Essay On Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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Expectations can be about many things: grades, work ethic, clothing choices, the way someone acts, lifestyle, race, etc. In “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry and “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes, the expectations and the experiences of these people are based upon their race and the racism others have against them. Although it seems like a thing of the past to some, racism is a significant part of issues that society still deals with today. People have been dealing with this for a very long time, as well as the expectations that come from it, whether it be from themselves or from others. Sometimes, individuals will strive to meet the expectations people have of them, while other times, they strive to do the opposite, to battle …show more content…

Adding the thoughts and the struggles that the characters have within themselves would further demonstrate the representation of expectations. An area where the internal conflict would aid the representation is with Walter Lee. Throughout the play, Walter has big dreams and he wants to invest in a liquor store to possibly make a lot of money. Being able to see how his mind works and what he aims to achieve would help the audience understand the expectations he has for himself and what Walter believes he has to do for his family in order to have a better life, possibly including changing himself to “act more white”. Showing the internal conflict would also help in the case of Beneatha. In this play, she is viewed as being very outspoken about her heritage and goes to great lengths such as cutting her hair and changing the way she dresses in order to show this. It seems as though Beneatha feels a sort of duty towards educating people about their heritage and showing the internal conflict within her would portray the reason why she feels so strongly about this topic as if it is an expectation for her. Although this would give an insight to the characters’ feelings and views, Hansberry’s choice to not include this element allows the audience to focus more on the expectations that come from each other and how the expectations people have for others do not always have to be

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