Exploring Prejudice in 'A Raisin in the Sun'

303 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Theories of prejudice essay

Prejudice in A Raisin In The Sun A Raisin in the Sun deals with many issues but none more than Prejudice's--the act of pre-judging something. The Caucasian or white population in the story were one of the prejudice groups. They try to strong arm the Youngers out of their neighborhood. Walter is also constantly talking about how the white people are always trying to keep the black man down. The play is based on the prejudice of all mankind, at that time. The prejudice of the white people in the story is widely seen in one incident. The welcoming committee tries to discourage the Youngers from moving into the white neighborhood. The committee also uses their money to keep the Youngers out of their neighborhood. Mrs. Johnson also talks about the fire bombings of Black Americans that moved into "white neighborhoods". The Prejudice white people were the modern Gestapo of America. The Black American blue-collar workers also believe that they are being held down by the white-collar workers who are the white business men. The Youngers, specifically Walter, believe "no matter how hard black folks work they can't get ahead in this world." He also believes it is so much harder for black people to get anywhere that he would lose all of the money Mama had given him, trying to spread it around getting the businesses going. In this story all the problems could be solved if everyone would get along and understand each other. If the white people would try to understand the black population and if the Black Americans would understand each other and the white people, we would have a utopia.

Show More
Related

  • Christian Teachings on the Just War

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    2) The cause must be just. This is jus ad bellum because you decide if

    Read More

  • It Ll All Come Out In The Wash By Joanne Crutchfield

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    The stories that the author told were very insightful to what life was like for an African American living in the south during this time period. First the author pointed out how differently blacks and whites lived. She stated “They owned the whole damn town. The majority of whites had it made in the shade. Living on easy street, they inhabited grand houses ranging from turn-of-the-century clapboards to historics”(pg 35). The blacks in the town didn’t live in these grand homes, they worked in them. Even in today’s time I can drive around, and look at the differences between the living conditions in the areas that are dominated by whites, and the areas that are dominated by blacks. Racial inequalities are still very prevalent In today’s society.

    Read More

  • How is Racism used in A Raisin in the Sun

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    How are the black people treated in A Raisin in the Sun? The black people in this story are treated in different from others. Walter tells his mom about what white people do in the restaurants “Mama sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool quiet looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking about things sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars”(Hansberry58). This quote shows that the white people are living in good situations and that they aren’t worrying about what will they eat when they get hungry like the blacks. The difference between the blacks and the whites is so big wile the whites are working the blacks are just doing something to have fun. Walter is blaming the people from his by the way the live “Why? You want to know why? ‘Cause we all tied up in a race of people that don’t know how to do nothing but moan, pray and have babies”(114). While other people are thinking about their future they are thinking about getting kids and other normal that wont help them in life....

    Read More

  • Chicago's South Side Analysis

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    The setting of the story is Chicago’s South Side. This area of Chicago was known as the “capital of black America” (Manning), and according to Andrew Wiese, Chicago used to be known as “the most segregated city in America” (118). These seriously contradictory statements are true. Chicago’s South Side was home to William L. Dawson, who was the most powerful black politician at the time, and Joe Luis, who was a boxing champion and was known as the most popular black man in America (Manning). It was the most popular place for blacks to migrate to during the Great Migration, and the population grew from 278,000 blacks to 813,000 blacks. Most of the neighborhoods located in the South Side were poor and highly segregated from the rich white neighborhoods located just outside the South Side (Pacyga). The housing in these areas was very poor as well. Most of the African Americans at the time lived in a small apartment called a kitchenette. These were cramped with a small kitchen and small rooms (Plotkin). Lorraine Hansberry describes the Youngers house as a worn out, cramped, and very small apartment (23). She also talks about the small kitchen, living room, and bedrooms (24). These apartments were not ideal, but it was all that many African Americans could afford. If African Americans tried to move nicer neighborhoods, whites would perform violent acts on them (Choldin). This violence was recorded in a African American newspaper, known the Chicago Defender (Best).

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Act 3 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet as Dramatically Effective

    1791 Words  | 4 Pages

    Act 3 scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most dramatic of

    Read More

  • An Overview of 'A Raisin in the Sun'

    1747 Words  | 4 Pages

    A Raisin in the Sun is a play telling the story of an African-American tragedy. The play is about the Younger family near the end of the 1950s. The Younger family lives in the ghetto and is at a crossroads after the father’s death. Mother Lena Younger and her grown up children Walter Lee and Beneatha share a cramped apartment in a poor district of Chicago, in which she and Walter Lee's wife Ruth and son Travis barely fit together inside.

    Read More

  • Generational Differences In A Raisin In The Sun

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    Differences in generations can cause people to have different viewpoints in life. A Raisin In The Sun is a play set in the 1950s written by Lorraine Hansberry. The Youngers are a black family who lives in a cramped apartment in the South Side of Chicago. When Mama receives a check of insurance money, members of the family are divided in their own hopes of what it will be used for. Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha are the three women of the Younger household and their generational differences clearly show through their actions. The difference between generations is why Mama is the most devout, Ruth is an agreeable person, and Beneatha is outspoken and has modern views.

    Read More

  • Materialism In A Raisin In The Sun

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though American citizens are recognized as adults at the age of eighteen, human brains take much longer to fully develop. The play A Raisin in the Sun takes place in the apartment of the Youngers, an African American family struggling with financial issues during the 1950’s. Walter’s father has recently passed away, and Mama receives a life insurance check for his death. Walter and Mama share their cramped apartment with Walter’s sister Beneatha, his wife, Ruth, and their son, Travis. Walter works as a chauffeur and Ruth does domestic chores for rich, white families. They do not have many opportunities for better jobs or higher quality education, but Beneatha attends college classes in hopes of becoming a doctor. Walter’s job as a chauffeur

    Read More

  • Comparing the Dream Deferred in Raisin in the Sun and Death of a Salesman

    1622 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many black men have to deal with a systematic racism that effects their role in society. The frustrations that a black man has to deal with can affect the family a great deal. For example, if Walter gets upset at work or has a bad day, he can't get irate with his boss and risk loosing his job; instead he takes it out on his wife Ruth. Also, the job that he holds can only provide so much to the family. He's not even capable of providing his son Travis with some pocket change without becoming broke himself. What type of "breadwinner" can a black man be in America? Walter Younger is thirty-five years old and all he is, is a limousine driver. He is unhappy with his job and he desperately seeks for an opportunity to improve his family standing. He tells his mother how he feels about his job when she wouldn't give him the ten thousand dollars; 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.

    Read More

  • Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

    561 Words  | 2 Pages

    change of mood in Act 5, Scene 1. I will include what Romeo says and

    Read More

  • The Use of Eavesdropping in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    are two main plots in the play, both based upon the theme of love. The

    Read More

  • Examples Of Racism In A Raisin In The Sun

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Raisin in the Sun takes place in south side Chicago during the 1950s. In the United States, African Americans were given citizenship rights, but these rights were not upheld by the white society until the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s (Feagin 53). Walter and his family lived in the time period during the fight for civil rights, and they are discriminated against for being people of color. For instance, when Karl Lindner comes to the Youngers house and tries to buy the house from them. He does this so they will no live in the “white’s neighborhood.” In 1950, 53% of black people in Chicago lived in “exclusively black census tracks” this segregation caused overpopulation and forced black people to live in previous “all white areas” (Hirsch 5). The Youngers were experiencing this difficulty because Lindner and the people of Clybourne Park did not want them to live in their white neighborhood. Meyer proposes “ between 1956 and 1958 some 256 incidents of racial

    Read More

  • Examine The Dramatic Impact Of Act 3 Scene 5 of “Romeo and Juliet"

    1476 Words  | 3 Pages

    Act 3 scene 5 is the most dramatic and significant part of the play, it is a crucial turning point of the play because the lovers are talking bout circumstances which could change (or take) their lives. Shakespeare uses language to describe the tragic actions and misunderstandings while foreshadowing their eventual death.

    Read More

  • Walter Lee's Dreams in A Raisin in The Sun

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Racial Disccrimination in a Raisin in the Sun

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    The late 1950s was filled with racial discriminations. There was still sections living as well as public signs of Colored and Whites. Blacks and Whites were not for any change or at least not yet. A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, tells a story of a black family that is struggling to gain a middle class acceptance in Chicago. The family of five, one child and four adults live in a tiny apartment that is located in a very poor area. Dreams of owning a business and having money to accomplish goals is two key parts played out throughout the whole play. Walter Younger is determined to have his own business and he will go to ends met to see that dream come true. Financial bridges are crossed and obstacles arise when Walter makes a bad decision regarding money that could have help the family and not only himself, if he would have thought smarter. His pride and dignity are tested throughout the story and he is forced to setup for his family. The Raisin in the Sun helps readers to understand history of racial discrimination and how racial discrimination has an effect on the people in the late 1950s and early 1960s as well as how that has an effect on the characters within the play.

    Read More

More about Exploring Prejudice in 'A Raisin in the Sun'

Open Document