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Langston Hughes and a raisin in the sun
How does a raisin in the sun relate to langston hughes
Poem analysis langston hughes raisin in the sun
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A Raisin in the Sun and Dream Deferred
Langston Hughes and Lorraine Hansberry are known as two of the greatest African American writers during the 1950s. Facing racial discrimination, both projected this into their work, along with the theme of black empowerment. Meeting in Harlem, these authors became best friends and inspired each other’s writings. Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is trying to answer the question from Hughes’s Dream Deferred. Through the characters in her play, Hansberry explains what happens to a dream when is is put aside and the consequences that come with it. For example, Mama pushed away her dreams for her family, Walter ruined his dream of a liquor store, and Beneatha abandoned her hopes of becoming a doctor. In her
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play, A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses Mama, Walter, and Beneatha to show the negative consequences that occur when a dream is deferred. First, Mama is used to show negative consequences of a dream deferred. Mama is the head of the Younger’s household and wants what is best for her family. She has always dreamed of having a house for her children. Moreover, her dream is delayed because of Big Walter’s death and the issue of money. Explaining her beliefs on her own hopes, Mama states, “ But Lord, child, you should know all the dreams I had… And didn’t none of it happen… seem like God didn’t see it fit to give the black man nothing but dreams-but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worthwhile.” (Hansberry 45-46). Mama has deferred her dreams for her family, but she hopes to pass them down and achieve them through her children. Buying a home is just a dream for Mama so she leaves it for her children. Therefore, Mama’s dreams always haunt her since she can not achieve them. Hughes asks, “ Does it stink like rotten meat/ Or crust and sugar over-/ like a syrupy sweet?” (Hughes 6-8). Meaning that dead dreams linger, this suggests that Mama’s hopes carry on as she passes them down to her family, but her children have other dreams that they want to pursue. Mama’s dream of owning a house and giving her children the best life they can has the negative effect of being put off when her children would rather follow their own paths. Second, Walter shows the negative consequence when a dream gets deferred.
Walter, a selfish man and alcoholic, wants to be the dominant force in the household as he believe it is his way or no way at all. Problems he faces are blamed on other people, mostly black women. Walter has the dream of opening a liquor store with his friends, Willy and Bobo. Obtaining the funds from Mama, he puts all of it towards his business instead of splitting it with Beneatha. However, Willy Harris steals all of Walter’s money and leaving him a broken man whose dream has been crushed. Bobo comes to tell Walter what happened with Willy and Walter claims, “... Man, I put my life in your hands… THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF MY FATHER’S FLESH-... It’s all gone…” (Hansberry 128-129). The aftermath of Walter’s selfishness results in his dream being deferred because of his mentality of his way or no way. Losing the money from his father’s life insurance means not only his dreams but his family’s are destroyed. Consequently, Walter’s dream affects everyone around him negatively. Hughes questions, “Or fester like a sore-/ And then run?” (Hughes 4-5). This means that your dead dream will infect those around you. When Walter loses the money, all his family has worked towards will not come true. Especially, Beneatha’s dream because Walter took her funds for medical school. The Younger’s lives are greatly changed due to the loss of this money as Walter’s dream is …show more content…
deferred. Furthermore, Beneatha shows the negative consequences of a dream deferred.
Beneatha, a sassy and non-confirmative woman, is the most privileged of her family as they sacrifice a lot for her to go through schooling. Beneatha has wanted to be a doctor ever since she saw Rufus split his head open. She goes to college because she wishes to help black children like her Mama’s son who died early in his life due to inadequate treatment. Eventually, Beneatha’s dream is deferred after Walter loses all of her funds for medical school. Beneatha explains to Asagai, “I wanted to cure. It used to matter. I used to care. I mean about people and how their bodies hurt… it doesn’t seem deep enough, close enough to what ails mankind!” (Hansberry 133). Selfishness is what the real ailment in Beneatha’s mind, not sickness. Demoralized, Beneatha questions her goal of becoming a doctor due to Walter losing her funds. For this reason, Beneatha’s dreams dries up and get smaller and smaller until she completely gives up. Hughes asks, “ Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?” (Hughes 2-3). This means a dream gets smaller and smaller until it is gone, connecting to Beneatha. Her dream is gone due to Walter taking her funds meaning she will not be able to accomplish this, especially when it is extremely difficult almost impossible to become a female and African American doctor. The dream becomes smaller and then it disappears entirely. Beneatha’s negative consequence is she gives up on her lifelong
dream and starts to believe what she does will never matter. Also, all her family has put towards her will be for nothing. To conclude, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun uses Mama, Walter, and Beneatha to show the negative consequences that occur due to a dream deferred. Mama’s dream has been deferred due to Big Walter’s death and pushing it aside for her children. Walter and Beneatha’s dreams die when Walter loses his father’s life insurance. Sacrificing your aspirations will lead to negativity and sometimes it could completely consume you.
Everyone wants their dreams to become a reality; however, the unfortunate reality is that more often than not, dreams are not achieved and become deferred. Langston Hughes let this theme ring throughout his poetic masterpiece “Harlem,” in which he posed many questions about what happens to these dreams. In “A Raisin In the Sun,” Lorraine Hansberry draws so many indisputable parallels from “Harlem.” Hansberry consistently uses the dreams of Mama Younger, Big Walter, and Walter Lee to allude to Hughes poem. The intensity of the dreams coupled with the selfishness of some characters eventually adds an abundant amount of emotional strain to the family, once again demonstrating Hansberry’s dedication to Hughes poem.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a dramatic play written in 1959. The play is about an African American family that lived on the Chicago South Side in the 1950’s. Hansberry shows the struggles and difficulties that the family encounters due to discrimination. Inspired by her personal experience with discrimination, she uses the characters of the play, A Raisin In The Sun, to show how this issue affects families. Hansberry faces housing discrimination due to her race, which affects her family.
How would you feel if your freedom was halted by the color of your skin? A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes’ poems both capture racial identity, pride, and dreams. Walter, a character in A Raisin in the Sun, relates to those in the poems of Hughes.
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” This quote from Walt Disney addressing the concept of achieving dreams is very accurate, and can be seen throughout literature today and in the past. Dreams can give people power or take away hope, and influence how people live their lives based upon whether they have the determination to attack their dreams or not; as seen through characters like the speaker in Harlem by Langston Hughes and Lena and Walter Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in The Sun.
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore– And then run?" (Langston Hughes). It is important to never lose sight of one’s dream. Dreams are what keep people moving in life, but if they are ignored, they may morph and lose their prevailing form. This is evident in Lorraine Hansberry’s "A Raisin in the Sun", as Walter’s, Beneatha’s, and Mama’s dreams become delayed, distorted, and blurred.
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.
Even though south side chicago had a low amount of hope, the characters of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Walter, Beneatha, and Mama found a way to dream big. It led them to doing what they thought was right, eventually molding Walter into a greedy man during most of the play, Beneatha into an aspiring woman that demands respect, and Mama into an improvising woman who loves her
Both Charaters had different dreams, walter dream was to be able to get rich and support his family, while Frederick Dream was to become a free man. However, Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin the sun was published 1959, during this time the social conditions of African-Americans and their journey for identity in a discrimitive society " A job. (Looks at her) Mama, a job? I open and close car doors all day long. I drive a man around in his limousine and I say, "Yes, sir; no, sir; very good, sir; shall I take the Drive, sir?" Mama, that ain't no kind of job … that ain't nothing at all" (Hansberry 2). Also, In the narrative of Frederick Douglass, he applies that slavery is as harmful to whites as it is to slaves, he demostrates his trait of individualism througout his life by willing to take risk to overcome placed in his way to achiveve his American " As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers. With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read. When I was sent to errands, I always took my book with me, and by doing one part of my errand quickly, I found time to get a lesson before my return" (Douglass
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
A Raisin in the Sun is written by a famous African- American play write, Lorraine Hansberry, in 1959. It was a first play written by a black woman and directed by a black man, Lloyd Richards, on Broadway in New York. The story of A Raisin in the Sun is based on Lorraine Hansberry’s own early life experiences, from which she and her whole family had to suffer, in Chicago. Hansberry’s father, Carol Hansberry, also fought a legal battle against a racial restrictive covenant that attempted to stop African- American families from moving in to white neighborhoods. He also made the history by moving his family to the white section of Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood in 1938. The struggle of Lorraine Hansberry’s family inspired her to write the play. The title of the play comes from Langston Hughes’s poem which compares a dream deferred too long to a raisin rotting in the sun. A Raisin in the Sun deals with the fact that family’s and individual’s dreams and inspirations for a better life are not confined to their race, but can be identified with by people with all back grounds.
Beneatha believes that education is the way to understanding and self-fulfillment through knowledge and wisdom. It was rare at this time to find a poor well-educated black woman with such high ambitions. Her Mama knowing how much her education meant to her, told Walter to save $3000 for Beneatha's medical school. When they discovered that Walter had invested the money in his liquor store scheme and Willy had run off with all the money, Beneatha was devastated. Her dream according to Langston Hughes poem Harlem”Or does it explode?” She had lost all hope and even though her spirits may have been lifted after her talk with Asagai and the chance to move into a new house, it seems that Beneatha will never realize her
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.
In Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, the author reveals a hard-working, honest African-American family struggling to make their dreams come true. Langston Hughes' poem, "Harlem," illustrates what could happen if those dreams never came to fruition. Together, both Hansberry and Hughes show the effects on human beings when a long-awaited dream is thwarted by economic and social hardships.
Walter Lee was a stubborn man, but he seemed to experience the most amount of change within himself for the greater good. As the play starts, you realize the Younger family has received $10,0000 in insurance money due to a death in the family. Walter Lee had high hopes of getting money and living a better lifestyle. Walter complained a lot stating that, “[s]ometimes it’s like I can see the future stretched out in front of me- just as plain as day.
Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is a play about segregation, triumph, and coping with personal tragedy. Set in Southside Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun focuses on the individual dreams of the Younger family and their personal achievement. The Younger's are an African American family besieged by poverty, personal desires, and the ultimate struggle against the hateful ugliness of racism. Lena Younger, Mama, is the protagonist of the story and the eldest Younger. She dreams of many freedoms, freedom to garden, freedom to raise a societal-viewed equal family, and freedom to live liberated of segregation. Next in succession is Beneatha Younger, Mama's daughter, assimilationist, and one who dreams of aiding people by breaking down barriers to become an African American female doctor. Lastly, is Walter Lee Younger, son of Mama and husband of Ruth. Walter dreams of economic prosperity and desires to become a flourishing businessman. Over the course of Walter's life many things contributed to his desire to become a businessman. First and foremost, Walter's father had a philosophy that no man should have to do labor for another man. Being that Walter Lee was a chauffeur, Big Walter?s philosophy is completely contradicted. Also, in Walter?s past, he had the opportunity to go into the Laundromat business which he chose against. In the long run, he saw this choice was fiscally irresponsible this choice was. In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Lee's dreams, which are his sole focus, lead to impaired judgement and a means to mend his shattered life.