...“ 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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...A Raisin in the Sun Latika Vick, Sharlyn Harvey, Suzette Alarcon, & Candace White BSHS/422 November 26, 2011 Tim Nolan A Raisin in the Sun A Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry based on a colored family between WWII and the 1960’s. The family matriarch is Lena Younger, mother to Walter Lee Younger and Beneatha Younger. They reside in a Chicago Southside apartment along with Walter’s wife Ruth and son Travis. Living in a two-bedroom apartment which they share a bathroom with their neighbor is one of many obstacles the Younger family encounters. Their home is reaching capacity and they learn Ruth is pregnant. This one of many reasons the Younger family desires to move into a home in Clybourne Park. This writing will address some of the challenges the Younger family endured as a poor colored family living in Chicago and ways to address their problems. Walter Lee is the main character who battles with alcoholism, depression, discrimination, and the loss of his father. This writing will also concentrate on the Younger’s culture, beliefs, values, and religion. Cultural Issues and Problems Culture is a set of shared values, goals, practices, behaviors, and beliefs shared by a particular social, ethnic, or age groups. Lena Younger has raised her family to believe and have faith in GOD, love, and provide for family, value education, and work hard. Although she valued these things she still tried to instill values in her children. In...
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...family. Raisin in the sun the family ran into some troubles that Walter was going on towards his drinking binges and not getting along with family, but for Troy, he having an affair and ends stuck with a child that he offered asks Rose to consider taking care after his baby. Even though what Troy has done, may seem unforgivable. But there really no other choice that could’ve been done. Effects of racism caused on his life including his desire to be a baseball player who once use to be great baseball player in the Negro Leagues, but he was too old to join the Major Leagues so instead He became a hard-working African American man who works for the Sanitation Department as a garbage...
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...A Raisin in the Sun By: Daniel Alejandro Mendivil Ahuatzin 4th hour Racism is a major issue that has affected the United States since its discovery. Racism is the hatred by a person of one race pointed at a person of another race. The United States has grown up to improve as a whole but this process is a long way away from completion. Some citizens still believe that African-Americans are inferior to Caucasians and that they should be slaves. In the 1950s, whites and blacks were segregated to a point that they could not go to the same schools or even use the same bathrooms. Chief Justice Earl Warren abolished the segregation of schools in May of 1954. The desegregation of schools has helped people of all races grow up together in a non-hostile environment where they can develop relationships with people of other races. Throughout the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry criticizes the racial and discriminatory climate of America in the 1950s and early 60s. It becomes obvious to the reader that the racial tension Hansberry experienced growing up reflected on the way her literature is written. Moss and Wilson state that, “Lorraine Hansberry’s South Side childhood, particularly her father’s battle to move into a white neighborhood, provided the background for the events in the play” (314). Hansberry experienced many of the situations she placed the Younger family at first hand. Hansberry’s father, Carl Hansberry, was put in a similar circumstance when he moved...
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...how Marxism is portrayed within the two short stories, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and A Raisin in the Sun. The purpose of this essay is to explain the Marxism role within these two short stories. I will use an academic approach to accomplish this objective. The role of Marxism is portrayed within these two stories, and I will show how Marxism is portrayed and defined by comparing these two short stories. The similarities between the two stories are that both Walter and McMurphy are fighting against a society that is bent on repressing them. Walter with the white community, and McMurphy with the hospital staff at the mental institution, namely Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched represents the controlling party in the mental institution where as the white realtor Mr. Lindner represents the controlling party of the white housing community. According to Dictionary.com the definition of Marxism states that “society is basically the struggle between the social classes.” Randle McMurphy McMurphy showed signs of Marxism’s conflict theory, focusing on the struggles between the classes (nurses and patients).McMurphy violated the norms of society when he was charged with statutory rape and sanctions were imposed, sending him to prison. McMurphy creates a society amongst the patients at the mental institution, which largely affects the structure of the institution. His relationship with the other patients develops their thoughts. This interferes with the flow of the institution’s...
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...A Mother's Dream and a Child's Choice Jennell Osborn Lit/210 - World Literature October 20, 2013 Shannon Green A Mother's Dream and a Child's Choice: A comparison of A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry and Two Kinds, by Amy Tan While it is true that every mother should have a dream for her child, she should never burden him with it because the child will grow up believing he has disappointed or failed her in some way. There is an old Jewish proverb that says, "A slave shows his true character not while enslaved, but when he becomes a master." (Author unknown). In the same way, a child who has not yet become his own person is often enslaved by his mother's dream for him. This comparative essay will attempt to explain how each of the mothers in Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, and Two Kinds, written by Amy Tan, places the burden of their own dreams onto their children, and the impact it had on both Walter and Jing-Mei as adults. Additionally, my research results will explain the trauma a child may suffer when a parent wants their children to reach for dreams, and ambitions not their own. There can be a fine line between supporting a child’s ambitions and emotionally abusing them with pressure to succeed. It is important the child enjoys what he is doing, and except failure, knowing he has done his best. Equally important...
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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. ...
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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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...The Complexity of Privilege and Domination Privilege always occurs at the expense of others. Allan Johnson states, “The trouble we’re in privileges some groups at the expense of others. It creates a yawning divide in levels of income, wealth, dignity, safety, health, and quality of life” (Johnson 7). Allan Johnson states this in Chapter 1 of his book Privilege, Power and Difference and it is one of the most powerful statements in the whole book. Privilege creates a great divide between people. This can have a negative lasting effect, if not under control. Society has divided people into two groups: superior and inferior. The superior groups are the ones that are privileged in society and the inferior ones are ones that are underprivileged; however, there is a certain complexity that comes with privilege. There are so many different combinations of race, gender, class, sexual orientation or disability status that can occur so finding a person who fits all of the above is difficult. Ideally, it would be a white, wealthy, heterosexual male who is not disabled. Majority of people in the world do not fit that description. It is much more likely that an individual would be privileged in one or two of those categories. The complexity of privilege lies in the fact that individuals who are seen as superior and therefore privileged are entitled to have more opportunities than those who are underprivileged and inferior; however, this is not guaranteed. Allan Johnson’s...
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...your dreams to settle down isn't known. If a person gives up on their dreams or puts them on the back burner to pursue a relationship, it is the same as a raisin in the sun. Although a raisin is a dried up grape that is still full of nutrition, it becomes hard and useless after a while. Such would be the case with life goals, if you put them on hold to pursue a relationship, they become useless over time and forgotten. If a young person enters a relationship while in college lets say, their focus is no longer on school really. Most want to spend as much time as possible with the other. As the writer looks back upon himself in "When I Was One and Twenty", he basically says that he should've listened to the old man's advice. He is only twenty two at that point and already regrets the decision he made to give his heart away. There are plenty of people that will tell you that they had given up on their dreams to continue a relationship. Whether it be letting a dream job be passed up or an opportunity to do something they have always wanted to. Some people might have the perfect relationship as one of their dreams. Giving your heart away to that other person could end up hurting you. A lot of people wear their hearts on their sleeves in relationships, and it ends up backfiring. It then ruins that person and prevents them from giving their next relationship their all. That in turn can also hurt a person's dreams. There are a lot of ifs in...
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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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...Critical Play Analysis: A Raisin in the Sun 1. Thought/Theme/Ideas When reading a play, it is often difficult to obtain understanding and describe the theme. This particular play, A Raisin in the Sun, allowed for the meaning of the play to be conveyed through the characters. After completing the read, the play seemed to reveal that family is most important in life. In all of the stresses and events that take place within each person’s life, it is hard to become side-tracked on the family aspect of life. Throughout this play, money seemed to be the struggling conflict; the husband of Lena passed away and money was left over for the family. With the Youngers being a lower income family they were wanting to utilize the money for different purposes. Their lives are quite difficult in addition to them living a neighborhood that is experiencing some racial issues. Lena, the mother, was watering her plant everyday in hopes that it would prosper into something (pg. 28) By doing so, it showed that she was determined and committed to dreams and aspirations while the rest of the family were in conflict over the use of the 10K. While money is important in the everyday activities of life, it is not the most important aspect. If one does not have anyone to share the experience with, what is the use of the money. It would be best to let the money decide its purpose on its own (bills) rather than having everyone else deciding it individually; relationships can be destroyed that way...
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...Money seems to be the basis for several things in the lives of us human beings. In the play A Raisin in the Sun, Money is the center, basically, for everything - the good and bad. In this play one character stands out as it is very complex and powerful, growing from scene after scene. This character is Walter Lee, who is a passionate and ambitious person, bursting with the energy of his dreams. He is extremely hard-headed, and is unable to give up on his beliefs. He is ashamed of his economic status and he desperately wants to get out of the poverty and prejudice they are in, and therefore he is obsessed with a business idea that he thinks will solve all of their problems. We see how his emotions unfold in A Raisin in the Sun script and film, while it revolves around Walter Lee. He is the protagonist and backbone of the play, developing throughout the story....
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...All the characters in the story A Raisin in the Sun have a larger dream. Walter, Mama, Beneatha, Ruth, and Travis all dream of a better future. The play is based upon the Youngers trying to achieve their dreams. Walter’s dream is to be rich, because he believes that will solve all of his family’s problems. He plans to solve this by using his father’s insurance to invest in a liquor store. Mama’s dream is to have to family with strong relationships, and a house where Travis can play on the yard and grow up. She plans to solve her dream by buying a big house. Beneatha’s dream is to find her identity by exploring her heritage. She also dreams of being a doctor. She plans to solve her dreams by exploring her African heritage and going to college....
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...As I read through A Raisin in the Sun again, I found a decent amount of allusions to the Bible. And after a little bit of reading in my own Bible, since I don’t know enough about it to just assume, I found out what those allusions meant. First, the phrase “30 pieces and not a coin less!” (page 118) is an expression Beneatha uses when Carl Lindner is around discussing with Walter about buying the house. The quote, found in Matthew 26:15, explains how Judas sold Jesus as a slave and betrayed him for money. This would relate to how Walter has the choice to sell their house, which would be betraying his family, or not accepting the offer, which would be his moment of moral reconciliation. Also, found in Genesis 2:7-21, Beneatha references Adam...
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