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Themes under generation gap in raisin in the sun
Analysis of the characters in a raisin in the sun
Struggle of the youngers in a raisin in the sun
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Thesis: Walter Lee, Beneatha, and Lena Younger all have dreams and goals that they are trying to achieve throughout the play. Also, in the play Hansberry demonstrates how both Younger children “come of age.” I. Walter Lee’s dreams A. Owning a Liquor Store 1. Walter Lee wants his own business 2. He wants to make business moves like he see his boss do all the time B. Success 1. Walter Lee wants to be able to provide for his family. 2. He wants them to have a better life than he did. II. Beneatha’s dreams A. Medical School
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.
Lorraine Hansberry’s novel, A Raisin in the Sun, revolves around a middle-class African-American family, struggling during World War II. By reading about the Younger’s true to life experiences, one learns many important life lessons. One of the aforementioned would be that a person should always put family’s needs before their own. There are many examples of this throughout the novel. Just a few of these would be the example of Ruth and her unborn baby, Walter regaining the respect of his family, and Mama and her unselfish ways.
As the epigraph announces and Hansberry's text itself affirms, "dreams" are a central focus of this play, as is the difficulty of "expressing" or making others "understand" one's dreams. How would you characterize the different dreams represented by the various members of the Younger family, especially Lena and Big Walter, Walter, Ruth, and Beneatha? What, for example, do Lena's remarks about how she and her husband "was going to set away, little by little," "buy a place out in Morgan Park," and create a garden suggest about the nature of the dreams she and her husband shared? What does the exchange between Lena and her son about money being "life" and Walter's references to "gambling" suggest about the differences between her dream and her son's? What do Beneatha's remarks about her brother, particularly in the final scene, and her interactions with George Murchison and Joseph Asagai suggest about her dreams and the way they differ from Walter's? How might you account for the differences among the characters' dreams?
Does money really bring happiness? This questions has been asked over and over throughout history yet there is no real answer for it. The only way to know is to learn from experiences. In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun the characters are caught up in caring too much about money, and it effects them all in many different decisions that they make such as Ruth wanting to get an abortion, Mama buying them a house, and Walter investing in the liquor store.
The Younger’s, an African American family living on the south-side of Chicago in the 1950s, live in an undersized apartment for their family of five. Lena Younger, the mother of the house, receives a check of ten thousand dollars and dreams of owning her own house in a white neighborhood. Beneatha’s brother, Walter, has high hopes of investing the money in a liquor store. Walter’s wife, Ruth does all she can to support his ideas while caring for their son, Travis. But, to become a doctor, Beneatha wants and needs the money to pay for her schooling. Walter and Beneatha’s wants for the money cause disputes throughout the house.
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.
As this play opens, the reader is introduced to a woman, Marion, and her son, Jimmy. These two characters are living in world ...
In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry paints an impressive group portrait of the Youngers, a family composed of powerful characters who are yet in many ways typical in their dreams and frustrations. There is Lena, or Mama, the widowed mother; her daughter Beneatha, a medical student; Beneatha's brother Walter, a struggling chauffeur; and Walter's wife, Ruth, and their young son. Crammed together in an airless apartment, the family dreams of better days.
The pointedness of the play is created through a distinct plot path. The observer is lead through the story, seeing first how greatly Amanda Wingfield influences her children. Secondly, the play-goer notes how Tom Wingfield desperately struggles and writhes emotionally in his role of provider- he wants more than just to be at home, taking care of his all-too-reminiscent mother and emotionally stunted sister. Tom wants to get out from under his mother’s wing; his distinct ambitions prevent him from being comfortable with his station in life. Lastly, Laura struggles inside herself; doing battle against her shyness, Laura begins to unfurl a bit with Jim, but collapses once again after Jim announces his engagement and leaves her, again. Each character struggles and thrashes against their places in life, but none of them achieve true freedom. This plot attests to the fact that true change and freedom can only come through the saving power of God Almighty and Jesus Christ, and by letting go of the past.
The story takes place from an indefinite point in the future; the events of the play are framed by memories. Tom Wingfield usually smokes and stands on the fire escape as he delivers his monologues. Tom remembers the winter and spring of 1937 in their apartment in St. Louis. The play is sentimental and not realistic. The main characters in this play are Amanda Wingfield appears to be a faded southern belle that has delusions of grandeur, controlling, pushy, a bit overwhelming, and is stuck in the past and how things used to be. She has been abandoned by what I understood to be her husband and the father of her two children Laura and Tom. Laura is the daughter of Amanda and the older sister of Tom that is slightly impaired not only physically but mentally. She lets her limp make her self-conscious, insecure and fragile –from this she has isolated herself from the outside world only interacting with her mother who treats her like a child and is very forceful and pushy with her and her brother who tries to treat her like there is nothing wrong with her, but he too treats her as fragile minded little girl. Tom is the son of Amanda and the younger brother of Laura. Tom is the narrator and the protagonist of the play, yet he is also a character in it. He is a worker at a shoe warehouse to support his sister and mother and himself. He despises his job and secretly wants to pursue his dream of being a poet. He wants to get away from his mother and sister and live his own life, but he is trapped by his guilt and not wanting to leave his sister. He fears that is he leaves they won’t be able to sustain themselves in their apartment seeing as since their father abandoned his mother he has taken over the ro...
Imagine not being able to buy a house or have a certain job because of your race, unfortunately for many minorities who have lived here in the United States it has been their permanent reality. Certain groups of people who deprived of the same chances others get and are divided because of their race within institutions such as in schools or on the court. Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, presents various topics, including institutional racism, which, in America, has not changed from the past to present, based on research on racism in sports and throughout the community. Historically in America, African American athletes and families have been segregated and been victim to racism in many different forms. Despite their astonishing
No matter how hard they try, there are some people who cannot get ahead in life. Walter Lee Younger is a man who is frustrated with his current position in life, and every disappointment he has encountered thus far. Although he tries to be a loving man, sometimes he does not know how to show the idea of love, 'Sometimes...sometimes...I don't even know how to try' (Hansberry 89). His position in life can be regarded as symbolic of every black male struggling to provide for his family by any means necessary. Although Walter has a job, it seems inadequate for his survival. As a result, he has become frustrated and lacks good judgement. Throughout this play Walter searches for the key ingredient that will make his life blissful. His frustrations stem from him not being able to act as a man and provide for his family and grasp hold of his ideals to watch them manifest into a positive situation. Walter Lee Younger, a man who is vehement for his family, has many ambitions in life, and dreams of the biggest dreams out of anyone else in the play.
In the play a Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry explored the journey of one aspiring to fulfill their calling with the American Dream. The American dream can be defined as “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” Throughout the play, Lorraine Hansberry allowed her audience to see the struggle of an African American family trying to live the American dream through the plot, symbolism, conflict, and tone. Lena, Walter, Ruth, Beneatha, and Travis is an African American family that lives on the south side of Chicago.
The Younger family did not let the fact that they had a different skin color and were not welcomed by the white society determine their future. In this play the Younger family had many struggles while trying to achieve their American Dream but they never gave
As complex, troubled characters Blanche and Viola established a relationship with the audience, which leaves the audience feeling sympathetic toward them both. The nature of the sympathy felt by the audience varies between characters. Viola loses her brother, and is wash...