Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Raisin inthe sun analysis
How family balance in A Raisin in the Sun is shattered
A raisin in the sun family conflict
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Raisin inthe sun analysis
In “A Raisin in a sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, a family rebels against the expectations of one another and their society. Beneatha, Ruth and Walter all have family expectations of each other. Beneatha wants to become a doctor, but the actions of Walter disagree. Walter wants to become a business man, but needs to focus more on his family. Family oriented Ruth wants to see the good in her husband Walter. Setting high expectations for one another defies the actions amongst the family members. Becoming a doctor to heal the ones in need was a dream that Beneatha wants to fulfill. Therefore, she feels that she can accomplish her goals with the insurance money her mama receives. However, Walter believes that his sister should just marry into a rich family and become a nurse, which is evident when he states “Who told you to become a doctor? If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people- then go be a nurse like other woman- or just get married and be quiet”(Hansberry 386). She wants to be an independent woman who never has to depend on a man, and having a degree will fulfill that desire. The actions of the family members opened her eyes to the reality of society. …show more content…
He had a family who counted on him to be the provider and family man. Ruth and Mama wanted Walter to be the man of the house just like his father was. Walter wanted a business that would make him rich, so that he could be the man his family wanted. Ruth was tired of giving up on her husband as she mentions to mama, “I don’t know what it is-but he needs something-something I can’t give him anymore. He needs this chance, Lena” (Hansberry 388). Her actions that she presents showed her expectations for her husband only brought them closer
Lena, Walter, Ruth, and Beneatha Younger all lived under the same roof, but their dreams were all different. Being the head of the household, Lena dreamed the dreams of her children and would do whatever it took to make those dreams come true. Walter, Lena's oldest son, set his dream on the liquor store that he planned to invest with the money of his mother. Beneatha, in the other hand, wanted to become a doctor when she got out of college and Ruth, Walter's wife, wanted to be wealthy. "A Raisin in the Sun" was a book about "dreams deferred", and in this book that Lorraine Hansberry had fluently described the dreams of the Younger family and how those dreams became "dreams deferred."
When Walter loses his "sister's school money," the consequences are widespread and Beneatha sees that dream diminish before her eyes. She sees her slipping through Walter's fingers and finds her lifelong goals changing. From the days of her childhood, she has longed "to be a doctor" and "fix up the sick." While her family and friends do not understand Beneatha's dream, she continues longing for the education she needs to create a successful life she desires rather than one where she is waiting "to get married.
A Raisin in the Sun is a play telling the story of an African-American tragedy. The play is about the Younger family near the end of the 1950s. The Younger family lives in the ghetto and is at a crossroads after the father’s death. Mother Lena Younger and her grown up children Walter Lee and Beneatha share a cramped apartment in a poor district of Chicago, in which she and Walter Lee's wife Ruth and son Travis barely fit together inside.
The idea of family is a central theme in Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun. Hansberry alludes to the Old Testament book of Ruth in her play to magnify “the value of having a home and family”(Ardolino 181). The Younger family faces hardships that in the moment seem to tear them apart from one another, but through everything, they stick together. The importance of family is amplified by the choices of Walter and Beneatha because they appear to initiate fatal cracks in the Younger family’s foundation, but Mama is the cement who encourages her family to pull together as one unit. The hardships of the family help develop a sense of unity for the Younger household.
Differences in generations can cause people to have different viewpoints in life. A Raisin In The Sun is a play set in the 1950s written by Lorraine Hansberry. The Youngers are a black family who lives in a cramped apartment in the South Side of Chicago. When Mama receives a check of insurance money, members of the family are divided in their own hopes of what it will be used for. Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha are the three women of the Younger household and their generational differences clearly show through their actions. The difference between generations is why Mama is the most devout, Ruth is an agreeable person, and Beneatha is outspoken and has modern views.
A Raisin in the Sun is a set in 1950s after the Second World War which was an age of great racism and materialistic in America. It is about a black family living in south side of Chicago and struggling through family and economic hardships, facing the issues of racism, discrimination, and prejudice. The family consists of Lena Younger known as Mama; Walter Lee Younger who is an intense man, Ruth Younger who is wife of Walter Lee, Travis Younger who is son of Ruth and Walter, and Beneatha Younger who is Walter’s younger sister. The whole family lives in a two bed room apartment and don’t have money to live a better life. youngers are tired from their struggle to ...
Ruth is Walter's wife. Her dream is to have a happy family but she also wants to be wealthy.
Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is a modern tragedy in which the protagonist, Walter Lee Younger, is unable to find the fulfilling life he wants so badly. A contrasting view of the quest for that fulfilling life is offered in the character of Beneatha (whose name seems a play on her socioeconomic status, i.e. she-who-is-beneath), who serves as a foil against which the character of Walter is defined. Both Walter and Beneatha, representing the new generation of blacks coming of age after World War Two, are in conflict with Mama, who represents the previous generation and its traditions. The character of George Murchison is also opposed to both Beneatha and Walter, since he symbolizes assimilation on the white man's terms. Walter and Beneatha are also in conflict with their environment, a society where they are marginalized and subject to daily humiliation because of what is called their race (not, in fact, a biological distinction but a cultural construct).
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.
Lorraine Hansberry utilizes the events from her life and parallels them with her literature, impacting her style of writing through the use of characters and plot. Hansberry’s work is considered to be self-autobiographical, meaning the text relates the to context of her own life, in which parallels can be drawn. Hansberry was raised with a humble upbringing on the South side of Chicago, were her parents were supporters of the NAACP. This began her involvement in the civil rights movement and and support for the rights of colored people.
A Raisin in the Sun by Larraine Hansberry is about a poor African American family living on the south side of Chicago, that wants to accomplish their dream but it is be a problem because of money. This essay is about Walter and Beneatha's dreams and how their dreams impact others and drive the story. They are given a chance to move out of their neighborhood when they receive a life-insurance check worth $10,000 when their father dies. Walter wants to invest in a liquor store and Beneatha wants to use the money to go to medical school. Walter and Beneatha are in the conflict about not only their dreams, but also how that money will be spent.
In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry portrays how the elusive American dream has an unfavorable effect on both Beneatha and Walter Younger due to discrimination and other obstacles. To begin, obstacles cause Beneatha Younger to look outward for her self identity and to overcome the challenges of becoming a doctor. Beneatha tells Asagai the story of when she first desires to become a doctor. Beneatha admires how doctors can help those hurt “and make them whole again” (Hansberry 133). Beneatha wants to do the same for herself.
Ruth is realistic about their life while Walter is unrealistic about his dream and the effects it could have on their life. Beneatha and Walter both need the life insurance money to pursue their dreams; Beneatha wants to be a doctor to help others, and Walter wants to own a liquor store to feel accomplished and to provide for his family. Mama is selfless and shows plenty of love and compassion for her family; on the other hand, Walter can be selfish at times and can occasionally be harsh to Ruth and Beneatha. These women all teach Walter that the most important thing in the world is not success, but it is family and what it means to you. They teach Walter that what genuinely matters in life is not how much money you have, but how willing you are to protect and care for your family.
Beneatha is Mama's youngest child. She aspires to become a doctor. Mama wants Beneatha to become what she wants so she decided to put aside some of the insurance money for Beneatha's schooling. Beneatha struggles as a young independent woman who has yet to find her identity. She finds herself trying new hobbies and dating two very different men. During a conversation with one of those men, Asagai, Beneatha is forced by Asagai to realize that she is not very independent at all. In fact she has been depending on the insurance money to get her through school. After this realization, Beneatha gains thoughts on how to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor (Kohorn). She presents her mother with her decision of getting married and how she "plans to find her roots in Africa" with Asagai (Silver).
Walter declares, “Nobody in this house is ever going to understand me.” Walter dreams of investing in the liquor store with his friends to earn money. He believes this is the way to support his family from living with such atrocious conditions. Ruth expresses her desire to relocate, while conversing with Mama and says, “Well, Lord knows, we’ve put enough rent into this here rat trap to pay for four houses by now.” Basically, Mama and Ruth disagree with Walter and prioritize moving to a new house in the all-white neighborhood, so they are at least living comfortably.