“Money can’t buy life.” Bob Marley. Often times in life, people find themselves limited by what they earn, not what they have done or what they have accomplished. Many people long to be more than a dollar amount on a paycheck. In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, a young man wants to make more money to support his family. Walter Lee Younger, Jr., an ambitious African American in his mid thirties, dreams of making something of himself and grows to realize that money is not the most important thing in life; family is.
Set in 1950s Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun focuses on the Youngers, an African-American family of five. The head of household, Lena Younger, is receiving a $10,000 insurance check for the death of her husband. Each of the members of the family has a different intention for the check. Lena, the receiver of the check, desires a house with a garden in the backyard. Beneatha Younger, the
…show more content…
The plot revolves around his desire for more in life than what he has. At the start, he is a selfish and erratic man. He is selfish in his way of thinking, even when he will not admit it. The protagonist of the story always has a problem, or a dream, and Walter’s is to make something of himself by doing whatever it takes. Walter feels that his desire of making something of himself is not accepted by the members of his family; even his own wife. “That’s it. There you are. Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs. (Sadly, but gaining in power.) Man say: I got to take hold of this here world, baby! And a woman will say: Eat your eggs and go to work. (Passionately now.) Man say: I got to change my life, I’m choking to death, baby! And his woman say- (In utter anguish as he brings his fists down on his thighs.)- Your eggs is getting cold!” Page x, lines x-x. Walter wants to be understood by his family, and wants to make something of himself to provide for
A Raisin in the Sun In the book “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, there were characters whose dreams were stated, some of which were shattered by greed and misfortune and others which would eventually come true. The first dream that came about was Walter’s dream of one day owning and maintaining a liquor store. He would do anything to attempt to get his dream to come true, but his mama wanted anything but that to happen. His mama had a dream of her own, though, she dreamed of one day owning her own house, where her whole family could stay comfortably.
The civil rights movement brought enlightenment towards the abolishment of segregation laws. Although the laws are gone does segregation still exist in fact? “What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?'; said, in a poem by Langston Huges. The story, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry showed segregation and its affects upon all races. This essay will show how Assimilationists and New Negroes fought for their own identity in the mid twentieth century. Whether they were being true to themselves or creating carbon copies of oppression was determined by one’s view upon society.
A Raisin in the Sun In A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry portrays obstacles that the Younger family and other African Americans had to face and over come during the post World War 2 era. Obstacles that had to be over come by the Youngers were economical, moral, social, and racist obstacles. Lorraine Hansberry, the author of the play had to face one of these as well growing up. Born in Chicago on the south side in an all black neighborhood, Lorraine Hansberry and her family had to deal with segregation.
The above passage taken from the play A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry between Mama and her son Walter shows how the author can address many themes of the play in one scene or even just a few lines; She addresses such themes as dreams, prejudice, and family. Mama is the head of the household where she lives with her son Walter and wife Ruth with their son Travis along with Walter’s sister Beneatha or Bennie as some like to call her. The passage tells the reader that Mama went out and did something to destroy one of Walter’s dreams. Mama explains that she did what she did to save her family from falling apart which she thought it was because everyone was yelling at each other and saying how much they hated each other wishing they were dead.
Dream’s Recovered Everyone has dreams; everyone has goals they want to accomplish. Some know what it is instantly, and some take time to realize what they want to do. But not everyone will achieve their dreams and some, because of sad circumstances, lose their grip on their dreams and fall into a state of disappointment. Langston Hughes poem relates to the dreams of Mama, Ruth, and Walter in Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun.
" You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on the place be bout thirty thousand. See. That be ten thousand each" this quote is Walter telling Ruth that he wants to go three way split with Bobo and Willie Harris. For the initial investment they have to put down ten thousand dollars. But Ruth has heard this all before and she doesn't want to hear his non-sense so she retaliates to avoid hearing more by saying. " Eat your eggs, they gonna be cold." Walter " Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say : eat your eggs." Walter thinks Ruth does not care at all about what he is saying but the truth is she is annoyed by him saying the same thing over and over again.
Martin, Emily. 1991. ``The egg and the sperm: how science has constructed a romance based on stereotypical male-female roles``.
Similar to present day, the Younger family in the play “Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry centers the struggles and expectations of the patriarch. Lorraine Hansberry depicts the life of the Youngers living on the south side of Chicago who when the play opens is frantically waiting for an insurance check. Walter Younger is the patriarch of the Younger Family, and his ambitions with the check is eventually prioritized above the women of the family. Walter Younger is centered in the family with his expectation of manhood on Travis, unhealthy expressions of love to Ruth, and failure as a son to Lena Younger (Mama). The centering of a black men’s experiences and desires is toxic and is paired with the subordination of black women and children in the family.
In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, many characters have dreams. One character, Mama, had the dream of owning a house. She had always wanted to move out of the small, cramped apartment because she wanted to make a better life for her children and her grandchild. For example, in the text Travis said “Yeah- I always wanted to live in a house (Hansberry 91).” This shows that she wanted the best for her grandchild.
One of the main struggles throughout the play is an internal conflict from Walter Lee on his view of family, constantly bouncing back and forth throughout acts of the play, but staying for the most part between two: money over family, and family over money. This and many other conflicts, internal and external, throughout the play shape Walter from a man who believes he should be able to give his family the
One of the first ideas mentioned in this play, A Raisin In the Sun, is about money. The Younger's end up with no money because of Walter's obsession with it. When Walter decides not to take the extra money he is offered it helps prove Hansberry's theme. Her theme is that money can't buy happiness. This can be seen in Walter's actions throughout the play.
The. She thinks that money is not something that makes a family happy. & nbsp; Besides dreams Walter also has a husbands responsibilities which are universally thought of as being able to support his family and raise his children so they are morally in line with what he believes in. Walter's problem, however, seems to be that he is building his supposedly well.
Walter Younger plays both the protagonist and antagonist. Walter dreams of being like the rich people he drives around, becoming wealthy, providing for his family the rich people do. He seems to feel that he didn’t have much in his family, besides the family itself and he wants to give his family what he never had. Economic hardship make walter feel enslaved and also the economic hardship has deferred his dream. His character evolves throughout the play and with it does the pride and loyalty of the family. Walter is unsure of his position as the man in charge of the household at first. In the beginning most of his actions hurt the family, however his sudden rise to his position “made him sort of a hero in the last scene.� This “heroism� is what showed the families pride in order to complete a dream. “He speaks of his father’s hard work and the dignified way in which he conducted his life. Then, drawing Travis to him, Walter rejec...
	Society in the 1959 was full of racial discrimination. White and blacks were still living in their own "areas", the public as a whole was very slow to accept the concept of mixed neighborhoods – blacks and white living together. This book, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, tells the story of a lower-class black family’s struggle to gain middle –class acceptance in the Southside of Chicago. The Younger family of five, four adults and one child live in a cramped apartment in one of the poorer sections of town. The dream of owning your own business and having all the money you will ever need is a goal held by many in society, then and now. Walter Lee Younger becomes obsessed with his dream of a business venture that will give him financial and social independence, after getting and losing the money that will help this dream become reality he realizes that pride and dignity are more important for him and his family.
The plot orbits around the decisions and actions that he takes. As an African American male, his character evolves the most throughout the play. Moreover, Walter is living in a home that has overlooked his need to be the head of the family. “I want so many things that the are driving me kind of crazy… Mama-look at me” (Hansberry, 60). This quote reveals the use of indirect characterization, revealing Walter’s need to succeed, to obtain security, and become the head of the family. However, Walter’s mother Lena remains the matriarch of the family until the end of the play. Constantly looking for financial prosperity, Walter believes that money will solve all of the family problems. Yet, his obsession with money eventually becomes his downfall. Most of his actions and mistakes hurt his family greatly, but his belated rise to manhood makes him a sort of hero in the last