Do it the Right Way: A Raisin in the Sun

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Recommended: Character analysis in a raisin in the sun

Life is like a diet; if the individual does things correctly then he or she will be satisfied and pleased with the results. But, if the individual starts to cheat the diet and want faster results than what he or she is getting then he or she will not get the desired results. When people do not get the desired result they can make radical or unhealthy decisions that will not lead them to their goal but push them further away. Just like a person may be tempted to cheat their diet and eat a fun-sized candy because “it won’t hurt,” in life people cheat and make things out of lust or irrationality which ends up harming them. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses dialogues and allusions to show that when ambitions are achieved through irrational decisions and betrayal they can lead to an undesired life.

Irrational decisions can lead to a life of misery, and this is something Hansberry elaborates on through the use of dialogue showing how desperation in finding success can make people make consequential mistakes. Ambition: a desire to be successful, powerful, or famous (Merriam Webster). That desire for Walter Younger was success. The problem with Walter, is that he sees success as only achievable through the acquisition of money; just like in our current society. When Walter talks to Mrs. Younger, Mama, about needing his father’s insurance check for himself, “MAMA. Oh-So now it’s life. Money is life… WALTER. No-it was always money Mama…” (Hansberry 74), he suggests that without money there is no life therefore no success. As James explains, “… [Walter] becomes obsessed with his dreams of a venture which will give him financial independence and, in his mind, will make him a more valuable human being” (4). This attachment to m...

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...N.p.: n.p., 1951. Print.

James, Rosetta. CliffsNotes on Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. N.p.: n.p., 2007. Print. http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=gk5zPEiIfMwC&oi=fnd&pg=PA2&dq=prometheus+a+raisin+in+the+sun&ots=vdcAPHJK93&sig=15mLtk0z8G-78_YB60VmC5kOIBo#v=onepage&q=prometheus%20a%20raisin%20in%20the%20sun&f=false

Merriam Webster. Print.

“The Miniver Story.” IMDb. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. .

Stratford, Michael. “Literary Devices Used in the Story ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ by Lorraine Hansberry.” globalpost. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.

When ego threats lead to self-regulation failure: Negative consequences of high self-esteem.Baumeister, Roy F.; Heatherton, Todd F.; Tice, Dianne M.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 64(1), Jan 1993, 141-156. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.64.1.141 http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/64/1/141/

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