Though there was a heightened sense of tension over civil rights in the late 1950s when A Raisin in the Sun was written, racial inequality is still a problem today. It affects minorities of every age and dynamic, in more ways than one. Though nowadays it may go unnoticed, race in every aspect alters the way African–Americans think, behave, and react as human beings. This is shown in many ways in the play as we watch the characters interact. We see big ideas, failures, and family values through the eyes of a disadvantaged group during an unfortunate time in history.
As Martin Luther King said, Blacks are "...harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what...show more content...
Toward the end of the play his spirit is broken, and he behaves almost like a madman, plotting to give in to Lindner and accept his offer; this action greatly worries his mother. The whole time, Walter wasn't simply looking for a chance to follow through with his plans. He was seeking support from the system that he found himself subject to. This idea comes up in Gertrude Samuels' Even More Crucial Than in the South. "...the real drive that is now rising ominously is a demand for personal dignity" (Samuels 1546). His personal dignity is at stake repeatedly throughout the story when he finds himself battling against a troubled family and a corrupt system. The racism–steeped social system negatively affects African–American males and females, causing deeply rooted issues. The three women in the story, Beneatha, Ruth, and Mama, represent the different views Black women took during these troublesome times. There were women like Beneatha, who didn't want to live the typical life of a wife and mother, and openly disapproved the assimilation of Blacks into American culture as well: "Because I hate assimilationist Negroes!" (Hansberry 1500). She wanted to become highly educated, and to change the world somehow. She wanted to be something. Beneatha is a very strong–willed, hard–headed character. This could very well have been caused by the unfair rules of her time constantly being reiterated to her through several mediums. Over and over again she is told that she must
Have you ever been in a situation where you had a dream that you've always wanted to come true but someone crushes it or says it won't happen even how hard you try to accomplish it? In a Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry proves the dreams of Walter, Beneatha, and Mama come true, but not exactly how they expected. All of their dreams revolve around the life insurance check from the late Mr. Younger, each of the family members have their own plans of what they can do with the check, which ultimately builds walls between the siblings and Mama. Right away in the book, Walter'sdream is to become the owner of a liquor store. When Walter came home from work one afternoon, he immediately asks Mama, "did it come?" (hansberry 70). When walter says this, he is implying that his life and what he wants to do for a career is revolving around the check from his dad. Walter also becomes selfish, and hopes that his mother will let him take the check to purchase the liquor...show more content...
She says to Walter" Well I do all right? thank everybody! And forgive me for ever wanting to be anything . Beneatha also states "A That that was what one person could do for another, fix him up–sew up the problem, make him all right again. That was the most marvelous thing in the world ... I wanted to do that. I always thought it was the one concrete thing in the world that a human being could do. Fix up the sick, you know–and make them whole again. This was truly being God ..." (133). Beneatha is determined and stand up for what she really wants to do. Beneath favorite thing helping people that are in need. Its upsetting when Walter makes Beneatha's dreams not so high up on his list by giving the money away.For Beneatha's dreamed to be crushed by Walter giving all the money to WIlly devastates Beneatha because all she wants to do is be devoted to helping people with medical
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Base on reading Act 1 and 2 in "The Raisin in the Sun", I decided that I am going to choose option number one for many reasons. I believe the theme of the play in this book would connect closer to Mama's money since the family is base on the check. The theme that I thought on this play would be money connects to hopes and dreams. In the story of "The Raisin in the Sun", there is a family of 5 African Americans who live in a small dirty apartment. In their home, each person needs the money to accomplish their owned hopes and dream to what they settle forward in their life. Some people like Walter need the money for their desired, while others like Beneatha does not want to touch money since it is not her. For instance, After Mama received 10
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A Raisin in the Sun Creativity of Hansberry played a crucial role in the development of African–American drama since the Second World War. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play by African–American author which was set on Broadway and was honored by the circle of New York theater critics. Drama of A Raisin in the Sun (1959) brought Hansberry to the Award Society of New York Critics as the best play of the year. A Raisin in the Sun shows the life of an ordinary African–American family which dreams of happiness and their desire to achieve their dream. A Raisin in the Sun is a play telling the story of an African–American tragedy. The play is about the Younger family near the end of the 1950s. The Younger family lives in the ghetto and...show more content...
The driving spring of action is the desire of the Youngers to leave the ghetto, which causes fierce resistance to their future white neighbors. The events of the play took parts not in historically racist South, but in the North, where people are usually more tolerant. The play is attractive not only by acute but also deep character development. Images of Walter Lee, torn between traditional values of the African–American community –principles of love, unity, and human dignity– and values of American society, obsessed with the idea of material success, is extremely interesting, as well as the image of his mother, symbolizing the best traits of African–American people. There are conflicts in the play especially between the siblings. Who has more rights to fulfill their personal dreams, which deserves their dream to come true sooner? Mama Lena is facing these difficult decisions. Making the right decision is hard for her because she wants to make it right for everyone and wants no one to be hurt by a wrong decision. Incidentally, the play tells the story of a family which members diligently pursue work which has not paid much, especially in the environment of racial intolerance. The story of Lena's daughter, who is still looking after herself, is, therefore, more volatile. And her son of Walter Lee, who soon abandons himself because he wants more from his life,
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Dreams are a powerful ideas in society. We encourage our children to follow their dreams, but dreams can be a double–edged sword. Striving for dreams can cause us to be blind to reality, and see the world in an idealized form, instead of with all of its flaws. This fine line between dreams being beneficial and harmful is central in Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun. In the play, Lorraine uses Walter's characterization as a dreamer and his interactions with others to symbolize how dreams can not only blind oneself to reality, but also break down even the bonds of family. Walter's dreams aren't only detrimental to his family monetarily, but also socially within their house. Walter's wife is a prime example of this. Early
In a carefully worded essay I will discuss the aspect of 'race' as a hindrance to the aspirations of the Younger family in A raisin in the sun.
When we analyse Lorraine Hansberry's A raisin in the sun, we realize from the very start her inspiration behind the title is found in Harlem; a poem by Langston Hughes.
The speaker asks a very sensitive question: "What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?"
This analogy that Hughes explores, shape the very heart of Hansberry's enquiry about a poor black American family's different aspirations and their hindrance that occurred because of racial segregation, discrimination and inequality due to a lack of civil rights in the American history.
When we...show more content... Another aspect that served as a hindrance to their aspirations was that racial identity caused the black society to be indoctrinated with a sense of inferiority to white
Americans, and their false outlook that their purpose was to serve the white 'superior' race. This can be seen in Ruth's character where she has to work as a domestic worker for wealthy white families. Ruth is constantly reminded of the vast differences between the wealthy white families that she 'serves' versus their disadvantaged family.
Even after falling pregnant, Ruth would not even dare to miss a day away from work, due to fears that her agent will lay her off. Since sharing the role as provider for her family with Walter Lee, she is constantly aware that without the extra income, her family would not survive. Ruth's aspirations are hindered due to the fact that she is stuck in a position where she needs to support her family financially rather than taking on the maternal "stay at home"–mom role that white moms
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