Victor Hugo once said “There is nothing like dream to create the future”. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the Youngers, an African American family struggle against economic hardship and racial prejudice. The family of five, Mama, Walter, Beneatha, Ruth, and Travis, live in a run down apartment in the South Side of Chicago during the 1950s an era of great prosperity for most. They receives a life insurance check of ten thousand dollars after the passing of Walter Sr.. Each member of the family has his/her own plans for the money. Mama, Walter, and Beneatha have different interpretations of the American Dream: Mama’s perspective is family, Walter’s dream is material success , and Beneatha’s values independence. Mama’s dream is to attain a satisfying life for her family, own a house, and have Walter be the head of the household. Mama discovers her daughter-in-law Ruth is pregnant and wants to have an abortion Mama frantically says that she “done give one baby to poverty” and she not going to let the family give up another child (75). Mama lost a baby due to her poverty once and is determined to stop Ruth from doing the same. Mama has always dreamed of owning a home and now she believes a home will help keep her family together she tells Ruth she wants an little “old two story”(44) with a yard where she could have a garden and “Travis could play in ” (44) . Mama decides to use the money to buy a house because she “seen [her] family [fall] apart” (93). By buying a new house Mama believes establishes an environment for growth and development, preventing her children from doing what she had to do and will keep the family whole. Mama’s dream is selfless because there is no personal gain. Walter’s goal is to earn more money; being financially successful is important to him. After the arrival of the life insurance money, Walter and Mama get into a fight over how Walter has changes; Mama asks Walter why he has become obsessed with money, Walter reply “because it is life”(74). For Walter money comes before everything since no money equates to no life ; therefore making money become Walter’s number one priority because he believes validates his existence. After Mama gives Walter part of the insurance money, Walter talks to his son about how he is going to “change [their] lives” (108) he foreshadows the future he plans for the family.
Mama talks to Walter about her fears of the family falling apart. This is the reason she bought the house and she wants him to understand. Walter doesn't understand and gets angry. "What you need me to say you done right for? You the head of this family. You run our lives like you want to. It was your money and you did what you wanted with it. So what you need for me to say it was all right for? So you butchered up a dream of mine - you - who always talking 'bout your children's dreams..." Walter is so obsessive over money that he yells at his mom for not giving him all of it. He doesn't know that what his mom is doing is for the family. He thinks that having money will make the family happy, when in reality the family doesn't need anymore than what they have to be happy.
...ccomplish this if they all understand what is important in life. All of Mama’s dreams are eventually recognized, although they certainly appear hazy throughout the play. The question about whether or not they should keep the house forms inside Mama’s head near the end of the play, but she quickly changes her mind. Mama never lost sight of her goals, no matter how hard nature attacked them.
Living in a society where the fulfillment of dreams is based upon material wealth, the Younger family strives to overcome their hardships as they search for happiness. As money has never been a way of life for the family, the insurance check's arrival brings each person to see the chance that their own dreams can become reality. Whether in taking a risk through buying a "little liquor store" as Walter wishes to do or in -"[wanting] to cure" as Beneatha dreams, the desires of the family depend upon the fate of Mama's check. In the mind of Walter Lee Younger, the check is the pinnacle of all, dominating his thoughts, as he does not wait a second before "asking about money "without" a Christian greeting." He cannot see beyond the fact that he "[wants] so many things" and that only their recently acquired money can bring them about. The idea of money and being able to hold it "in [his] hands" blinds him from the evils of society, as he cannot see that the Willy Harris's of the world will steal a person's "life" without a word to anyone. When money becomes nothing but an illusion, Walter is forced to rethink his values and his family's future, realizing that there is more to living that possessing material riches.
When she was younger, she dreamed of being able to live in a decent sized house where she could even have her own small garden. However, the more privileged black neighborhoods were too expensive for her and her family at the time so she could never get the best of what Chicago had to offer. That factor didn’t hinder her from providing for her family and getting what she needed in life though. Mama’s environment formed her into a woman who hopes for the best, but even if that doesn’t happen, she will still make do with what she has. She also is very religious, this enables her to have strength and guidance during troubling times, and find a way when there is none.
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.
In America, every citizen is guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Although each person is given these rights, it is how each person uses them that defines how successful they will be in America. There are several obstacles that some Americans face on their pursuit of happiness. In this country’s past, Americans lived by a very specific set of beliefs that valued the importance of hard work, faith, and family. As time progressed and America began to evolve as a nation, this capitalistic society no longer devoted itself to family and faith but rather success, and the pursuit of prosperity. The shift from dependence on tradition towards a society that values success and how people struggle to b successful when society makes it difficult marks a common theme in Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun. Two of the main characters in this story Lena Younger (Mama) and her son Walter Lee directly reflect the shift from tradition to a focus on success and capital and the struggles they face in regards to racism. Mama and Walter Lee’s contrasting values about the American dream and the way in which they pursue their own dreams while facing racism exemplifies the shift from valuing tradition like in previous generations in America, to valuing success and prosperity like in more current generations.
After buying a house, Mama gives the remaining money to Walter, telling him to save some for Beneatha’s medical school, and that he can decide what the rest of the money can go to. Walter tells Travis that he is going to change their lives with the money: “One day...I’ll pull up on the driveway...just a plain black chrysler… though I’ll have to get something a little sportier for Ruth---maybe a Cadillac convertible...and I‘ll go inside...to see you sitting on the floor with the catalogues of the great in America all around you… just tell me what it is you want to be---… and I hand you the world!” (108-109). Walter fantasizes about owning classy cars and being able to pay for his son to go to any of the top-notch schools in America. His visions for the future reveal that his perception of reality is unrealistic and that wealth matters very much to him. He is very confident that he will be able to give Travis “the world”, which shows that he has excessive faith in his business deal. His delusions and excitement can hinder his ability to make calculated decisions. Without saving any money for Beneatha’s medical school, Walter gives the money to his friend, Willy, to invest in liquor stores. The next day, Walter’s other friend, Bobo, visits Walter to tell him that Willy ran off with the money. Walter melts down and yells, “Man, I put my life in your
The first problem Ruth faces is how to support her family. Accused of not paying enough attention to her son, Ruth snaps at Mama shouting, “I feed my son, Lena!” (1880). This encounter with Mama displays an uptight, stressed side of Ruth, who balances a job, a son, her husband, and keeping the expected baby a secret. With so much preoccupying her mind, Ruth still tries to make money while feeling ill telling Mama, “I have to go. We need the money,” (1881). Money becomes a topic of great interest in the Younger family causing everyone to worry entirely too much about it. Ruth puts her family before herself caring about their conditions and the money they make over her own health. The next struggle Ruth encounters is deciding what option is best for her family and possible new baby. After finding out about the pregnancy, Ruth assures her family “she”, the doctor, confirmed everything is fine (1888). The slip up reveals that Ruth is considering getting an abortion. Furthermore, pushing her own conflict aside, Ruth still supports her family’s dreams, encouraging Mama to “open it”, meaning the check, for Mama’s own benefit and use toward a better lifestyle (1893). Ruth solves her own conflict by deciding to keep the baby and motivate her family in whatever way possible in the new challenges to
Ruth, whose dreams are the same as Mama’s, get deferred when the family are forced into there small apartment and there lack of money. Since she has no money she can not help her family as much as she would like to.
The conflict that involves Walter and Mama superficially concerns Mama's receiving an insurance check for ten thousand dollars, which she hasn't yet decided what to do with. Walter has hopes for using the money to invest in a liquor store, with the profits providing him and his family a better quality of life than what they have endured in the past. What really is at stake here, though, is more than money. Mama and Walter have different visions of what happiness is and what life is all about. For Mama, the best thing to do with the money is to make a down payment on a house. This house is to be situated within an all-white neighborhood, and represents assimilation. This is Mama's dream, and the dream ...
The. She thinks that money is not something that makes a family happy. & nbsp; Besides dreams Walter also has a husbands responsibilities which are universally thought of as being able to support his family and raise his children so they are morally in line with what he believes in. Walter's problem, however, seems to be that he is building his supposedly well.
Mama's economic hardships may have killed her dream, but she has not allowed it to kill her. The social inequality which the Younger encounters also does not hinder Mama's compassion. Mr. Lindner temporarily shatters Mama's dream of owning a home when he comes to the Youngers prepared to give them money to move from Clybourne Park. The derogatory use of "you people" by Mr. Lindner has little to no effect on Mama's steadfast decision to move to Clybourne Park.... ...
Walter, Beneatha, Ruth, and Mama all struggle to attain their version of the American Dream. Like Mama, their dreams, at one point in the play, are deferred, and through many trials and tribulations; the Younger's ultimately realize that buying and keeping the house is the most important dream. The house, a symbol for unity,helped the Youngers ignore their own personal dreams, and focus on one important dream; they notice that sometimes allowing your dreams to defer, isn't entirely bad, and could direct you to bigger and better dreams you weren't even aware you had.
Walter, Beneatha, and Mama all want a better way of life, they all express this in different ways. Walter Lee dreams of owning his own liquor store, he’s hoping to gain success and to actually feel like he can accomplish something without being looked down upon by the whole family, he is in search of feeling like a “real” man. Becoming a doctor is a dream of Beneatha’s, she is so immune to being criticized about this that she is determined to do everything in her power to make this dream come true.
In the opening scene of the play Mama goes to her plant and nurtures it. Mama tries to instill the value of family importance to her children as she struggles to keep them together and functioning (Kohorn). The plant symbolizes Mama's dreams of owning her own house. She uses part of the money to put a down payment on a house in a white neighborhood.