...The play A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry is about, an African American family struggling to survive. The reason this is important is this because, the people in this family have dreams of their own; but, they have an issue with money. Since they are struggling with money not everyone's dream can come true. The reason this paper is being written is to tell about each person's dream and how it is presented through The American Dream. Each of these characters affect society in different ways; they change it, fix it, and create new ways in life. In A Raisin in the Sun, Mama’s dream is to buy a nice house for Travis to live in and that can’t get taken out from under them; so, her dream is to give a better life to Travis and the rest. The reason for that is she wants Travis to be able to have a home when he gets older. (Act 2) Beneatha's dream is to go to college to be a doctor. The reason for that is, when she was younger one day her and some friends were sledding down porch steps and that day her friend got really hurt, when she watched as the ambulance took him to the hospital and found out he was going to live that was when she decided to be a doctor. (Act 3)...
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...understanding of the story. Even a tedious work of literature can be roused when symbols are applied. The 1959s play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry comes from the poem “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes. The Younger’s are an impoverished family who lives on the Southside of Chicago during the time of World War II and escapes poverty through the $10,000 insurance check followed by Big Walter’s death. Considering the poem what Langston Hughes wrote about, the dream discussed is most likely to differ due to the American Dream of success and wealth. Mama’s plant, the eggs, and the apartment represent symbols in the book that represents the struggle of achieving...
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...4/22/2014 A Society Divided Life in America was tense for African Americans in the 1950’s or 1960’s. They were not treated the same way as white people were and this created many conflicts in society. Lorraine Hansberry wrote the play, “A Raisin in the Sun” to depict the story of a black family living under these circumstances who are trying to find a way to be happy. The Younger family, including Beneatha, Lena, and Walter Younger, all had positive dreams that were taken away by the negative encironment that were surrounding them. The image of these characters created by Hansberry reflects with the history and culture focusing on African American events. From the beginning, Lena Younger or Mama is seen flowering her plant. She treats the plant as a way she would to her kids. It symbolizes a way to nurture dreams and keep them thriving such as a plant. Everybody has dreams, and Mama’s dream is to live in a nice house. She has “been thinking that we maybe could meet the notes on a little old two- story somewhere, with a yard where Travis could play in the summertime” (989). In addition to her dream, she describes her house with a nice backyard for the kids to play in and “a little garden in the back” (990). She would also help pitch in some money by “take on a little work again, few days a week” (990). She just hopes this one dream would bring the family together under one roof. Her dream cannot be reached because she still lives in poverty in an apartment of...
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...Unarguably, the American Dream means something different to everyone. Those who dream the American Dream, however, share a common aspect they all hope to achieve: happiness. Out of many factors which play into one’s happiness, one may be the relationships people share with others. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck both imply that the American Dream is primarily about achieving happiness through relationships such as family and companionship— A statement still relevant in modern society’s view of the dream. However, while Hansberry argues family is more important than achieving the dream, Steinbeck argues companionship is essential to achieving the dream. Hansberry reveals that having a family is...
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...Authors often use literary devices to add more meaning and emphasis to their piece. Some of these devices are metaphors, flashbacks, and symbols. Symbolism is an object or an idea that has a representation beyond the literal meaning of the object, which adds more meaning and emotion to the piece. Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, features various examples of symbolism, and those symbols help support the theme. The window, the light, and the plant are all key symbols that combine to relate the play to the theme, which is to never give up on a dream. A Raisin in the Sun features the Youngers, an African American family who struggle with poverty in Southside Chicago during the 1950s. The family is expecting a life insurance...
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...What happens within this play? This is an African American family from the 1950’s living in the south side of Chicago. The Younger family inherits an insurance claim of $10000 after Walter senior (husband, father), whom has passed away. It seems all the family members have an idea of their own on how to spend this inheritance which leads to family conflicts throughout the play. Ultimately, Mama (Lena), puts a down payment on a home and Walter Lee loses the rest of the inherited money to his supposed friend, Willy Harris, who runs off with the remaining cash. Dreams are delayed. - Mama Walter’s and her late husband Mr. Walter’s dreamed of owning a home for all their married years. Although his death, seemed like the dream could become a...
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...Questions on A Raisin in the Sun Answer any 8 questions, but make sure to answer #8 1. What does Mama’s plant represent, and how does the symbol evolve over the course of the play? Examine the end of the play. Why is Mama returning for her plant the last action we see on stage ?Mamas plant represents her faith in her dreams. That regardless of their living arrangements and life’s struggles, but never to give up on anything. She took care of it every day it was a representation of her dreams to always live in a bigger and better house with a yard. It showed how strong she was throughout everything life gave her. That’s why she took the new plant to the new house to show that never giving up and keeping your faith her strength in believing in dreams that they come true. Struggle but to maintain your dignity. Dreams do come true. 2. How does the description of the Younger’s’ apartment contribute to the mood of the play? The apartment sets the mood because it sets the surroundings and the environment . It is a small apt with one window it gives the feeling of being cramped and trapped. It lets you know there in the ghetto and are poverty stricken. 3. How does the idea of assimilation become important? The family shows in the hope to succeed regardless of any obstacles. The struggles with their identity as with being African Americans. Beneatha with her academics to be a doctor to heal, and as well as her conflicts with Everyone. 4...
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...What is one to do when one’s dream is deferred? How does one cope and move on with the several emotions that have been built because of this delay? In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, many characters’ dreams are deferred. From Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor to Walter’s dream of opening his own liquor store, dreams in the Younger family are genuinely abundant. A Raisin in the Sun portrays the life of the Younger’s, an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the setting of sometime between WWII to the 1950s. As the play opens, Mama is expecting an insurance check of $10,000 that comes from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has their own ideas as to how to what he or she would like to do with this money; Mama wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with Walter Sr. while Walter, Mama’s son, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store. And, Ruth, Walter’s wife, agrees with Mama and hopes that she and Walter will be able to provide a better lifestyle for their son Travis. Finally, Beneatha, Mama’s daughter thus Walter’s sister, wants to use the money for her academics. As the play progresses, the Younger’s clash over their competing dreams. Ruth soon discovers that she is pregnant and considers abortion as an option to keep their lifestyle from getting “harder” than it already is. When Walter finds out about Ruth’s pregnancy and abortion option, but...
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...to elucidate how each character in the play A Raisin in the Sun written in 1959 by Lorraine Hansberry wants to achieve a dream which represents certain characteristics in common with the American Dream. Furthermore, this paper seeks to reveal to what extent aspects of the American Dreams, such as the ideal of justice or equality between the races, have been fulfilled by analyzing how these aspects are presented in the play. The Younger family is living in Chicago and is facing financial problems as well as social problems such as discrimination. As Mama’s husband died the family receives 10.000$ insurance money, which gives each family member the opportunity to fulfill their dream. Mama herself wants to buy a new house for the family, her daughter pursues the dream of becoming a doctor and her son Walter wants to open a liquor store. However, the fact that Walter’s wife Ruth is pregnant complicates the situation. Mama eventually decides to buy a new house in a white neighborhood and entrusts Walter with the rest of the money, but he loses all the money through a fraud, although he should have left some money to fund Beneatha’s education. Eventually, at the end of the drama, Mr. Lindner offers money to buy the Youngers out of their new house, but Walter stands up against him and declines the offer....
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...metropolitan areas were rapidly colonizing as 1950s America exemplified a prolonged and radical cultural transformation necessary for all to enjoy prosperity. America upheld the impression of hope for centuries; yet not all the inhabitants of land of the free cooperatively supported equal rights. The mere confidence in holding on to a dream became 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...
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...A Raisin in the Sun is a book written by Lorraine Hansberry. It is about a poor African American family getting a chance to make it out of their poor lifestyle conditions with an insurance check of a passed loved one. The Younger family lives in a small apartment with only two bedrooms with five people living in it. Each of the family members have their own ideas on how to spend the insurance check money. Two characters that influence this plot the most would be Mama and Walter. Mama is the one who is receiving the insurance check for the passing away of her husband. Mama is caring of her family, especially her grandson Travis. As soon as Mama receives the insurance check of ten thousand dollars, she goes out and buys a house for her little...
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...Dreams have value and purpose, but are both changing and changeless. The play, “A Raisin in the Sun”, is about attaining the American dream. Each member of the Younger family has his or her separate individual dream. The American dream for each of the characters has become a way out of their despair and poverty. Each character struggles to attain their dream. Walter, the central character, is both the antagonist and the protagonist. He is a victim of circumstance and is his own worse enemy. He wants money to be able to buy things for his family. Yet his get rich quick schemes only cause him heartache and lower his self-esteem. Mama, Lena, is head of the household, although she allows Walter in the end to control the money. She dreams of a family home - a house of her own. The potted plant that Mama nurtures symbolizes her care and love for her family. The plant also symbolizes her dream of having a garden. Mama quietly goes about attaining her dream by taking the money and making a down payment on a house. Beneatha, Walter’s sister, wants to become a doctor. She embraces her African heritage and learns that her goals to become a doctor might follow a non-traditional path. Ruth, Walter’s wife, just wants a better life for her family. To get out of the slums and have a “real” home is her ultimate goal. She has become mechanical in her approach to life. She has no spark in her day. The Youngers struggle throughout the play to attain their dreams. Their day-to-day life is directly...
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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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...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 in the sun.” The American dream is thought...
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...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 of pride and the fulfillment of his family's dream. 1. By standing up to Lindner, he becomes a man independent of wealth to make himself happy. "[W]e have decided to move into our house because my father—my father—he earned it for us brick by brick. [...] We don’t want your money." (Hansberry, 138) 2. It is this transformation from capitalist-obsessive youth to responsible patriarch that...
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