Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

This only further infuriates Walter. Not only does his mother make a complete power-grab by buying the house; she bought it in a cracker neighborhood! Walter storms out and is almost ready to kill someone over it. He feels he has lost his only shot at power. Walter comes back home screaming at his whole family, they don’t support him, especially his mother. He accuses her of not supporting his dream.

“Mama: ….Some of it got to be put away for Beneatha and her schoolin…” (Hansberry, 1994, p. 44). This infuriates Walter, as his mother believes in her dream to become a doctor, however, she does not believe in his dream. This causes a

They have a big yard for Travis and the baby to play in, and Travis no longer has to sleep on the couch. Beneatha impacts the decisions of Walter through what she says and does to

When Ruth, Beneatha, and Mama see Walter acting like this, they are shocked and are disappointed in how he is acting. Walter tries to cope with the current situation he is in, and he realizes that his family is by his side and that is what matters to him in that moment.

Her family was subjected to segregation. At the age of eight, her family tried moving to an all-white neighborhood. “Restrictive covenants, in which white property owners agreed not to sell to blacks, [they] secretly bought a property. The family was threatened by a white mob, which threw a brick through a window, narrowly missing Lorraine. The Supreme Court of Illinois upheld the legality of the restrictive covenant and forced the family to leave the house” (Chicago Public Library, 2003). Her own experience led her to write her play, seeing the multitude of her people being threatened, and treated as nobody’s due to their skin color. Overall A Raisin in the Sun embodied an era of hatred and racism as Hansberry experience foreshadow the ideas of the

Walter has a conflict with Ruth, Mama, and Beneatha throughout play because

Walter seems to be overcome with a search for power and a drive to become wealthy and leave the life of being a worker behind him. It also shows that he cares for his family seeing how he is striving to give them the best, but that aspect is overshadowed by his greed. I feel the scene also shows the Younger family at its lowest point in the movie. Walter is on the complete edge and is thinking of stealing a community's money and the rest of the family, besides Momma, seemed to lose their faith and trust in him. When things seemed hopeless with the loss of the money, they only became worse as a loss in more than money occurred. A loss in their character, faith, history, and respect for each other overcame the family, particularly Walter and Beneatha. Nevertheless, Momma soon sets Beneatha straight with an emotional and positive speech about how there is "always something left to love" and sets the standard that the family should adhere to. It marks the turning point at the end of the movie

A Raisin in the Sun was written by Lorraine Hansberry and is a play about an African American family who are struggling in the 1950’s to keep the family together. Although the play is portrayed in the 50’s many issues like the economy, racism, and family dynamics the characters had to face; these issues are still issues in the 21st century.

Walter’s mother comes in the room when he receives the terrible news and asks, “ Son… is it gone? All of it? Beneatha’s money too?” which soon leads to Walter Lee’s admittance of the loss saying, “I never went to the bank at all… Yes...All of it… It’s all gone, ”soon ensuring his beating from his mother (Hansberry 561). When the family finds out about this tragedy, the instant instinct of all of the family members was to blame it all on Walter Lee, accusing him of being the reason they will not achieve their dreams. The family does not stop to think about the pain and embarrassment Walter is going through and Lena, the mother of the family, is quick to bring this up saying, “Have you cried for that boy today? I don’t mean for yourself or for the family cause we lost the money. I mean for him: what he been through and what it done to him… Make sure you done taken into account what hills and what valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is,” ensuring that no one person in the family could blame Walter for the deferral of their dreams due to the loss of their money (Hansberry 573). The family has one goal each of them selfishly wants. Each has a different plan they desire with the money they are going to acquire, such as when Beneatha says she plans to become a doctor. The family knows this will be a costly choice and Walter is quick to say, “Have we figured out yet just how much that medical

Walter made a bad choice. Subsequently, the monetary was stolen. His decision ends up being a loss. They were left without any money once again and Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor slowly starts to vanish. In addition, money and the agency becomes a huge problem in the Younger family.

A Raisin in the Sun author, Lorraine Hansberry grew up in the middle-class of Chicago. Although she was separated from the lower-class, she still was categorized as a “lower-class,” and restricted to the ghettos. A Raisin in the Sun takes place in the 1950s. Even though slavery ended in 1865, racism didn’t end. Segregations, unequal hiring, and such practices around the United States started to die down around the 1960s. A Raisin in the Sun portrays the struggle for African-Americans during this period, and what they had to go through just to get to their “American Dream” such as becoming a doctor, owning a business, and living in a well-living neighborhood.

A Raisin in the Sun, a renowned play written by Lorraine Hansberry, expresses similar ideas through the tale of an impoverished African American family. Discrimination, hope and dreams are all ideas that these timeless works have brought to life through their powerful words. REMOVE Marginalization and

Additionally, Walter’s sister Beneatha, is another woman in the house who also affects Walter’s decision because of their negative relationship. She is aiming to be a doctor. Walter thinks that is not a good idea when he tells her "Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy 'bout messing 'round with sick people--then go be a nurse like other women--or just get married and be quiet..." (Hansberry 38). Likewise, she does not respect Walter at all, that

Walter struggles in understanding who he needs to be for his family. He wants to take his place as the patriarch of the family, but he feels incapable of providing them with the lifestyle they deserve. This concern is always at the forefront of his mind, and it affects his attitude and outlook. The anxiety that Walter is dealing with creates confrontation with his sister. He fears that her dream will interfere with his own agenda of making a better life for his family. The severity of the tension becomes more and more apparent with Walter’s unwise investment. Walter is dealing with the burden that he has let his family down, while Beneatha is flabbergasted by the reality that her future has been snatched away from her, and she had no control over it. While reflecting on the situation, Beneatha remarks, “ I sound like a human who just had her future taken right out of my hands! While I was sleeping….things were happening in this world that directly concerned me and nobody consulted me—they just went out and did things—and changed my life” (Hansberry 3.15). Walter and Beneatha’s individual issues with the outcome of the situation cause them to find fault with one another during a time when their family needs to pull together to get through such a financial hardship. Walter is in an emotional pit; his turning to alcohol and music instead of his family for support expands the

Walter is upset about what Mama has done. She chose to fulfill her dream of a owning a home over anyone else’s dream.