Comparing Light and Growth in A Raisin in the Sun and Death of a Salesman

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Light and Growth in A Raisin in the Sun and Death of a Salesman.

In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, both authors use motifs of light and growth within their settings to convey messages about the intrinsic values and potentiality of their characters. A Raisin in the Sun begins with a faint little light, filtering through the kitchen window. It's not much of a light, but it is successfully kindled by Lena Younger to keep her little plant alive and to help sow the seed of human dignity in her children. In Death of a Salesman, the physical light is blocked by the encroaching concrete jungle of New York City and the spiritual light is extinguished by Willy Loman's misguided, illusionary values. Willy and his family are trapped in the tiny shadow cast by his giant illusions and nothing grows in their world.

The opening description of the setting in A Raisin in the Sun states, "The single window for these 'two' rooms is located in the kitchen area. The sole natural light the family may enjoy in the course of a day is only that which fights its way through this little window." This window provides a view to the outside world which Walter Younger seeks to tame. Walter looks out of this window as he smokes his cigarette and comments on the people "running and racing to work." Lena Younger has what is described as a "feeble little plant growing doggedly in a small pot on the windowsill." She worries that "if this little old plant don't get more sun than it's been getting it ain't never going to see spring again." ( Hansberry, 856 ) The light from the window feeds the dogged little plant which Lena says "expresses me." Although they live in a small, cramped apartment...

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...erry is saying that to find the pot of gold which lies at the end of a rainbow, man needs food for the soul.

Works Cited and Consulted:

Draper, James P. Black Literature Criticisms. Detroit: Gale Research Incorporated, 1992.

Field, B.S. "Death of a Salesman" Twentieth Century Literature. January, 1972. 19-24. Rpt. in World Literary Criticism. Ed. Frank Magill. "Arthur Miller" Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. 2366-2368.

Gunton, Sharon R. Motifs in A Raisin in the Sun. Detroit: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman,The Heath Introduction to Drama, Fifth Edition. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Company, 1996, pp. 731-808.

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun, The Heath Introduction to Drama, Fifth Edition. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Company, 1996, pp. 841-914.

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