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Raisin in the sun analysis
Compare and contrast pessimistic and optimistic
Critical analysis of raisin in the sun
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Optimism is a trait possessed by people who expect the best possible outcome from a situation. In Lorraine Hansberry’s, A Raisin in the Sun, Joseph Asagai is completely optimistic about the future. At times, the Younger family seem completely hopeless, but Asagai never gives up. He views life as a line that curves into infinity. On the other hand, Beneatha sees life as a circle that we march in, over and over. Asagai is correct in saying that life is a line which we cannot see the end to and we cannot see how it changes. “It isn’t a circle. It is simply a long line- as in geometry, you know- one that curves into infinity. And because we cannot see the end, we also cannot see how it- changes And it is very odd, but those who see the changes- …show more content…
Her outlook on life is directly related to her family. Lena believes that the Younger can get through hard times and move out of their struggling neighborhood. Mama’s biggest dream is to see her future generations achieve more in life than she and her husband did. To attain this dream, Mama uses her husband’s insurance money to make a payment on a house. Because of her optimism, the audience believes that Mama too views life as a line that extends into infinity. Even though Lena almost always seems so positive, at times Mama can be pulled into the circle philosophy. For example, “Mama enters from her bedroom. She is lost, vague, trying to catch hold, to make some sense of her former command of the world, but it still eludes her. A sense of waste overwhelms her gait; a measure of apology rides on her shoulders. She goes to her plant, which has remained on the table, looks at it, picks it up and takes it to the windowsill and sits it outside, and she closes the window, straightens her body with effort and turns around to her children” (121). Mama’s loss of hope after her son loses the money is greatly expressed when she left the plant outside. This event shows that Mama felt there was no point in trying to fix the situation because life will just repeat itself, like a circle. Although Mama always seems to bring the family together and make them believe that life is like a line again, sometimes she cracks and thinks life will not get
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.
A Raisin in the Sun In the book “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, there were characters whose dreams were stated, some of which were shattered by greed and misfortune and others which would eventually come true. The first dream that came about was Walter’s dream of one day owning and maintaining a liquor store. He would do anything to attempt to get his dream to come true, but his mama wanted anything but that to happen. His mama had a dream of her own, though, she dreamed of one day owning her own house, where her whole family could stay comfortably.
The civil rights movement brought enlightenment towards the abolishment of segregation laws. Although the laws are gone does segregation still exist in fact? “What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?'; said, in a poem by Langston Huges. The story, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry showed segregation and its affects upon all races. This essay will show how Assimilationists and New Negroes fought for their own identity in the mid twentieth century. Whether they were being true to themselves or creating carbon copies of oppression was determined by one’s view upon society.
The play A Raisin In The Sun takes place in the south of Chicago. around the late fifties Setting The play “A Raisin In The Sun” takes place in the south of Chicago. around the late fifties, and the late '80s. The scenes unfold in the Youngers’ apartment. It is a very small apartment with only a kitchen, a living/dining room.
Dream’s Recovered Everyone has dreams; everyone has goals they want to accomplish. Some know what it is instantly, and some take time to realize what they want to do. But not everyone will achieve their dreams and some, because of sad circumstances, lose their grip on their dreams and fall into a state of disappointment. Langston Hughes poem relates to the dreams of Mama, Ruth, and Walter in Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun.
The chasing of a mirage is a futile quest where an individual chases an imaginary image that he or she wants to capture. The goal of this impossible quest is in sight, but it is unattainable. Even with the knowledge that failure is inevitable, people still dream of catching a mirage. There is a fine line that separates those who are oblivious to this fact, and to those who are aware and accept this knowledge. The people who are oblivious represent those who are ignorant of the fact that their dream will be deferred. This denial is the core of the concept used in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The perception of the American Dream is one that is highly subjective, but every individual dream ends in its own deferment.
"A Raisin in the Sun" was written by Lorraine Hansberry. It has won her an award in 1959, at age 29, the youngest American, the fifth woman, and the black playwright to win the Best Play of the Year Award of the New York Drama Critics. This book of the play has been put in its entire form. The original play did not include some scenes. This book has been an inspiration to a lot people. In my personal opinion, the central message is to show how the value systems of black families are. In some ways they are unique, but most ways are exactly the same as white families.
Where money is but an illusion and all it brings are nothing but dreams, one family struggles to discover that wealth can be found in other forms. In the play "A Raisin in the Sun," Lorraine Hansberry uses the indirect characterization of the Younger family through their acquaintances to reveal that money and materialism alone are worthless.
In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, one of the main characters Beneatha Younger tries to find herself and figure out exactly who she is. She is a twenty year old black woman who attends college in the South Side of Chicago. One of her closest friends, Joseph Asagai, is from Nigeria and he really has Beneatha’s best interests in mind. Nigerian culture is very significant in the play because Asagai tries to teach Nigerian culture to Beneatha, in order for her to discover who she wanted to be. Right when Beneatha first met Asagai she said, "Mr. Asagai — I want very much to talk with you. About Africa. You see, Mr. Asagai, I am looking for my identity" (A Raisin in the Sun). So Asagai began to teach Beneatha African and about Nigerian culture. After visiting his family in Nigeria, Asagai brings back Beneatha Nigerian music, beautiful Nigerian robes and even invites her to come and live in Nigeria with him, to try to teach her to respect and embrace this other culture that she is somewhat connected to. Nigerian culture is a key factor in A Raisin in the Sun, and Nigerian music, Nigerian clothing and other aspects of Nigerian culture is very important to Beneatha on her quest to discover who she is.
“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”(Langston Hughes). During the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, everybody has a dream, but due to financial problems, not everyone was able to reach their goals. In Chicago, there is a family of 5 living in an apartment that has big dreams for in life. Walter wanted to make money by opening a liquor store, Mama wanted a house with a backyard so she could start a garden and plant flowers, Beneatha wanted to go to school to become a doctor, and Ruth just wanted happiness for her family.
...s to flourish but she loves them both unconditionally. She doesn’t give up but instead she does all that she can to support it by having faith while hoping that one day it will truly prosper. Her faith is tested when she turns over the left over money to Walter. At first, Mama’s trust is unwise when Walter loses all the money. However, Mama says, “He finally come into his manhood today, didn’t he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain…” (Hansberry 151). This shows that her faith is recovered when Walter refused the offer given by Mr. Lindner.
Mama keeps a plant throughout the play and keeps so much care for it, despite it having a low chance of surviving due to living conditions the family lives in. Additionally, this can be seen as an act of keeping hopes as Mama’s dream is to move to a house that has a garden. “Well, I always wanted me a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home. This plant is close as I ever got to having one.” (p. 53)
One of the first ideas mentioned in this play, A Raisin In the Sun, is about money. The Younger's end up with no money because of Walter's obsession with it. When Walter decides not to take the extra money he is offered it helps prove Hansberry's theme. Her theme is that money can't buy happiness. This can be seen in Walter's actions throughout the play.
Have you ever found money coming between you and your family and disrupting love and life? Money can destroy families and change them for the worse. In the Raisin in the Sun, the author Lorraine Hansberry, uses events of her life to relate and explain how the Younger family, of Chicago's South side, struggles and improves throughout the book. One main cause for their family's problems is because of money and how it causes anger to control the family. The play deals with situations in which the family is dealing with unhappiness from money. Walter, the man of the house in the Younger family, tries impressing Travis, his son, too much with money instead of teaching him the more important lessons of life. Walter also dreams to invest in a liquor store and make a lot of money and becomes overwhelmed and badly caught up in his dream. Lastly, the Younger family is much too dependent on the check their Mama is receiving. The family has lost the fact that their mama tries to tell them, before, freedom was life but now money seems to have the controlling factor in life. When money becomes an obsession for a family, problems occur.
The world is made up of optimist and pessimists, and the survival of human beings and our well-being requires a balance between optimism and pessimism. Disproportionate pessimism makes life unbearable; however, too much optimism can advance to dangerously hazardous behaviors. The Optimism and pessimism approach is expecting a positive or negative future outcome, a recognizable way of reasoning is best conceptualized as continuity with many amounts of optimism and pessimism. Successful living requires a great balance between optimism and pessimism. Too much optimism may embolden one to take uncalculated risks that will lead to inadvertent and reckless behaviors, which may conclude in a catastrophe. On the contrary, worrying too much about