...Raisin in the Sun essay - Beneatha Beneatha is a character in Raisin in the Sun that faces a lot of prejudice during the book, including sexism, how she overcomes it is sticking to her dreams and staying independent. She is put down by her family and other strangers because she is a African American woman in a white-male dominated area. She has big dreams of becoming a doctor and she is determined to succeed. Beneatha is independent because she is not influenced by the possible marriage of George, a rich husband who could take care of her, she wants the person she loves, Asagai who doesn’t satisfy Mama’s and Walter’s expectations. When the Younger family is moving out, Beneatha says, “Mama, Asagai asked me to marry him today and to go to Africa-” (Beneatha to Mama page 149). Mama, so concentrated on the heat of the moment on rejecting Linder (Linder was trying to get them to move out because they were black) brushed Beneatha off by retorting, “You ain’t old enough to marry nobody's -Darling, that ain’t no bale of cotton, please handle it so we can sit on it again! I had that chair twenty-five years...” (Mama - Beneatha page 149). Beneatha is a high school graduate that has been striving to achieve her dreams on her own, her family has given her almost no support, and Walter spent the money that was supposed to send her to school. Mama didn’t even pay full attention to the huge news, especially in a mother's’ life, when her daughter is asked to marry someone. Beneatha continues...
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...RAE RAE 1 Professor L. Deutsch ENG 102 -63 12/9/2013 "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry At first glance, A Raisin in the Sun is about an African American family's fight to get out of the ghetto on Chicago's South Side. The splendor of the play is that it discovers the African American identity, social status, and racial challenges in combination with the complexities of universal human nature. A Raisin in the Sun debuted on Broadway in 1959, but not without a large struggle at the time. The plays almost all-black cast made it a risky investment in pre-Civil Rights America, and it took more than a year for producers to raise enough money to begin. Even as the curtain rose on opening night, Hansberry was pessimistic, expecting bad reviews. But her powerful writing excelled through all doubt, and the play was named the best play of the year by the New York Drama Critics' Circle, Hansberry ‘ play was nominated for four Tony Awards, and became a classic of American theater (Umich.edu). “What happens to a dream deferred?” asks Langston Hughes. Lorraine Hansberry in her powerful writing style develops, A Raisin in the Sun, and discovers the answer to his question through the Younger Family. Principally, the Younger Family members received a 10,000 dollar insurance check after their father’s passing. Each of the Younger’s had his or her own impression as how to spend the check. Each member believing that his or her idea will solve the family’s problems and will...
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...November 13th, 2009 A Raisin in the Sun “What happens to a dream deferred?” asks Langston Hughes. Lorraine Hansberry in A Raisin in the Sun explores the answer to his question through the Younger Family. Initially, the Younger Family members received a 10,000 dollar insurance check after their father’s passing. Each of the Younger’s had his own idea as how to spend the check. Each member believing that his or her idea will solve the family’s problems and will make their dreams come true. However, it takes more than money to fulfill their dreams. Each one must first identify his true desire before he can attain his goals. In order for Mama’s, Beneatha’s, and Walter’s dreams to become reality, each of the Younger members must transcend his or her selfish ways to become the independent respected adult each wishes to be. Mama’s dream was for her children, Walter and Beneatha to become independent. Mama wants nothing more; she just wants to see her children relying on themselves. She demands that members of her family respect themselves and take pride in their dreams.Mama wants Beneatha and Walter to understand that she will not be around forever to hold their hands. When Mama received the insurance check she went and purchased a house in an upscale, white neighborhood. Although she was doing what she thought was best, the purchasing of this house caused many problems among her family. Money is only a means to an end for Mama; dreams are more important to her than material...
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...A Raisin in the Sun Renee Ngala University Of Phoenix A Raisin in the Sun Culturally diverse people represent a distinct and precise set of needs than that of others within their communities, city, and state. I chose to examine concerns and challenges of one’s culture depicted by some of the actresses and actor in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. In this book report, I will identify the unique needs of the different characters, and propose a plan for delivering culturally competent strategies to address those issues. Lena Younger Lena Younger is the mother of Beneatha and Travis. Lena is a God fearing lady whom is a dedicated hard worker. Lena lives in a small apartment with her two children, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Lena’s strong family loyalty is apparent all through the movie. Lena is going through emotional turmoil because of the passing of her husband. She finds out that she is to inherit a lump sum of money from her husband’s life insurance policy. Lena strong ties with her church and family places her in a predicament on how to spend her money. Although Lena would love to give the money to her church, but her dedication to her family and their living condition, she decides to purchase a house big enough for her family. (A Raisin in the Sun, 1961). By Lena showing how much she values her family and spiritual beliefs, functions as a driving force for the difficult decisions she made through the movie. All decision factors...
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...“A Raisin in the Sun” What happens to a dream deferred? In the poem written by Langston Hughes detects what could happen to dreams that are not pursued or maybe even dreams that don’t come true. In the play A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry which also discuss dreams and how they can change throughout time. Both Langston Hughes and Lorraine Hansberry write about the effect of dreams and pursuing happiness. Neither of the two directly spells out racism but by reading the two together they are talking about the dreams of African Americans and how their dreams are harder to achieve and sometimes they just shrivel up like a raisin in the sun or maybe it just sags like a heavy load Hughes writes. The realities of dreams during this era in time for African Americans were slim. In Hansberry’s play we know that blacks are not equal to the whites. The main theme in both pieces of work is about the dreams and ambitions that everyone possesses and to be able to overcome society’s views and live a life that you want for yourself, regardless of what anyone else says or does. Broken dreams can be extremely hard for anyone but more so if you are already expected to fail. A Raisin in the Sun becomes about dreams as the main characters try to overcome obstacles in their own lives to achieve their dreams. The title of the play is perfect because of all the dreams and failures that are mixed throughout the play will the Youngers dreams shrivel up “like a raisin...
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...“ Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before,” (Yeats). In this drama we see characters devolve from difficult challenges in their life. All of the challenges faced through out the play brought the family closer. In A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, The theme of conquering challenges in order to reach a dream is shown through character development of Walter, Beneatha and Mama. In Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun, Walter Younger transforms from a selfish impractical dream of running a liquor store, to becoming the respected patriarch of his family. In the beginning of Act 1, Walter explains his desire to open a liquor store. He says, “This morning, I was...
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...English 9H A Raisin in the sun Critical Lens Essay Damon Chen May 14, 2015 “For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” This is a quote from Helen Keller, the famous American lecturer and writer who was blind and deaf from the age of 19 months. I personally agree with this quote, and I see some similar points on Beneatha, one of the main character in “A Raisin in the sun”. in the story, Beneatha faces two choices, and neither of them is perfect but she must choose one of them. Beneatha Younger is Mama’s daughter and Walter’s sister. Beneatha is an intellectual, Twenty years old African-American woman who attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family. Some of her personal beliefs and views have distanced her from conservative Mama. She dreams of being a doctor and struggles to determine her identity as a well-educated black woman. In the book, she faces two problems: marry a wealthy but arrogant African-American man George Murchison or marry a poor but idealistic Nigerian student Joseph Asagai to follow her dream. George Murchison is a wealthy, African-American man who loves Beneatha. The Youngers approve George, but Beneatha dislikes him, because of his willingness to submit to white culture and forget his African heritage. “Let’s face it baby, your heritage is nothing but a bunch of raggedy-assed spirituals and some grass huts.” He challenges the thoughts and feelings of...
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...Outline Thesis Statement: One of the major themes of "A Raisin in the Sun" is the devaluation of capitalism as a measure for success and its replacement by family pride. I. Walter Lee is obsessed with obtaining money from the very beginning of the play. His very happiness depends on success, and he measures this in wealth. 1. He longs to be successful. His speech at the end of Act II, Scene 2 beginning "You wouldn’t understand yet, son, but your daddy’s gonna make [...] a business transaction that’s going to change our lives [...] You just name it, son, and I'll hand you the world!" (Hansberry, 96) 2. Money is the only means of being successful or obtaining success. When asked why he cares so much about money, Walter screams, "Because it is life, Mama!" (Hansberry, 64) II. Mama encourages him to take her place as head of the family, despite disagreeing with his lust for wealth. 1. Mama tries to convince him that money is not the solution to Walter's crisis of purpose in a speech: "Something has changed. You something new, boy. [...] You ain't satisfied or proud of nothing we done. You my children - but how different we done become." (Hansberry 62) 2. Still she trusts him with the money in order to further his pride and encourage his familial responsibility. "I'm telling you to be head of this family from now on like you supposed to be." (Hansberry, 94) III. After the money is all but depleted, Walter stands up for himself and his family and spurns money in favor...
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...Jerel Larkins Period 5 A Raisin in the Sun Essay In the book A Raisin in the Sun, the characters go through change. Mama lets Walter become the man of the house or family. Walter grows up and learns how to be responsible for his family. Ruth decides not to get rid of the baby and move into the new house. Mama changes in the story because she lets Walter become the man of the house or family. In the beginning of the story, Mama was in charge. She told everyone what to do or how to act. In the book, Beneatha said “I do not believe in god.” Mama smacked her and told her to repeat “In my mother’s house there is God.” That shows that Mama controlled everyone and everything in the home. Towards the end of the book, she gave Walter the money to pay for Beneatha to go to school and open up his liquor store that he always wanted. That showed that Mama stepped down and let Walter be the man of the family and make the decisions. Walter also goes through a change. In the beginning of the book he was selfish. When Mama received the money, he did not think about anyone else or what anyone else needed. He only thought about himself and opening his liquor store. When they would tell him no or he couldn’t open up his store, he would get angry, go to the bar and get drunk. He did that because he thought that would help him calm down. Throughout the story, he stated to get more mature after Mama gave him the money. He promised Beneatha that she would get the money...
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...A raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry shows the struggle of a colored families in trying to live the lives of the white people. A raisin in the sun was released in March 11, 1959 were there was extreme segregation going on between black and white communities. Black people were charged more even though their income was generally less. White communities were also much more educated giving black communities a disadvantage. In 1968 the fair housing act was released but white people were still finding loopholes around this. Similar to a raisin in the sun if a black person began to live in a white neighborhood it would cause a outbreak. Often during this time period there was lots of verbal and physical abuse brought onto to the black people. The scene in a raisin in the sun in which mama tells the family how she had spent the money is crucial because the play had revolved around the money, the money will also be crucial to the advancement of the play and the difficulties that the Younger family will encounter. The scene in which moma reveals of her spending of the money (pg.89-96) is important to the play because the whole play was...
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...Quantavius Thornwell Kimberly Covington English 101 10-15-14 The Diverse Symbolism in “A Raisin in the Sun” Symbolism is a powerful tool. Throughout the play “A Raisin in the Sun” multiple types of symbolism are clearly shown. Lorraine Hansberry did a wonderful job of allowing the different types of symbols to be seen. She used symbols through people and objects to get certain points across. She is smart in her use of symbolism because she is able to get a feeling of the time period in which they are in, from certain objects that represent something else. The use of symbolism is very important and it helps the reader get a more detail sense of the issue, problem, or event that is occurring. The first use of symbolism is the plant in which Mama takes care of. The plant represents many things but the most obvious example is that the plant represents the family. Mama knows if she continues to deep nurture and care for the plant then the plant will survive through the living condition it is in. “Lord, if this little old plant don’t get more sun than it’s been getting it ain’t never going to see spring again.” In this quote, Mama explains that the plant is dying because the sun is not shining on it and no sun is shining on the Younger family either. She never gives up on the plant and puts great hope and care towards it. The way she treats the plant is the same way she treats here family in their fragile and rough living condition they are surviving in. At the end when all...
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...difficult for individuals, as well as families, as unremitting rejection from society left many in poverty. Subordination of minorities in American generated a strenuous struggle by both African-Americans and numerous white Americans advocates who endorse the termination of racism and encourage egalitarianism. The awe-inspiring production A Raisin in the Sun became renowned as a historical reenactment of a handful of people most personal, influential, monumental, life altering moments in life that occur within their home. The play epitomizes real life’s situations about overcoming obstacles, defining one’s distinctive way of life, and handling idiosyncratic conditions at home in a reconstruction of the fictitious Younger family who animate life in 1950s America, moreover Chicago. The play was created by an African-American writer Lorraine Hansberry in 1959 who advocated for human rights which consists of racial minorities and women. In the day to day reality of the Younger’s situation, Mama, Beneatha, Ruth and Walter are able to come together in harmony realizing that together they are stronger than they are separately. The moral in A Raisin in the Sun, publicized through the Younger family, epitomizes the magnanimous gesture of gratitude and devotion to always love your family, the people you are already given in life to be a companion. The characters in the story have very different personalities which lead to a family dynamic that evolves into a common acceptance by the end....
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...Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun presents evidence of the rise of feminism in the 1950-60s. "The outspoken (if then yet unnamed) feminism of the daughter" (6) is displayed throughout the play by Beneatha, the radical of the Younger family. She is the clearest example of feminism within the play with her high aspirations and dreams, her need to express herself, and her defiance of the stereotypical female role within America. The belief that becoming a doctor in a white and male-dominated field is within her grasp as a black woman exhibits one example of Beneatha's feministic attitude within this play. By refusing to except to become the traditional, impotent housewife, she continues to challenge the stereotypical female character of the 1950s, much to her brother's dismay. Walter Lee's chauvinistic view of Beneatha and other women presents a perpetual problem for Beneatha. The siblings constantly bicker and fight about Beneatha's expensive ambitions and unruly independence. The obstinate defiance showed towards her brother symbolizes her defiance of the stereotypical female character towards her brother, George Murchison (a love interest), and the like. Throughout the play, Beneatha searches for her identity by rediscovering her African roots. Her wish to distance herself from the "Assimilationist Negroes" and to express herself as a woman of true African heritage causes her to "naturalize" her hair. Instead of forcing her hair to conform to the style of the stereotypical...
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...Being a black family and living in a white neighborhood in the 1950s is a rare thing to see. The dreams of African Americans in the 1950s are hard to achieve. In the story, A Raisin in the Sun, the Younger family’s dream is to overcome the racism and discrimination. The main character is the play is Walter, his dream is to open up his own liquor story with the insurance money his family is getting. Opening a liquor store in the 1950s is a very good idea because drinking was very popular. Walter invests six thousand dollars into Willy who is in charge of getting the business started. His dreams chatter when Willy disappears with the money and leaves nothing behind. Another character in the play, A Raisin in the Sun, is Beneatha. Beneatha...
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...What is the American dream? Does everyone have a dream? Is it just a dream and someone lives in America while having a certain dream? I think the American dream is a lot of things. I think its ideals of equality, freedom, and especially opportunity thats held to be available to every single American. Yet what is the reality of the American dream? Does everyone get the opportunity to reach for the stars and achieve their dreams, and have the equality they deserve? In this essay I will be discussing the reality of the American Dream in Hansberry’s A Raisin In the Sun. The book the Raisin in the Sun has a bunch of characters talking about their dreams, and whether they believe to achieve them or not. Some we don't know if they did achieve them....
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