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More handpicked essays just for you.
Analyzing a raisin in the sun
Analyzing a raisin in the sun
Analyzing a raisin in the sun
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Selfish. Hard-headed. These are words that could be used to describe something who only thinks of themselves and doesn’t value the importance of family. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Walter is an unsatisfied family man who wants to provide the best he can for his family, and learns a very difficult lesson about hardships and family. Walter thinks he is doing what is best for his family, but it is actually ruining his family. He is upset at the fact that he cannot chase his dreams because he is an African American man living in the 1950s. Even though his actions don’t show it he is trying to have the best life for his family that he can provide. In the play Walter lives in a small overcrowded apartment in Chicago with
The human mind is the most complex thing we know of to date, as we've only been able to figure out a fraction of its many ins and outs, mainly through guess work. Maslow spent much of his time and resources learning the intricacies of human needs. The Hierarchy of Needs by Abraham Maslow is incorrect in its representation of the needs of characters within the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The ordering of the Hierarchy of needs pyramid is flawed, it fails to progress from one level to the next linearly, and the level of self-actualization is unobtainable for any character in the play.
The word irresponsible is adjective used to describe a person who lacks a sense of responsibility. There are various actions that lead to a person being portrayed as irresponsible. A person can be viewed as irresponsible for something as little as not completing their homework or something as big as leaving your front door opened. A lack of responsibility is a big factor in the book A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry as it reflects many characters. Walter Lee Younger, a father, and son is the most irresponsible character because he is immature, untrustworthy and selfish.
“The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self- respect springs”- Joan Didion. Self respect and self esteem are two things many people can not live without. Everyday people are forced to make tough decisions which can alter their self respect or self esteem. The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, and the movie Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck both show the theme only through self- respect and self- esteem can people live with themselves.
In the Play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry there are two main character’s that many people debate upon to be the protagonist of the play. Those two characters are Mama and Walter. The story is about an African American family living in Chicago in the 1950’s. During this time period race was a large issue in that area. The family consists of three generations, Mama being the mother and grandmother has a lot of responsibilities as what I see her to be as the families anchor. The next generation is Walter his wife Ruth and his sister Beneatha. Walter and Ruth have a song Travis who is ten years old at the time of this play. Mama is the moral supporter of the family and believes that everything has a purpose and that things should be done by design. One of the main events in this play is the life insurance settlement check for ten thousand dollars that Mama receives. This being a large amount of money during that time period creates many arguments between the families about what to do with the money. Walter is the type of guy that believes his family shouldn’t settle like everyone else and believes that they shouldn’t be held back just because they are an African American family living in what is referred to as a “white man’s world”. I believe that Walter is the protagonist of the play for two main reasons, he isn’t a selfish man, he doesn’t feel the family should be limited because they are African American and he has distinct options or plans for the future of his family.
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.
The American Dream, although different for each of us, is what we all aspire to achieve. In Lorraine Hansberry's, play, A Raisin in the Sun, each member of the Younger family desperately hopes for their own opportunity to achieve the American Dream. The American Dream to the Younger family is to own a home, but beyond that, to Walter Younger, it is to be accepted by white society.
Cultural and economical pressures often lead people to behave corruptly. In John Steinbeck?s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, set in the dustbowl era, people act out of greed rather than out of consideration or kindness. Tom Joad and his family have been run off their land by inconsiderate, money hungry businessmen who do not care about the impact homelessness will have on the evictees. The story revolves around the Joad Family?s trip (joined by former preacher Casey) from Oklahoma to California, along route 66, where they expect to find work. Though Casey and the Joads are goodhearted and honest people, they are the victims of dishonesty and dupery when they realize that the jobs they have come so far to acquire pay them much less than they were originally promised. The book focuses
I. Conflicts in the Play - There are many types of conflict evident in this play. Some are as follows:
Have you ever found money coming between you and your family and disrupting love and life? Money can destroy families and change them for the worse. In the Raisin in the Sun, the author Lorraine Hansberry, uses events of her life to relate and explain how the Younger family, of Chicago's South side, struggles and improves throughout the book. One main cause for their family's problems is because of money and how it causes anger to control the family. The play deals with situations in which the family is dealing with unhappiness from money. Walter, the man of the house in the Younger family, tries impressing Travis, his son, too much with money instead of teaching him the more important lessons of life. Walter also dreams to invest in a liquor store and make a lot of money and becomes overwhelmed and badly caught up in his dream. Lastly, the Younger family is much too dependent on the check their Mama is receiving. The family has lost the fact that their mama tries to tell them, before, freedom was life but now money seems to have the controlling factor in life. When money becomes an obsession for a family, problems occur.
Dictionary.com defines selfishness as “devoted to or caring only for oneself”. For Abigail to have Proctor
term used to describe greed and selfishness, saying someone won’t care because they have a one
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck looks at the theme of loneliness as it affects many characters on the ranch. Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy are the most excluded characters on the ranch, because they all have dreams that they will not be able to live out and they all are at loss when it came to companionship. Crooks is lonely because he is the only black man on the ranch. Since this book is set during the Depression, Jim Crow laws are still in effect, whites and blacks had separate facilities for socializing and living. Crooks comments that he can't live in the bunkhouse, and cant even play cards in there.
Selfishness is dangerous, it can kill and make others suffer even when they did no wrong. In The Most Dangerous Game, the General kills man after man without thinking about what it would mean for them. The men that he had killed and the men that he continues to kill have families, children, jobs, and goals. Yet he kills them all without showing any mercy and/or pity. This shows how he’s completely full of himself. It’s easy to see how selfishness can take over somebody and at most, kill people. Like how in The Bet, the lawyer had agreed to the bet he had made with the young banker. Afterwards, the banker was thinking to himself about the bet he had made and for what he had made it, that’s when he had realized something. The banker had realized that he made the bet with the lawyer for no reason, it was completely unnecessary and wouldn’t fall into the benefit of either one of the two men.
Mama has dreams for her family to rise from poverty and live in a better and bigger place and also for them to continue to grow together as a family. Mama has a plant that she also cares for. She takes care of this plant as if it was one of her own children. Mama's children also have their own dreams and their own plans on how to attain those dreams. The family's competing dreams are emphasized by Hansberry's recurring use of the motif--Mama's plant.
In the world today, people need to treat one another with unselfishness. Being unselfish means that you are willing to put others and their wishes before your own. Today’s times are filled with injustices. But, unselfishness has the power to help overcome them. In people’s lives today, they need to live unselfishly because it can free people, unite people together, and bring justice and fairness to everyone.