A Raisin in the Sun

1138 Words3 Pages

In Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun,” the reader is pulled back in time to an era where segregation was still raging. Named after a line in Langston Hughes poem “A Dream Deferred,” the play focuses on the dreams of the Younger family. Each family member dreams of a better life, otherwise known as the American dream. Although each family member wanted a better life his or her idea of a better life were all different. The matriarch of the family, Mama dreamt of being a homeowner in a better neighborhood and providing for her family. Walter had a dream of owning a liquor store, which would bring in a lot of money. Beneatha on the other hand wanted to go to college to be a doctor. All of these are typical dreams, but the Youngers have the additional problem of being black in a time period that made their dreams harder to achieve. Lorrain Hansberry illustrates the many obstacles the Younger family has to jump in order to make their dreams “dreams deferred.”
Both Mama and Walter shared the desire to provide for their family, and saw money as a way to make them successful. When the family’s patriarch passes away the family is rewarded with a 10,000-dollar insurance check. Mama sees the check as a chance to get her family out of their cramped apartment into a house of their own. Conversely, Walter becomes fixated on opening his own Liquor store, which he saw as a way to receive a better income to provide for his family. In scene one, Walters son Travis asks his parents for fifty-cents and his mother Ruth tells him they don’t have it. Walter most likely feeling sorry gives his son money anyway saying, “in fact, here’s another fifty cents… Buy yourself some fruit today- or take a taxicab to school or something! (p. 450)” Lat...

... middle of paper ...

...that they’re also not ashamed of their skin tone. The Youngers were very proud of Walter, especially Mama who said “He finally come into manhood today, didn’t he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain…(512)”
The family was able to leave their problems behind as they moved into their new house in Clybourne Park. They knew it would be a challenge to live somewhere that they were not accepted, but they were more concerned with the better opportunities the family would have. Hansberry successfully portrayed each of the main characters in a way that the reader could see themselves in at least one of them. Everyone has a dream, and face many obstacles on their path to fulfilling them. The story of the Youngers shows the reader to never give up on their path to fulfilling their dreams.

Works Cited

Hansberry, Lorrain. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Random House, 1959.

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
570 Words | 2 Pages
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.
Read More
Talledega Nights Film Analysis
654 Words | 2 Pages
Walter, distraught after Mama had denounced his ambition to run a liquor store, had skipped work for three days, borrowing Willy Harris's car to drive around the city. Mama, seeing Walter so defeated, decided to entrust the remaining 6,500 dollars of her 10,000 dollar check to him, saying, "It ain't much, but it's all I got in the world and I'm putting it in your hands." (Hansberry,) Having incessantly denied Walter's dream,
Read More
Walter Lee Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
1051 Words | 3 Pages
Walter wants the best for his family and he thinks the liquor store will provide him the financial security needed to boost them out of poverty. "I'm thirty five years old; I've been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in living room (Hansberry 34). best describes the sympathy and compassion Walter feels for his son. Although his family's financial position has a strain on it, Walter doesn't want his son to see him struggle. Even in today?s world, children are very susceptible. Walter displays a selfless characteristic which becomes overshadowed by unwise decisions later in the play. In one particular scene, his son Travis asked both parents for money. Walter acts out of pride by giving Travis his last pocket change. This symbolizes Walter's willingness to be a moral father. In a different situation, Walter would not display his selfish intentions. This behavior can be attributed to working in a degrading, underpaid position and not seeing results. Metaphorically speaking, Walter can be related to the furniture in the small apartment, ?tired and broken in spirit?.
Read More
A Raisin In The Sun
951 Words | 2 Pages
Walter Sr. was Walter and Beneathas father he died and his wife mama received ten thousand dollar for life insurance. Walter wants the whole ten thousand dollars for himself and put it down on the liquor store. But Beneatha wants to go to medical school and be a doctor. Walter thinks that it is selfish of Beneatha that she wants to attend medical school because he then wouldn't get all of the money for the liquor store. Beneatha "that money belongs to Mama, Walter, and its for her to decide how she wants to use it. I don't care if she wants to buy a house or a rocket ship or just nail it up somewhere and look at it. It's hers. Not ours hers." Mamas getting all the money and it is up to her if she wants the money for herself give it to Beneatha for school or give it to Walter for the liquor store. Now that it is getting closer to the date in which the money will arrive. Walter is acting more and more desperate for that money.
Read More
Dream Deferred in A Raisin in the Sun
1053 Words | 3 Pages
The dreams of Walter, Beneatha, and Mama in Lorraine Hansberry’s "A Raisin in the Sun", may take longer than expected, change form, or fade. Even if dreams seem to never get closer, one should never give up. Without something to work towards, society would just dry up, like a grape in the sun.
Read More
Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun - Money
611 Words | 2 Pages
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.
Read More
An Overview of 'A Raisin in the Sun'
1747 Words | 4 Pages
A Raisin in the Sun The creativity of Hansberry played a crucial role in the development of African-American drama since the Second World War. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play by an African-American author to be set on Broadway and was honored by the circle of New York theater critics. Drama of A Raisin in the Sun (1959) brought Hansberry to the Society of New York Critics Award as the best play of the year. A Raisin in the Sun shows the life of an ordinary African-American family who dreams of happiness and their desire to achieve their dream.
Read More
Materialism In A Raisin In The Sun
1269 Words | 3 Pages
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
Read More
A Raisin In The Sun Lena Younger Character Analysis
1448 Words | 3 Pages
Nine out of every ten people never manage to accomplish their dreams, however this fact does not manage to stop many people from trying. Everyone acquires different methods in an effort to make their dreams a reality, and everyone will, at some point, discover that some methods are more effective than others. This is especially true for many characters in Lorraine Hansberry’s, A Raisin in the Sun, shown through the characters endeavors to achieve their goals. In the play, the Youngers are an African American family who are living in poverty in the United States. The majority of the family members have aspirations for the future and their own idea of the American Dream. Two of these family members include Beneatha Younger, and her mother, Lena,
Read More
Play: A Raisin in the Sun
1069 Words | 3 Pages
Walter, Mama’s Son, had other plans for the use of insurance money. Walter Lee Younger is a man in his middle thirties working the job of a chauffeur. Walter is a dreamer. Walt...
Read More
Characters Dreams Deferred in Raisin In The Sun
553 Words | 2 Pages
Walter is Mama’s oldest son. His dreams are to be wealth but at the same time wanting to provide for his family. His own personal dream is to open liquor store with his money he receives from Mama.
Read More
The Effects of Oppression in Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun
1182 Words | 3 Pages
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 ...
Read More
An Analysis of A Raisin In the Sun
1048 Words | 3 Pages
The two The main characters in the play, Mama and Walter, want this money to be used. for the benefit of the whole family. Even though both of them want to benefit the family, each one has a different idea of what to do with the money and how to manage it to benefit everyone. & nbsp; Walter Lee, like his father, wants his family to have a better life. and want to invest the money in a liquor store. Walter wants the money.
Read More
A Comparison of the Dream Deferred in A Raisin in the Sun and Harlem
1401 Words | 3 Pages
The social inequality which the Younger's encounter 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 Clybo...
Read More
Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun – Mama
689 Words | 2 Pages
Walter wants the insurance money so that he can prove that he is capable of making a future for his family. By doing well in business, Walter thinks that he can buy his family happiness. Mama cares for Walter deeply and hates seeing him suffer so she gave into his idea. Mama gives Walter the rest of the money and tells him to put half in a bank for his sister's schooling and he could do whatever he wanted with the other half.
Read More

Open Document

Wait a second!

A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Talledega Nights Film Analysis

Walter Lee Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun