In the play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, it follows a hard working family struggling to make their dreams come true. Through perseverance, believing in themselves, and surrounding themselves with their family who supports them. Dreams are sometimes hard to get too, but by working hard and staying strong through the bad times is what matters most. No amount of money is worth giving up your pride in yourself and family. Life isn’t always easy, there's obstacles, but as long as you stay focused on what you need to do, all the hard work will pay off. Effort has no betrayal. Firstly, the financial problems the Younger family face are the biggest obstacle depicted in the play. The younger family are all hard working people and all try to help keep the family afloat, thus, making the insurance check from the passing of Mr. Younger the most important thing. To the whole family, especially Walter, this check is what could kick off their dreams and open up a better …show more content…
Racism is an everyday obstacle. When Mam bus the house in Clybourne Park, which is a primarily white town, Ruth gets nervous, Walter is furious, and later on, Mrs. Johnson is jealous. When other residents of Clybourne Park got word of a black family moving in, they all raised money to pay them to stay away. The residents of Clybourne park are racist in the fact that they were willing to turn a family away solely based on their skin color. The neighbors of Clybourne Park send Mr. Lindner to persuade the Younger family to not move into the house that they purchased. This is the example of racism demonstrated in the play. This made the Youngers stop and think Is about risking the safety of their family to live in a better home. The majority of the Younger family believe this offer was offense and wrong and decided to not accept. For who would decide to live in a miserable cramped apartment over living your
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.
The day they move into their new house a guy named Mr. Linder from the Clybourne Park community came and talks to them about how the neighborhood members would like them to not move in because they are not comfortable with blacks in the white area. Walter confidently states, “And we have decided to move into our house because my father- my father - he earned it for us brick by brick....We don’t want your money” (P.148). Walter wants everyone to know that his father got them to where they are right now. He is more confident about himself, he shows that during the moving of the house. During the end of the play he realizes his family is way more important than the other things in his life. Additionally, during the talk with Mr. Linder Walter is frustrated with the racism around them and just wants to live a happy life in a great neighborhood that does not care about what color their neighbors are. Walter angrily shouts, “... You got any more to say ‘bout how people ought to sit down and talk to each other? . . . Get out of my house man”(P. 118). He is very angry because he does not want to move just because some white people want them to leave their place. Walter is very confident and stands up for his family and what they want. He has changes significantly throughout the whole play, he changes into a great man for his
When offered a bribe to not move his African American family into an all white neighborhood, Walter declines the money, proving his development of courage. As a limousine driver for wealthy, white businessmen, Walter is ashamed of his life and desires a change. In order to achieve the lifestyle he wants, Walter must develop the courage to pursue his dreams. Throughout the play, Walter Younger and his family begin to see a shift in opportunity and believe that they can build themselves a life to be proud of. Their newfound hope continues to grow until Walter loses the insurance money, diminishing all opportunities for a better life. At this moment in the play, Walter hits rock bottom and is prepared to accept the bribe from the white neighbors. If he takes this bribe, Walter is submitting himself to the white community and degrading his race, as a whole. Despite his desperation, Walter realizes that he must make an example to his son, Travis, and prove his courage. In order to do this, Walter declines the offer and defies segregation. By
Mama Younger has lived in the same ‘house’ for years, but not willingly. When finally presented with the chance of moving her family out of the small cramped room, she naturally takes it, only to soon realize the prices in the ‘colored neighborhoods’ are too overpriced. Seeing this, Mama then takes her search elsewhere and comes across a perfect house, the only problem being that it was in a white neighborhood. When the people in this neighborhood heard of the African American family moving into a house, they send a man named Linden to show their displeasure. “‘I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply doesn’t enter into it. It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities.’”(pg 117) This quote suggests that the easiest thing the Younger family can do is to sell the house to avoid confrontation. Because of their ethnicity the Younger family is automatically rejected from the welcoming committee of Clybourne Park, even though Linden says race does not play a role in their decision to ask them to move
Racial discrimination is one of the reasons to believe that their life post moving to Clybourne would be a nightmare is due to the fact that they will not be respected as individuals. Nowrouzi, Faghfori, and Zohdi in “In Search of Equality: A Dream Deferred for African Americans in A Raisin in the Sun” writes, “The Youngers live in a segregated neighborhood in a city that has remained one of the most segregated areas in the United States. (2271). Mama Younger buys a house in an all-white community, which she believes has better living conditions and has lower cost. But traditionally, the family would pay more than a white family. The timelines of the Raisin in the Sun was “Equalled only by the captivating characters with whom white audiences were willing to identify and of whom Black audience could be proud” (445) states Wilkerson in “A Raisin in the Sun: Anniversary of an American
...as the support of the family as oppose to Walter. Each family member has a dream to improve the family situation; however, all of those dreams are depending on one insurance check which begins to cause trouble and tensions within the family (Bloom 18). However, all these dreams are counting on one insurance check to be funded.
Living in a society where the fulfillment of dreams is based upon material wealth, the Younger family strives to overcome their hardships as they search for happiness. As money has never been a way of life for the family, the insurance check's arrival brings each person to see the chance that their own dreams can become reality. Whether in taking a risk through buying a "little liquor store" as Walter wishes to do or in -"[wanting] to cure" as Beneatha dreams, the desires of the family depend upon the fate of Mama's check. In the mind of Walter Lee Younger, the check is the pinnacle of all, dominating his thoughts, as he does not wait a second before "asking about money "without" a Christian greeting." He cannot see beyond the fact that he "[wants] so many things" and that only their recently acquired money can bring them about. The idea of money and being able to hold it "in [his] hands" blinds him from the evils of society, as he cannot see that the Willy Harris's of the world will steal a person's "life" without a word to anyone. When money becomes nothing but an illusion, Walter is forced to rethink his values and his family's future, realizing that there is more to living that possessing material riches.
Walter, however, was taken advantage of due to his naive nature of believing as a black man that he could become rich. Walter has the ideal life planned out for his family because he has the dream of being able to provide for them and become rich, for example sending Travis off to any college of his choosing. One of these dreams aso includes being able to live in the house that Mama plans on having the family move into. The Younger family believed that they were going to get the house, but a man of the name Mr. Lindner attempts to stop the family from moving in and crush their dreams by not wanting them to move into the new neighborhood. This was solely due to the Youngers race and was very oppressive for Walter and all of his dreams that he had planned out. Mr. Lindner explains to the family that, “It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities” (Hansberry 100). Since the neighborhood doesn’t want the Younger family based on their race, they are making Walter realize his American Dream for his family very difficult to be obtained since he has imagined so many good things to happen. This oppressive and racist views from Mr. Lindner and the new community emphasize the setback
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.
The five members of the Younger family are sharing a two bedroom apartment in the beginning of the play, due to the low paying jobs offered to African Americans at the time. Walter and Ruth are husband and wife are share one room, and Mama ( Walters mother) and Beneatha (Walters sister) share the other room, while Travis Walters (Walter and Ruth’s son) sleeps on the couch. With the passing of Mama 's husband the family is going to receive a $10,000 dollar insurance check. Each person in the family has a different idea of what the money should be used for. Mama wants to buy a bigger house for the family due to Ruth being pregnant and their current apartment being too small, Walter wants to invest in a liquor store, and Beneatha to use some money to attend to medical school. Although Beneatha going to medical school is not the biggest problem the Younger family faces, it still is prevalent in the fact that at the time females did not commonly become doctors and especially black women. If Beneatha were to have went to medical school, she would have faced discrimination due to being a black female. One of the main problems this family faces is trying to find a new house in a primarily white neighborhood called Clybourne Park. Although they are
In the play, Hansberry portrayed African American’s as having limited job options because of their race. Which is why, Walter worked as a chauffeur and Ruth was a maid. The set availability of career choices meant only having a limited amount of income. The five family members; grandma Lena, sister Berneatha, father Walter, mother Ruth and son Travis, all lived under one roof in a small apartment with confined living space. Three generations living together meant that they had to share a two bedroom apartment and also share the hall bathroom with the rest of the families in the complex (Domina 20). Walter reveals his feelings that he believes he is a failure by saying, “I got a boy who sleeps in the living room. . . and all I got to give him is stories about how rich white people are” (Hansberry 950). In Teron McGrew’s article "The History of Residential Segregation in the United States and Title VIII” he says Marzenbaum, a creator of the zoning laws, thought that the single family home should be the main housing throughout the country and the owner could have a small garden with a space that is available to fresh air and sunlight (23). Hansberry must have read this statement in light of the fact that in the play when Lena looks for a house, she wanted the exact same features; she wants a normal house without her race interfering with her opportunities. The Younger’s dream of owning a standard home and being free from their rundown rental apartment came true but not without a fight from zoning, covenants, and racial steering
Furthermore, the loss of money causes the family to argue with each other, creating more turmoil between them. Walter’s actions almost caused his family to lose their house, pride, and dignity, which showcases Harlem’s message that dreams can cause harm to
The social inequality which the Younger's encounter also does not hinder Mama's compassion. Mr. Lindner temporarily shatters Mama's dream of owning a home when he comes to the Youngers prepared to give them money to move from Clybourne Park. The derogatory use of "you people" by Mr. Lindner has little to no effect on Mama's steadfast decision to move to Clybo...
Walter Lee was a stubborn man, but he seemed to experience the most amount of change within himself for the greater good. As the play starts, you realize the Younger family has received $10,0000 in insurance money due to a death in the family. Walter Lee had high hopes of getting money and living a better lifestyle. Walter complained a lot stating that, “[s]ometimes it’s like I can see the future stretched out in front of me- just as plain as day.
This had been a dream of hers for a while. Despite the efforts of the government to end racial segregation, race problems between blacks and whites was still a huge problem during the 1950s. Lena Younger, the mother and grandmother of the family, did not let this stop her from purchasing a house in a white neighborhood with her insurance money from her husband’s death. Ruth and Walter both fear moving into this all white neighborhood due to the racial tension at the time. The day that they move in, a man from Clybourne Park Improvement Association named Mr. Lindner comes to talk to them about the problems that he and the rest of the community have with the Youngers moving into their neighborhood stating that the Youngers are a part of the “special community problems” (Hansberry, act 2, scene 3, page 552).