Larraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

A delayed dream can be tough or sweet at the moment, but can overall benefit one in some way. In the play, Raisin in the Sun the Younger’s family is seen with various dreams being handled in different ways. The opening scene starts off with a poem by Hughes Langston called Harlem which brings out the certain problems the family faces with dreams. This poem relates to the characters dream in such cases, Walter relating to the line of festering like a sore, Mama relating to the line raisin in the sun, and Beneatha relating to the line crust and sugar over.

Inspired by Langston Hughes poem the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry debuted on Broadway in 1959. The play tells a tale of an impoverished black family living in Chicago’s Southside who is about to receive a hefty life insurance check. Although the plays setting is likely the 1940’s, A Raisin in the Sun can be best understood when viewed in the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s in America because of its theme of dreams and its systematic racism and segregation. The systematic racism and segregation present thought out the play can be best understood if put in the context of the 1950’s and 1960’s.

In Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, Mama's plant is an important symbol that represents her endless love and care for her family, and her dream for them. During her conversation with Ruth in Scene 1 Act 1, Mama walks over to her plant on the windowsill, sprinkles some water on it, and says, "They spirited all right, my children. Got to admit they got spirit --Bennie and Walter. Like this little old plant that ain't never had enough sunshine or nothing --and look at it...."(52). The way she compares her plant, that never had enough sunlight, to her kids demonstrates her pride and love for her children. Though they never had all the resources and opportunities to flourish, Beneatha and Walter

In A Raisin in the Sun, the family is symbolized by the plant for how the mother takes care of both, and the author uses various other literary devices. Lorraine Hansberry, the author, writes about the Younger Family and their issues about money, death, equality and more. Instead of writing it as a normal book, in paragraph form, she writes it in dialogue. There are many uses of setting, imagery, foreshadowing, and symbolism used throughout the story.

The play “ A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry shows three generation of women under the same roof and the struggle each women face, the dreams that they had and how they overcome the obstacle in their life to move on to something better. The women in the family has had to sacrifice a lot to make the family either happy or progress further in life.

Acts I and II in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, mostly consisted of the Younger family discussing their problems of how they are not happy with the way they are living, along with what Lena should do with the insurance check she is receiving in the mail from the death of her husband. Walter, Lena’s son, believes Lena will give all the money to him so he can start business selling liquor with two of his friends. Walter says to his wife, Ruth, “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. ”(984).

Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, we see the positive and negative effects of chasing the American Dream. Hansberry expresses her different views on the American Dream through the characters and she portrays the daily struggles of a 1950 black family throughout A Raisin in the Sun. In this play, she is able to effectively show the big impact that even small decisions can make on a family. Hansberry shows the many different attachments that come with the fulfillment of this American Dream. Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, each family member has their own pursuit of happiness, which is accompanied by their American Dream.

The struggles of being African American have been very evident throughout history. To present day many African Americans (commonly referred to as "black") endure injustice and inequality. As many racial protests and movies have been made to depict such hardships, so have books. The controversial topics of racism and gender roles are spread throughout A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine Hansberry lived through such a time where racial and gender discrimination was at its highest point; which she portrays in her book. As the Younger family eventually developed into a family so do the gender issues. My goal in this paper is to identify gender injustice as it has been dominantly illustrated, whether that be where the women stand or what the men should be doing as opposed to the women having higher power.

In the novel, A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry , shows the reader how society was viewed back then in the 1950s .It was tough for african american lives. An African american family living on the southside of Chicago in the 1950s. The play opens from receiving a 10,000 thousand dollar insurance check to do whatever they want with it. Living with five people in a tiny- one bedroom apartment puts the environment pressures high. The book portrays the idea of a dream within all the African american characters shown differently and the different struggles they have to live with in a world of racism, social standards/higher expectations, and regret fullness. Walter Lee Younger, the man of the house, truly encapsulates the American

Family interactions play a large and important role in how young girls develop, but often times it is seen that families can affect women’s preconceived beliefs about what they can and cannot do in life. In the book A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Beneatha is a strong woman who dreams of becoming a doctor but, Beneatha’s family constantly tries to debunk these dreams and only worries about Beneatha’s marriage status. " Get over it? What are you talking about, Ruth? Listen, I’m going to be a doctor.

In Lorraine Hansberry’s play “Raisin in the Sun” many of the characters struggle to achieve their dreams and often have them deferred due to race and gender. In the play, an African American family must learn how to live in a time period where racial segregation and gender inequality is normal and obvious. In the 1900s, men saw women as less superior. In Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem”, it explains how dreams are deferred when it comes to the African American population. Hughes writes: “Does it dry up, /like a raisin in the sun?”(2-3). Hughes and Hansberry want to let everyone know the hardship African Americans dealt with and that at often times, their dreams were deferred. Racism made it difficult for some African American families to make

A Raisin in the Sun, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry, is about the Younger family. The play focuses on dreams, values, and the recurring theme that in order to keep a family together, money can not be relied on for happiness. Hansberry’s theme is as relevant today as it was when A Raisin in the Sun was originally written.

A Raisin in the Sun by Loraine Hansberry has a multitude of themes throughout all of which seem to focus around poverty, dreams, and gender roles. Poverty seems to be the universal theme; the theme that affects all other themes. It seemed to strengthen these differences and problems they shared and appeared to be the central issue the family struggled with the most. These three themes seem to be embodied in one major character throughout the store: Walter Lee Younger.

Racial discrimination has had a considerable impact on the treatment of ethnic groups in the United States for hundreds of years, and still continues today. African Americans have received discriminatory acts for generations. Prejudiced white citizens’ and agents’ actions are reflected specifically on African Americans who intend on buying a house. In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, the Younger family is a poor African American family who live in a dingy, old apartment. Mama, the mother of Beneatha and Walter, is a hardworking and dedicated woman who attempts to move her entire family into a house in Clybourne Park.

A symbol in literature is an object or idea that has a representation beyond the literal meaning of the object. Symbols add meaning and further a point the author is trying to make. In A Raisin in the Sun, Mama’s plant represents her dream. The play is written by Lorraine Hansberry, and it is a drama. It features an African American family from the Southside of Chicago. They live in an apartment with one window. Mama, the mother of the family has a dream of owning her own house. Throughout the entire play, Mama’s plant was mentioned. The plant continued to change as Mama’s dream was affected.