A Raisin in the Sun was created based off a play called “A Dream Deferred.” This play ask question about what dreams may do. For instances, “does dreams dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore And then run” (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1996)? In A Raisin in the Sun, it is clear all the main characters have dreams whether it is to give have a nice life, buy a house, make money, or become a doctor. Each character is able to realize the importance of having a dream while still loving and caring for their family. This symbolizes so much in life because we can often be blinded by our dream that we forget about the main picture. Finally, our dream causes us to be simple minded and quick to call upon self wants and needs. In this play the main character, Walter, has a dream of being a successful business man. He tries so hard to argue his case for receiving his mother’s insurance money of ten thousand dollars. No matter how hard he tries he does not feel like he can ever get what he want and he decides to take out his frustrations on his family. Walter wants to open a liquor store with two partners BoBo and Willy (Booth, and Mays, 2011). Though he thought the idea of running this business was legit and can bring in money, they were just get quick schemes that may cause more harm than good. Walter is like many today, they are quick to find ways to make a buck or two but the end results do not always add up. Walter wants so badly to be like the successful white people that he forgets to think about the consequences of his actions. Walter is like most men they feel as though, “it makes a difference in a man when he can walk on floors that belong to him” (Booth, and Mays, 2011). So, he tries so hard... ... middle of paper ... ... understand what is truly important, but if this has to take place it will be a lesson we will never forget. Dreams are not bad; I believe they become bad when we lose sight of what is really going on in our lives and what we are doing to accomplish the dream. If we have a dream but strive to make it come true by quick schemes, we may find that may not be the best option in life. Nothing in life can be handed to us, unless we are willing to work hard and take control of the outcome. Works Cited Booth, Alison, and Kelly J. Mays. "Reading More Drama." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York, New York, London: W.W. Norton & Co, 2011. 951-1959. Print. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. "A Dream Deferred (by Langston Hughes)." Home - Welcome to CenturyLink. N.p., 1996. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. .
The Younger’s, an African American family living on the south-side of Chicago in the 1950s, live in an undersized apartment for their family of five. Lena Younger, the mother of the house, receives a check of ten thousand dollars and dreams of owning her own house in a white neighborhood. Beneatha’s brother, Walter, has high hopes of investing the money in a liquor store. Walter’s wife, Ruth does all she can to support his ideas while caring for their son, Travis. But, to become a doctor, Beneatha wants and needs the money to pay for her schooling. Walter and Beneatha’s wants for the money cause disputes throughout the house.
A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry is realistic fictional drama in which the play 's title and the character represent the play 's theme. The play focused on Black America 's Struggle to reach the American Dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness during the 1950s and the 1960s. The idea of everyone having the chance to achieve a better life should exist for all. Hansberry conceives her title using a line from Langston Hughes poem “A dream deferred”. The original poem was written in 1951 about Harlem. Hughes’ line from the poem state that when dreams are deferred “Does it dry up like a Raisin in the Sun”. This meant that they describe them as being small and already pretty withered. Hughes poem further suggested that when
In A Raisin In the Sun Lorraine Hansberry uses everyday objects-a plant, money, and a home to symbolize a family's struggle to deal with racism and oppression in their everyday lives, as well as to exemplify their dreams. She begins with a vivid description of the family's weary, small, and dark apartment in Chicago's ghetto Southside during the 1950s. The Youngers are an indigent African-American family who has few choices in their white society. Each individual of the Younger family has a separate dream-Beneatha wants to become a doctor, Walter wants to open a liquor store, and Ruth and Mama want a new and better home. The Youngers struggle to accomplish these dreams throughout the play, and a major aspect of their happiness and depression is directly linked to their achievement, or failure to achieve their dreams.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry tells the story of the Youngers, a family of lower class blacks who are trying to move up in the world. They are given an opportunity to do so when the grandfather’s inheritance is the sent in the mail. However, each family member has a separate agenda for the money they will receive. The play gets its title from the poem “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes. In the poem, Hughes asks what happens to a dream deferred and one of the theories he proposes says, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”. Each of the similes detailed in the poem correlate with a character from the play. Ruth is the wife of Walter Lee, the son of the man who died, and represents the simile which states, “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.” This description is most clearly
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry portrays a struggling family, made up of individuals with very different and important dreams, to show the role of dreams in life. Each character makes most of their decisions with their goal in mind, constantly finding ways to get closer to their goals. The numerous dreams within their household and each members’ desire for their respective goal, prevented most of the primary characters from living out their dreams. This left multiple dreams still out there, unachieved, and providing the major theme of the play. The title, A Raisin in the Sun, comes from the poem, Dream Deferred, and serves as an allusion to Dream Deferred.
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 award winning play “A Raisin in the Sun” written by Lorraine Hansberry focuses on characters that are challenged by the reality of their dreams and the harsh society around them. Walter Lee Younger, a working man with a small family, is someone who has high hopes for his future, but during the book, due to many events, he repeatedly had doubts about the outcome of his goals. As the play progresses, Walter’s dream plays a large role in his character development because he starts off as a man who felt as if all of his family members neglected his dreams, and transitioned into a person who is willing to do whatever it takes for his family’s dreams to flourish, instead of purely his own.
Both the 1961 and 1989 film versions of “A Raisin in the Sun” had their highs and lows, but the 1961 version, I believe, was the worst of the two. The 1989 version of the film followed the play almost word for word, while the 1961 version either adds or leaves things out from the play. For example, in the 1961 version of the play they added humor, such as in the scene in which Walter ran to use the bathroom before Mr. Johnson could (Petrie). The play version of the scene reads, “Daddy, come on!” (Hansberry 28). Another issue with the film was that Ruth was downright awful in scenes where her character felt great emotion. In act two, when Travis finally came home Ruth did not look or sound mad. In the book, however, she made it sounds like she
The award-winning play A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry focuses on characters that are challenged by the reality of their dreams and the harsh society around them. Walter Lee Younger, a working man with a small family, is someone who has high hopes for his future, but, during the book, he repeatedly had doubts about the outcome of his goals. As the play progressed, Walter’s dream plays a large role in his character development because he starts off as a man who felt as if all of his family members neglected his dreams, and transitioned into a person who is willing to do whatever it takes for his family’s dreams to flourish, instead of purely his own.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a play about a struggling African American family who lives in the slums of Chicago. The main family, the Youngers, is in a financial hole and each person in the family has a dream. However, it will take a large amount of money for each individual to complete their dream. The three main dreamers of the play would be Walter Lee (the main character), Beneatha (Walter’s sister), and Mama (Walter’s mother). Walter’s dream is to start a liquor business, Mama’s dream is to buy a house for her family to live in, and Beneatha’s dream is to go into medical school and become a doctor. In the story, the most important dream would have to be Beneatha’s dream. She wants to become a doctor and completing her dream could potentially have an enormous impact on women, African Americans, and people of all kinds.
In ‘A Raisin in the Sun’, Lorraine Hansberry describes each of the family’s dreams and how they are deferred. In the beginning of the play Lorraine Hansberry chose Langston Hughes’s poem to try describe what the play is about and how, in life, dreams can sometimes be deferred.
“‘...A job? I open doors all day long. I drive a man around in his limousine...Mama, that ain’t no kind of job...that ain’t nothing at all’” (477). Walter wants to take the insurance check and put it towards the liquor store and start up a business with Willy Harris. However, Mama feels that going into a liquor business is not a good idea, Walter drinks regularly, they are not business people and she does not want her money going towards the business (461). Walter wants to pursue his dream, but when Mama gives him the money to put into the bank for him and Beneatha, Bobo and him give it to Willy Harris, ripping them off he runs off with the money. Walter and Bobo are devastated, their hopes for the business gone. Furious, Mama prays for strength and strikes Walter for his mistake (507). Beneatha realizes that she is no longer going to be able to pay for her tuition and gets mad at her brother as well (508). All of their dreams are gone and have no hope due to one selfish choice Walter
In the play, the Youngers buy a house in a white neighborhood using the life insurance money of Big Walter. In this time, which was the 1950’s, racism was still well and alive even in the North. The people of the neighborhood sent a representative, named Mr. Lindner, to try and persuade the Youngers into selling the house back to the neighborhood for more than they bought it for. When he first comes to talk to them, Walter and Beneatha declined the offer which lead to Mr. Lindner giving them his card and leaving. After Walter Lee finds out he got scammed, he calls the number on the card and asks Mr. Lindner to come back for negotiations. He believed they only had one choice and that was to sell the house. When Lindner actually gets there, Walter realizes what he is about to do and acts differently, “ WALTER: Yeah. Well- what I mean is that we come from people who had a lot of pride… And we have decided to move into our house because my father- my father- he earned it for us brick by brick” (148). He finally understands what pride is. Instead of taking money over the happiness of his family, he finally grasped how important family was. In the end, Walter comprehends the importance of family over everything else.
A Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry. The primary focus of the play is the American Dream. The American Dream is one’s conception of a better life. Each of the main characters in the play has their own idea of what they consider to be a better life. A Raisin in the Sun emphasizes the importance of dreams regardless of the various oppressive struggles of life.
Gainor, J. Ellen., Stanton B. Garner, and Martin Puchner. The Norton Anthology of Drama, Shorter Edition. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.