterized by a sense of fear and consensus, due to the ever present threat of nuclear warfare and fear of being classified as a communist. Due to this phenomenon, characters often struggle to find a sense of purpose and fulfillment, as seen through Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1949) and Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun (1959). Death of a Salesman focuses on an unsuccessful, yet self-promoting, middle class white family’s struggle to find identity and direction within their careers and personal lives. It concentrates on the main character, Willy Loman’s attempts to find prosperity as an aging and unappreciated, by both his company and sons, salesman. Raisin in the Sun similarly focuses on the
A Raisin in the Sun is a thoughtful and realistic play that brings into consideration an African-American family that struggles for equality within a mainstream society and how their different dreams differed under pressure of both racism and prejudice. The author talks about “the Younger” to highlight the theme but not only championing the relationship between the family members but also the inherent conflicts. However, among the five family members, the most conspicuous character is Mama due to forces, nature and personality difference. Thus, the aim this review is to analyze Mama’s personality.
Various books, play rights, and other written works have been adapted into movies. In 2008, the domestic tragedy play originally performed in 1959, A Raisin in the Sun was produced into a made for TV movie. Within the play the family of the Youngers face many life challenges and struggles that were prominent in the 1950’s for African American families. The struggles and outcomes of each situation are well portrayed and bound to teach valuable lessons to those who view this movie. The film A Raisin in the Sun should be a staple in the Junior English curriculum because of its profound acting in each scene, and for the real life examples it shows.