Raisin In The Sun Analysis

In the 1950s, most writing was characterized by a sense of fear and consensus, due to the ever present threat of nuclear warfare and fear of being classified as a communist. Due to this phenomenon, characters often struggle to find a sense of purpose and fulfillment, as seen through Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1949) and Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun (1959). Death of a Salesman focuses on an unsuccessful, yet self-promoting, middle class white family’s struggle to find identity and direction within their careers and personal lives. It concentrates on the main character, Willy Loman’s attempts to find prosperity as an aging and unappreciated, by both his company and sons, salesman. Raisin in the Sun similarly focuses on the

struggle to find identity and direction, although within a middle class African American family that is much less egotistical than Miller’s Lomans. This family, the Youngers, come into a large sum of life insurance money which becomes a source of conflict. All members of both families are united by their fervent quest for success and the subsequent consequences. Through of the symbolism of Lena Younger’s plant and Willy Loman’s seeds as the role of patriarchs and matriarchs to nurture their children, Hansberry and Miller demonstrate the way each family leader goes about shaping their children for success, with the emerging contrast suggesting that the key to finding fulfillment is to focus on augmenting the virtues that are already present rather than searching for new and modernized methods to success.
Willy Loman’s planting of seeds symbolizes his feeling of senseless panic of not leaving a legacy for his children while illustrating insufficient attempts to remedy that panic, demonstrating that Willy’s dreams for his children are unfulfilled as he attempts to do too little too late while ignoring what he has. Towards the middle of the novel, after a fruitless dinner with Biff and Happy, his middle aged sons, Willy suddenly becomes anxious, and unexpectedly inquires, where to buy seeds. Rambling, he says, “I’ve got to get some seeds, right away. Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground” (122). By writing “I don’t have a thing in the ground, Miller demonstrates Willy’s urgent fear that he will die without a legacy, and without successful sons to carry on that legacy. By planting seeds, Willy is trying to leave something behind that will have a positive impact, but he chooses something that is barely feasible due to external conditions. Miller also reinforces the idea that being a salesman does not suit Willy, as he chooses to be organic and plant in order to fulfill his goals, which shows that after trying to be someone he is not, Willy is realizing, much too late, what he was meant to do. Furthermore, the fact that Willy immediately attempts to plant his legacy after an unsuccessful dinner with his sons shows that Willy is panicked for the future of his sons, and attempts to remedy that fear by planting seeds where they will not thrive, and much too late in his life. This emphasizes the futility of his actions, and leads to escalation in his desperation to leave a legacy. Soon after, while noticing Biff while planting, Willy, exclaims, “Where the hell is that seed? (Indignantly.) You can’t see nothing out here! They boxed in the whole goddam neighborhood!” (130). Here, Willy’s agitation about not being able to find the seed he planted and subsequently blaming the surrounding neighborhood is a reflection of how he treats his sons. Willy tries to plant seeds of success in Biff, and ultimately nothing comes to maturity, similarly to what undoubtedly happens to Willy’s seeds due to their conditions and Willy’s death. Furthermore, Willy blames external circumstances for the inevitable failure of the seeds, just as he continously blames others for Biff’s failures. Consequently, the flaw in Willy’s approach to parenting and dreaming is that the focuses on trying to give his sons unnecessary and useless support, and refusing to follow through. He then blames outside circumstances, for failure, and this circular chain of events highlights why the Lomans are so unhappy and unsuccessful. The de facto leader of the family, Willy, acts recklessly and irresponsibly investing his time in flimsy efforts, which leads his sons to subconsciously emulate his actions, resulting in the unavoidable unhappiness and near failure of everyone in the family.
Lena Younger similarly uses her plant as a projection of how she treats and cares for her children, especially Walter, which ultimately highlights that her dreams for her children are, at minimum, partially fulfilled because she never loses faith that they will one day flourish and thrive because of her nourishment. From the beginning of the play, Mama consistently nurtures her poor, raggedy plant, despite not having proper tools or a proper environment- similar to Willy’s seeds- to let it thrive. A key moment that expresses her desire to do this comes through at this point:
MAMA (Looking at her plant and sprinkling a little water on it): They spirited all right, my children. Got to admit they got spirit Bennie and Walter. Like this little old plant that ain't never had enough sunshine or nothing and look at it …
Here, Mama clearly establishes a mental link between caring for her plant and caring for her children, as she waters her plant, and then proceeds to say “[My children] spirited all right,” indicating that the plant reminds her of them. The direct link in which Mama regards her plant and children allows for a link of the actions Mama does to the plant onto her children. In addition, Mama goes on to say, “Like this little old plant that ain't never had enough sunshine or nothing and look at it” when comparing her plant to her children. Here, Hansberry points out that her plant has never had sufficient resources or attention like Mama’s kids, but Mama This point is where a clear difference is established between how Mama and Willy treat their plants and children. While the both acknowledge that the plants are growing, or not growing, in unfortunate circumstances, Mama continues to methodically look after her plant, while Willy simply blames the outside circumstances without any concerted effort to enable the plant to thrive. These attitudes are mirrored in their parenting strategies, and, ultimately, the happiness of their children. Furthermore, towards the end of the play, Hansberry allows everything to come full circle once Mama decides to take her raggedy old plant to the new house.
BENEATHA: Mama, you going to take that to the new house?
MAMA: Un-huh
BENEATHA: That raggedy-looking old thing?
MAMA: (Stopping and looking at her) It expresses ME! ...
(WALTER comes to MAMA suddenly and bends down behind her and squeezes her in his arms with all his strength. She is overwhelmed by the suddenness of it and, though delighted, her manner is like that of RUTH and TRAVIS)
Here, Mama’s defiant, yet gleeful tone, represents her pride and happiness that she kept her little plant alive long enough to give it what it truly deserves- a sunny house with plenty of room to thrive. When Mama says, “It expresses ME!”, the reader becomes aware of how much of herself Mama put into raising and nurturing her plant, and how elated she is that it will now grow unhindered, which is analogous to how a mother regards her child. Moreover, this explicitly connects to Walter and Mama’s relationship, as right after Mama expresses her happiness for the plant, Walter unexpectedly hugs her, leading the reader to understand that Walter knows that Mama never giving up on and always supporting the plant represents how he does the same with him. Therefore, it becomes clear that Mama’s unconditional support for all members of her family empower them to grow and thrive, which not only enables her family to feel success, but for her to feel success.
Contrastingly, at the end of Death of a Salesman, Walter’s decision to look for fulfillment by following another long shot- killing himself- results in a decidedly uncertain and arguably tragic ending for himself, his wife, and his children. Pertaining to their plants, this situation is mirrored. Mama unyieldingly cares for her plant, never taking up a new hobby to have personal fulfillment, while Willy jumps around from distraction to distraction attempting unsuccessfully to find happiness as he refuses to acknowledge that his job is making him unhappy. Mama, who stayed with her plant, and her family, through thick and thin and ended up satisfied, demonstrates that dedicating time and energy to nurturing results in a positive impact, while Willy’s actions suggest that doing the opposite results in the opposite effect. Additionally, the significance of both authors using plants must not be overlooked for two key reasons. First of all, the relationship between plants and their caretakers, Mama and Willy in this case, is highly symbiotic. On a basic level, humans care for plants and then the plants return the favor by providing us with food and oxygen- which is somewhat similar to how parents care for their children, and the children later care for their parents. Furthermore, plants are natural and organic, and contrast the industrialization and conformity of the 1950s. By using plants as a symbol of hope and fulfillment, both Hansberry and Miller indicate that characters should not look for the most modern and evolved items to find happiness, but in rather simple forms, such as the simplicity and beauty of nature. Both Mama and Willy attempt to do this, but their vastly different methods and execution result in failure for one, and happiness for the other.
Overall, the symbolism of plants in both Raisin in the Sun and Death of a Salesman represents the responsibility of the leaders of a family to provide a nurturing environment, ultimately highlighting a contrast between the two plays regarding how the children end up, which results in varying degrees of fulfillment for the parents.

Throughout the two plays, Mama Younger and Willy Loman are portrayed as realistic and idealistic, respectively, which is channeled through their treatment of plants. Mama’s realistic ideals allow her to be candid about what is needed for her stifled son and plant to thrive, and she is therefore able to nurture them to succeed and carry on her legacy. Willy, however, is not at all realistic in what a plant or child takes to thrive, and instead stifles both by giving them things beside what they need, resulting in having no one capable to carry on his lackluster legacy after his death. This contrast between Mama giving her children what they need and Willy giving them things aside from what they need demonstrate that the key to success is focusing on following the direct, fulfilling path to success, and persevering on that path rather than looking for shortcuts or quick fixes to find

happiness.