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The Fruits of Passion and Dreams in A Raisin in the Sun and The Grapes of Wrath Passion! Passion is what both Lorraine Hansberry and John Steinbeck have in common. Their two major works, A Raisin in the Sun and The Grapes of Wrath, respectively, focus on the human struggle, love and dreams, which in turn are symbolized through the ideas of matriarchal images, prodigal sons and daughters and nature as an icon of dreams. In both these works, the mothers play the most important role in the development of the plot. They represent the pillars of strength and they are the ones that hold the family together and the hope alive. In Lorraine Hansberry's work, Mama is a widow, mother of two children and the head of the household: "There are some ideas we ain't going to have in this house. Not long as I am at the head of this family." (Hansberry 51) Mama is aware of the high position she is awarded in the family, since her husband is dead and she is left in care of the family. Qualities like independence and strength surround her and give her and air of authority. She takes charge when others hesitate and she gives courage to the insecure. "You just got strong willed children and it takes a strong woman like you to keep'em in hand, (Hansberry 52) her daughter-in-law tells her at one point. This symbolizes the love and respect she carries for her, but also the power that Mama radiates over the whole family. Mama's virtues are reflected, not only through other people's reactions or her own actions towards others, but by the author's own opinion as well: "Her face is full of strength. She has, we can see, wit and faith of a kind that keeps her eyes lit and full of interest and expectancy...Her bearing is perhaps most like the noble Hereros of Southwest Africa-. (Hansberry 39) The author personally involves her feelings into her work, as it is a representation of her own life and almost autobiographical. For that reason, the stage directions are so much more than that. They not only portray the physical aspect of the setting and characters, but go deep into the heart and soul of the people represented by the characters. They are much more personalized. They do not give the beholder the opportunity to form an opinion, but more, they imply what the reader's reaction should be.
In two differing stories of departure, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Steinbeck’s standard for a writer is met by the raw human emotions exhibited in the main characters’ success and defeat.
The play depicts the feelings and thoughts of the people of their time. Their feelings are different then what we see today in our lives. The family had to deal with poverty and racism. Not having enough money and always being put down because of the color of their skin held them back from having a lot of self-respect and dignity. I think that Mama was the one who had the most pride and held the family together.
In literature as in life, people often find that they must make difficult choices in order to survive. The reasons behind their decisions and the results of their subsequent actions affect our opinion of them. In the Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, the author portrayed situations where two main characters became involved. The nature of their choices, the reasons behind their decisions, and the results that followed affected them greatly. However, the choices that they made were surmounted successfully. Ma Joad and Tom Joad are two strong characters who overcame laborious predicaments. Their powerful characteristics helped to encourage those that were struggling.
Of Mice and Men and A Raisin in the Sun Dreams Make What Life Is
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.
Wyatt, David. New Essays on the Grapes of Wrath. New York: Cambridge UP, 1990. Print.
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.
America, since its conception, has been known as the "promised land." America is where one goes to escape persecution or achieve a dream that would be hard or impossible to achieve in their current location. This is essentially the "American Dream." The American Dream is to be able to create a better life for yourself, or any life you want, no matter who you are or where you are from. Walter and Frederick have two very different approaches to their American Dream. Walter's drive for money consumes him and complicates his relationship with his family while Frederick's passion for reading made him a more intelligent slave. The lives of the two men had different outcomes, but followed the same ideal of the American Dream.
Hansberry, Lorraine. "A Raisin in the Sun." Ed. Nellie Y. McKay. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Comp. Henry Louis. Gates. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. 1771-830. Print.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2011. 950-1023. Print.
During the 1960s, the African-American people were in racial situations due to their “lowered status”. They had no control over the strong beliefs in segregation, which “is characterized by a mixture of hope and despair.” (Nordholt) African-Americans, like normal people, had strived to achieve set goals. Unfortunately, their ethnicity was what inhibited them from accomplishing their dreams. In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, the author conveys the theme of the seemingly trivial efforts of the African-American people in their individual pursuits for a satisfactory life lead each person down a road of self-discovery that reveals an indefinite amount of truths, which transform their promising hopes into unachievable fantasies. By using powerful characterization, Hansberry creates characters with contrasting personalities dividing their familial hopes into different dreams. With the use of symbolism, each character’s road is shown to inevitably end in a state where dreams are deferred.
Lorraine Hansberry in her play, “Raisin in the Sun”, attempted to explain the feelings of the average African American Male in the 1940s. This persona, which is portrayed in the character Walter, had experienced a severe feeling of depression and hopelessness. In order to understand this source of grievance, one must relate back to the Great Migration and the dreams it promised and the reasons why many African Americans sought to move to the North. A desire to achieve freedom from racial injustices and poverty was the prime factor that encouraged Blacks to abandon the south. However, these dreams where soon crushed as African American noticed that Northern whites had still maintained unequal segregation and where as stumbling block to Black advancement. The consequences of a “dream deferred”, as Langston Hughes called it, was dependency on others, alcohol addiction, as well as dysfunctional families.
The concept of the American Dream has always been that everyone wants something in life, no matter if it is wealth, education, financial stability, safety, or a decent standard of living. In addition, everyone will try to strive to get what they want. The American Dream, is said to be that everyone should try and get what they hope they can get in life. In the play A Raisin in the Sun the author Hansberry tells us about a family where each has an American Dream, and Hughes in the poem “ Let America be America Again “is telling us to let America be the America that was free for us to obtain The American Dream. Hansberry and Langston see America like as a place to find the dream desired, although they also see limitation to obtain the American Dream, such as poverty, freedom, inequality, racism and discrimination.
loose ends are tied up, and this is because there is no more comedy to
Mama is a powerful, strong witted person. She has a lot of control in this play and dominates as a woman character. This is unusual because this is usually a male’s position in life. She is a woman, “who has adjusted to many things in life and overcome many more, her face is full of strength”. In this play she is illustrated as taking over for the head of the family and controls the lives of everyone in her house. Rules are followed to Mama’s extent. She controls what is said and done in her house. After Walter yells, “WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE LISTEN TO ME TODAY!” (70). Mama responds in a strong tone of voice saying, “I don’t ‘low no yellin’ in this house, Walter Lee, a...