Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

1419 Words3 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun takes place in the souths side of Chicago in the late 50s and Walter Lee Younger is characterized as a stubborn and selfish character but, he only pursues his ideas or dreams to better the lives of others, his family. The Youngers face many road blocks that inhibit their dreams being achieved such as prejudice, low finance, and poverty. Walter is developed as an ambiguous and consist character who carries the burden of not being able to afford the basic necessities for his family. Even though it’s difficult for the reader to see at first, Walter is the strongest member of the younger family because he doesn’t stop trying to make a greater future for him and most importantly his family. In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in …show more content…

The characters all have different emotions or feelings about their financial situations and each of them have dreams they would like to fulfill which seems to be the conflict between them. At the beginning of A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry includes a poem written by Langston Hughes entitled “Harlem”, questions “what happens to a dream deferred?” The poem relates to Walter since his main priority is investing in a liquor store to gain a better income. As he endures the hardships of not having enough to make a brighter future for his family his dream is “just sags like a heavy load.” Hansberry chose this piece to reflect the younger …show more content…

The audience is exposed to the struggles of Walters desire to lead and provide for his family. Not only does Walter struggle financially but, his authority is tested when his mother takes over the responsibility a man would do. Walter wants to be acknowledged and appreciated for the things he does for his family but, it seems he hasn’t done anything because Mama has taken an authorial position over the rest of the family including Walter. Due to the fact that Walter doesn’t have authority over his family like he wants to go

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
570 Words | 2 Pages
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.
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Greed In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
910 Words | 2 Pages
Lorraine Hansberry, in her play A Raisin in the Sun, tells the story of the Youngers, a poverty-stricken family of five. The author uses a large sum of inherited life insurance money to symbolize the downfall of two of the characters, Beneatha and Walter, due to their dreams.
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Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
759 Words | 2 Pages
Ruth was being prevented from having a baby because of money problems, Walter was bringing him self down by trying to make the liquor store idea work. Once Mama decided to buy the house with the money she had received, Walter figured that he should further go on with the liquor store idea. Then, when Walter lost the money, he lost his dignity and tried to get some money from the “welcome party” of Cylborne Park. Mama forced him to realize how far he went by making him show himself to his son how low he would go. But he showed that he wasn’t susceptible to the ways the racism created.
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Free Raisin in the Sun Essays: Bad Dreams
781 Words | 2 Pages
Walter complains to Mama about the way he feels about his job. 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?" Walter wants to be the one sitting in the back of that limousine while someone else is doing the driving. Walter wants financial freedom, he doesn't want just enough money to provide for his family but rather he tells his mother "I want so many things." Walter is materialistic and greedy, he has been corrupted by a superficial “American dream”.
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Character Analysis of Walter Lee Younger in A Raisin in the Sun by Hansberry
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In ''A Raisin in the Sun'' Hansberry uses Walter Lee Younger to represent the ambitious but, uninformed African American family. Walter's main role in 'A Raisin in the Sun' is to personify the African American families that make many gambles, which eventually lead to complete failure. Walter is shadowed by greed and ignorance which causes him to fail to achieve the success he wishes to gain. Walter Lee Youngers' greed is exemplified when he talks about, "Check coming today." (Hansberry 26). Walter's lack of wisdom and hard headedness allows him to portray American success, which he hopes of achieving in a very short time. When Walter Younger fails at what he has been trying to do he exclaims, "THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF MY FATHER'S FLESH." (Hansberry 128). Walter is emotionally and physically drained and begins nearing his breaking point. He finally realizes that society trumps over one individual. Walter can be best described as a greedy, foolish, yet ambitious individual.
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A Raisin In The Sun Character Development
546 Words | 2 Pages
Walter brings to topic his importance to the scenario, and decides to break away from the event and think of his answer towards his wife’s information and response. He later is shown the understanding of his wife by the reaction of his mother, who questions his standing on how his father would have reacted. This brings Walter to think of why he should change and not walk out on times of importance. Walter discovers that his turmoil of drinking and appearance on the topic could end up losing the life of his newly developing child. At the discussion over selling the house owned by the family to Mr. Linder, Walter is shown the original faith that the selfish purpose of the money for himself would be better the property that would benefit the entire family, including his child.
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Essay On Walter Sacrifice In A Raisin In The Sun
596 Words | 2 Pages
To prove that he is a valiant father, Walter Younger disregards his own desires and moves his family into a better home. Doing this, Walter sets an example for Travis, encouraging him to go after his dreams. In the process, Walter causes a racial conflict with the white community and learns to stand up for what he believes in. From the personal growth of Walter Younger one can see the significance in fighting for what’s important, as well as, making sacrifices for those that one
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Love and Sacrifice: Analysis of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun
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Lauren Oliver once said, “I guess that’s just part of loving people: You have to give things up. Sometimes you even have to give them up” (Good Reads). This quote connects very well to the play, A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry. The quote conveys the message that if one loves someone, one must give things up. A Raisin in the Sun is about an African-American family living in the south side of Chicago in the 1950s. The Younger family is a lower-class family that has been struggling to make their dreams come true. One of the character’s in the play named Walter Lee has been struggling to make his dreams come true. Walter’s changes that are shown tie to the quote written by Lauren Oliver. The changes that are seen in Walter Lee throughout the book, A Raisin in the Sun, reflects the theme that one must sacrifice something for the love and happiness of one’s family.
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The American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
559 Words | 2 Pages
A Raisin in the Sun is about the Younger family, they are facing its own war against racism in Chicago. America’s complicated history of racial tension between black Americans and white Americans is ingrained into the Youngers’ everyday lives. Mother (and grandmother) Lena Younger, her daughter Beneatha, and her son Walter, Walter’s wife Ruth and their son Travis, squeeze into a small two-bedroom apartment.
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Characters Dreams Deferred in Raisin In The Sun
553 Words | 2 Pages
In ‘A Raisin in the Sun’, Lorraine Hansberry describes each of the family’s dreams and how they are deferred. In the beginning of the play Lorraine Hansberry chose Langston Hughes’s poem to try describe what the play is about and how, in life, dreams can sometimes be deferred.
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The Effects of Oppression in Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun
1182 Words | 3 Pages
The conflict that involves Walter and Mama superficially concerns Mama's receiving an insurance check for ten thousand dollars, which she hasn't yet decided what to do with. Walter has hopes for using the money to invest in a liquor store, with the profits providing him and his family a better quality of life than what they have endured in the past. What really is at stake here, though, is more than money. Mama and Walter have different visions of what happiness is and what life is all about. For Mama, the best thing to do with the money is to make a down payment on a house. This house is to be situated within an all-white neighborhood, and represents assimilation. This is Mama's dream, and the dream ...
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Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
629 Words | 2 Pages
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry haves a bunch of characters and all of them are important. But some are so important that without them there will be no book and that is Walter and Mama. They are the most important by their dialogue (the things they say) and their action to each other for example Walter trying to invest in a liquor business and when Mama brought a house for the family to live in. But to know how they are important then kept reading. Walter is important by his actions and the things he say.
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Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
873 Words | 2 Pages
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” The playwright, A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, is an excellent example of an African American family struggling to live through the severe discrimination of the 1950s. The Youngers, a family of five residing in a tiny apartment in the slums of South Side Chicago, wish to escape poverty and live as happily as the white families in America. Walter Lee Younger, an ambitious man who works as a chauffeur and believes money is happiness, becomes selfish and learns a valuable lesson through his attempt to own a liquor store in order to resolve his family’s financial struggles. By the end of the story, Walter’s persistence on bringing the Younger’s out of the ghetto and into an elegant area seems closer to a reality than it does to a dream.
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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.
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Racial Disccrimination in a Raisin in the Sun
858 Words | 2 Pages
Dreams of owning a business and having money to accomplish goals are two key parts played out throughout the whole process. Walter Younger is determined to have his own business and he will go to ends meet to see that dream come true. Financial bridges are crossed and obstacles arise when Walter makes a bad decision regarding money that could have helped the family and not only himself, if he had thought smarter. His pride and dignity are tested throughout the story and he is forced to set up for his family. The Raisin in the Sun helps readers to understand the 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.
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Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun