Many of the obstacles seen in the 1940s or 1950s are still heavily present in the society of today, specifically in race and gender. The play A Raisin in the Sun challenges both the social norms and the expectations of women and people of color, by showing far ahead of their time characters embodying empowerment by taking extreme risks, such as studying to become a black female doctor, or moving into a predominantly white neighborhood. Drawing on her own experience, the author Lorraine Hansberry creates scenes that are both realistic, but also grave, up until the ending. Throughout Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, the seemingly wholesome resolution relies solely on unrealistic faith in humanity, specifically shown through Asagai’s stress on …show more content…
marriage as Beneatha’s sole option and Walter’s drastic and nonviable change of character, while the only convincing part is the uncertainty of the family’s fate at Clybourne park. Throughout the play, Beneatha demonstrated her independence by dating 2 men while still maintaining her own personality and still striving for more than housewife duties, making the way the play dissolves completely out of line.
After the entirety of the play relying on the notion of Beneatha’s character as progressive and independent, the ending leaves her with her only option as a wife, following Asagai’s speech on how life is filled with opportunities. After Asagai takes back his former comment about Beneatha being an assimilationist and other heavily misogynistic comments, he asks he to come to Africa with him and marry him. Then he tells her,“All right, I shall leave you...Never be afraid to sit awhile and think. How often I have looked at you and said, ‘Ah- so this is what the New World hath finally wrought’” (Hansberry 137). Not only does he ask her to leave her own family just to go on his own whim, but he asks her to abandon all the opportunity she has in this “New World.” While he’s not directly asking her to give up her dream as a doctor, the idea that this powerful, progressive characters even considers marrying Asagai, it shows the lack of genuinity to the final act of the play. With Beneatha’s decision to his proposal being a maybe, it shows the unrealisticness of the ending, considering she repeatedly states that she never wishes to marry, making this “maybe” extremely out of …show more content…
character. Another discrepancy shown through a character in the final act is Walter’s decision to take the risk of moving into Clybourne Park, instead of taking money for it. Originally, all of Walter’s actions revolved around the prospect of money, and although it would seem that he’s matured, one minor setback dealing with money shouldn’t change a person in such a dramatic way that all of his ideals could’ve completely transformed. After Mama tells Walter that he’s not a real man if he takes the money and that he has no pride if he does, Walter steps up and no longer takes the easy route. Although, when first presented with this decision, he automatically states, “What’s the matter with you all! I didn’t make this world! It was give to me this way! Hell, yes, I want me some yachts some day! Yes I want to hang some real pearls ‘round my wife’s neck” (Hasnberry 143). Then, directly following this, he suddenly arbitrates to become to better person saying to the landlord, “And we have decided to move into our house because my father-my father- he earned it for us brick by brick...We don’t want your money”(Hansberry 148). While this sentiment is a heartwarming one, such pivotal changes don’t happen across 5 pages, and in only one scene. Unlike Walter, other characters, such as Mama’s change of heart on her opinions of her own children’s ambitions, take full acts and lengthy periods of time, making Walter’s seem utterly phony. Although some argue that the ending demonstrates his maturation, and him morphing into full grown man, maturity takes time, which is exactly what Walter’s development didn’t have. The lack of longevity of his metamorphosis makes it nearly impossible for him to have developed so extremely, furthering the disingenuity. However, not all hope is lost in the ending, since it includes the mystery of the family’s fate as the only salvageable and realistic piece. Even after all the loose ends were loosely tied up, the Youngers fate is not entirely sealed in their new home, due to the foreshadowing of families in the same situation being attacked and Hansberry’s own experiences. Throughout the play there have been instances described where black families moved into white neighborhoods where they were bombed or treated so horrifically. This foreshadowing of the Younger’s fortune is also shown by the character Mrs. Johnson, who compares them to the families who were bombed, telling them, “You mean you ain’t read ’bout them colored people that was bombed out their place out there?...I bet this time next month y’all’s name will have been in the papers plenty- ‘NEGROES INVADE CLYBOURNE PARK-BOMBED” (Hansberry 101-102). Not only does this add to the enigma, but Hansberry’s own encounters illustrate this hint of negativity too. Hansberry’s own father underwent this blatant racism in his own neighborhood and experienced the same prejudice that she alluded to. The heaviness of this foreshadowing shows that everything isn’t entirely tied up, giving it a subtle hint of realism that isn’t shown in any other area of the resolution. Especially in this time period, hardly any people of color had a fate sealed in such an optimistic and opportunistic way, considering all of the cards forcefully stacked against them.
This, added onto the sudden revolutions of fundamental characters in a way that was so ill-fitted and malapropos, gives a heaving note of falsification to the finale of A Raisin in the Sun. The ending ending in this way results in a sort of two steps forward, one step back. With everything shown in the beginning two acts being so liberating and dynamic, the ending directly negates all this, with the women being married off and the men ingenuine. Even with the note of uncertainty on whether or not the Youngers will be safe in their new community, it still defies all the principles illustrated throughout the play and this uncertainty only gives the family two options: an extremely negative outcome with amplified prejudice, or a false hope used as a safety blanket. As the French saying “mise en place” goes, all is set up in the end, but only for failure or
falsification.
Before seeing how class differences play an important role in “A Raisin in the Sun,” one must examine the location in which the play takes place. Hansberry defines the play’s setting as “Chicago’s Southside, sometime between World War II and the present.” (Hansberry 22) The play was written in 1959, prior to the civil rights movement in America. Even so, this post-war timeframe “exemplified a new wave of black suburbanization” (Wiese 100). As more African Americans made the transition fro...
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a dramatic play written in 1959. The play is about an African American family that lived on the Chicago South Side in the 1950’s. Hansberry shows the struggles and difficulties that the family encounters due to discrimination. Inspired by her personal experience with discrimination, she uses the characters of the play, A Raisin In The Sun, to show how this issue affects families. Hansberry faces housing discrimination due to her race, which affects her 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.
A Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry. The primary focus of the play is the American Dream. The American Dream is one’s conception of a better life. Each of the main characters in the play has their own idea of what they consider to be a better life. A Raisin in the Sun emphasizes the importance of dreams regardless of the various oppressive struggles of life.
In the book A Raisin in the Sun, the time period is set in 1955. A time in America where African Americans still dealt with a constant struggle between them and the rest of the country. It touches on subjects that were very sensitive especially at the time the work was released. Even though the setting of the book was in the north, Lorraine Hansberry seemed to want to show that things weren’t that much better in the north than they were in the south at that time. Segregation was still being implemented in the law system, and there was a missing sense of equality among everyone. It shows that Lorraine Hansberry took what was going on around her environment and portrayed those situations into her work. The three events listed include Rosa Parks
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.
A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, has often been dubbed a “black” play by critics since its debut on Broadway in 1959. This label has been reasonably assigned considering the play has a cast that consists primarily of African American actors; however, when looking beyond the surface of this play and the color of the author and characters, one can see that A Raisin in the Sun actually transcends the boundaries of racial labels through the universal personalities assigned to each character and the realistic family situations that continue to evolve throughout the storyline. As seen when comparing A Raisin in the Sun to “The Rich Brother,” a story for which the characters receive no label of race, many commonalities can be found between the characters’ personalities and their beliefs. Such similarities prove that A Raisin in the Sun is not merely a play intended to appeal only to the black community, nor should it be construed as a story about the plights of the black race alone, but instead should be recognized as a play about the struggles that all families, regardless of race, must endure in regard to their diversity and financial disparity. A succinct introduction and excellent writing!
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.
In America, every citizen is guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Although each person is given these rights, it is how each person uses them that defines how successful they will be in America. There are several obstacles that some Americans face on their pursuit of happiness. In this country’s past, Americans lived by a very specific set of beliefs that valued the importance of hard work, faith, and family. As time progressed and America began to evolve as a nation, this capitalistic society no longer devoted itself to family and faith but rather success, and the pursuit of prosperity. The shift from dependence on tradition towards a society that values success and how people struggle to b successful when society makes it difficult marks a common theme in Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun. Two of the main characters in this story Lena Younger (Mama) and her son Walter Lee directly reflect the shift from tradition to a focus on success and capital and the struggles they face in regards to racism. Mama and Walter Lee’s contrasting values about the American dream and the way in which they pursue their own dreams while facing racism exemplifies the shift from valuing tradition like in previous generations in America, to valuing success and prosperity like in more current generations.
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 ...
An Analysis of A Raisin In the Sun & nbsp; "A Raisin In The Sun" is a play written by an African-American playwright - Lorraine Hansberry. It was first produced in 1959. Lorraine Hansberry's work is about a black family in the Chicago South Side. the Second World War. The family consisted of Mama(Lena Younger), Walter.
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.
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.
Nonetheless, in the end of the story, the other three characters found new avenues that brought them replenished hope and new dreams and this was because of Mama. Ruth discovered avenues different to her initial one when she accepted Mama’s idea for a home. Beneatha fought for her dream as well as that of Mama’s and she eventually regained her hope to express herself after hardship and went on to marry and go to Africa. Despite the fact that the title, “A Raisin in the Sun”, may suggest to us dried-up or unaccomplished dreams, Lena’s strong character and her unselfish dreams brought the family together and brought about new and more meaningful dreams for everyone.
Within the context of any given moment in history, the passage of time allows reflection on the attitudes and emotions of people. The political atmosphere, commercial fads, social trends or religious fervor of the time we observe, all lend spice to the attitudes that we will find there. Some aspects of our human nature are as timeless as eating or sleeping, such as the bonds of a family or the conflicts which tear them apart. In Lorraine Hansberry's work "A Raisin in the Sun" we can see clearly not only the drama each of us lives through in the ties of family and love, but it gives us an immortal slice of history of the times in which it was written.