A Raisin In The Sun Analysis

Money acts as a driving force for the characters in both of the plays; their beliefs and decisions are influenced and motivated by money and the ideas surrounding what benefits money can bring people. This is exemplified when Linder tempts Walter into selling their new house back to the white committee that holds the influence in the neighborhood in Hansberry’s play. The situation with Walter is a demonstration of Creon’s point that money “seduces men away from happy homes” (Sophocles 353). Before Walter realized that the new house was the best use of their money, Walter was seriously and realistically considering reselling it for profit. He was “seduced” away from their “happy home” by the thought of monetary gains. In Antigone Creon says, “Money never makes as much as it mars” (Sophocles 353). He is telling the Leader about how money is corrupting and turns people’s good intentions into malicious ones. The alliteration with the “m” sound in the statement places emphasis on the importance of his words and the significance to Creon. Walter does not consider other uses for Mama’s money beyond his liquor store in A Raisin in the Sun, rather he chooses to spend it for himself anyway. The insurance check that is actually written to Mama “corrupts the honest heart [of Walter] to shifty ways” (Sophocles 353), as Creon would say. By making selfish decisions regarding

At the beginning of the play “A Raisin in the Sun” the main characters from the play all demonstrate that they have dreams for themselves and all of them deal with how they identify with themselves. These dreams are, for Walter, to be perceived as wealthy, for Beneatha to be independent, and for Mama to continue what she and her husband started to own their own house with space for everyone. These characters had to comprehend their own identity to settle on the whole family’s dream of moving to a middle-class neighborhood, and how that dream fulfilled all their dreams. Walter’s dream of appearing wealthy stems from him wanting a better life for himself, his wife Ruth, and his son Travis. He believes he can accomplish this by investing in a liquor store and changing his financial standing. Walters dream is exposed when he discusses it with his son Travis:

The situation that play out in Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun can be put side by side in situation that is happening in modern America, and we can see how each of the characters have characteristic that we still see in people today. Using Reader-Response Analysis we can see that how people act, think, and handled problems in the play A Raisin in the Sun is still how people today still handle problems.

“No amount of money will make you happy if you're not happy about yourself,” a self explanatory quote that explains money’s not truly people's happiness. Everyone thinks that if you're wealthy then it will solve all of your problems and you will live a very happy life. However, is not actually true. In a Raisin in the Sun, a play by Lorraine Hansberry, is about an African American family in the 1950s, who live in poverty, receive a check for 10,000 from Life Insurance. The check that could possibly change everyone's lives, was given after the death of Mr. Younger. Lena Younger, who everyone calls Mama, has two kids named Walter and Beneatha. Walter is married to Ruth Younger and they both have a child named travis. Walter Younger, a greedy,

Welcome to the Windham High school drama club revival of A Raisin in the Sun!

In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, the story is set in 1950s Southside Chicago, in a red-lined neighborhood. Although the majority of the story is set within the scope of the neighborhood, the perceptions of the world held by the inhabitants of that neighborhood vary greatly. Mama and Beneatha, two quintessential members of the Younger family and cohabitors of this neighborhood, have vastly disparate perceptions of the world, likely because of the discrepancies, fueled by changing times, in what they each consider to be the baseline of society , from which they wish to improve.

“Money is not the key to happiness,” no big pay amount would make much of a difference. As people in America everybody thinks you cannot afford to avoid the unhappiness of having to  life,  having plenty of cash does not make your any more enjoyable then what it is in the present. Happiness depends on how you feel towards your loved ones which in Lorraine Hansberry's Play, “A Raisin In the Sun” Walter's obsession with money often caused him to act unkindly to his loved ones. In the book Raisin in the Sun a family from the Southside of Chicago they lived in a small apartment trying to find a way out of the community they have lived in. The Younger family was dealing with living in a white dominant society dealing with poverty and prejudice acts. The Youngers’ try to ignore the obstacles and stay on their feet throughout the 1950s.

In the Southside of Chicago in the 1950’s, the Youngers are a typical poverty stricken family that works hard to be able to rise out of poverty. Each family member has a different dream of being able to reach this goal. Mama has the dream of owning her own house, Walter wants to be able to open a liquor store, Beneatha wants to go to school to become a doctor, and Ruth wants to move out of their current apartment. In the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry shows the effect of a deferred dream in Walter Lee’s character.

In the speech it states “...America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’.” (King). King is saying that all of them have had promises made to them that have not been fulfilled and how the Negro population has been lied to by America saying that all are created equal and that anything is possible which is not true to them. This connects to A Raisin in the Sun because in the story the Youngers do not have the same opportunities as white people. Walter has to work as a chauffeur for white people and he has bigger dreams than doing this for a job. This is the only opportunity available to him that enables him to provide for the needs of his family though. This would be possible if people were treated equally.

Lorraine Hansberry was a writer during the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement. She was the first woman, the first black person, and the youngest person to get a show on broadway with her hit A Raisin in the Sun. The name comes from Langston Hughes’ famous poem Harlem (Dream Deferred) where Lorraine got all of her inspiration from. Harlem is about what happens when you put off a dream for too long. In A Raisin in the Sun Hansberry uses the characters Walter, Beneatha, and Momma to show the consequences of deferring your dreams.

The 1960’s were a harsh time for African Americans and females. A Raisin in the Sun which was written by Lorraine Hansberry shows this very well by introducing different characters that represent different values during the time. The play involves an African American family that is struggling to survive with the way that their situation is. The characters shown throughout the play introduce key ideas from the 1960’s. The characters also introduce different contrasts that can be analyzed. The play also introduces an interesting topic on dignity. The three big points to analyze are the characters in the play, the contrast between characters, and the importance of dignity.

Her passionate way of talking about the new house shows her full grown dream similar to a full grown grape. The transition to the raisin is seen when Mama states, “ seen him grow thin and old before he was forty … working and working and working like somebody’s old horse … killing himself … and you —you give it all away in a day—” (Hansberry 129) This shows her desperate tone as her dreams and her hopes are dried out by Walter, similar to a grape being dried out into a raisin. This signifies the importance of Big Walter, and how he has influenced Mama’s dream to give the best to her children.

In life people have ups and downs; the characters in A Raisin in the Sun experience many highs and many lows. Throughout the story there are many decisions that the characters toss around and debate. Mama, the mother of the family, receives $10,000 which is a very large sum of money for their family. It is up to Mama to decide where the money should go. The Characters in the story developed and their true desires are shown through the choices they make. The characters are faced with many obstacles and these hurdles reveal their character and help to shape the overall plot. In Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, the struggle to overcome oppression in order to actualize one’s dream is revealed through the character developement of Walter, Beneatha, and Mama.

When it is taken into account the hardships people have had to live through because of money and its value, it is easy to assume that a possession of that wealth would solve the issues faced. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, money is seen as the way out of the tunnel the Younger family has been stuck in for so long. The arrival of a ten thousand dollar life insurance check spins the family upside down as they try to figure out how to use the money to better themselves, individually and as a family. The only dominating male figure in the family, Walter Jr., is set on making his family’s life better with the money by using it to hopefully make more money. Walter has seen what his family has gone through as a result of their socioeconomic status and he wants more than

During the story, “A Raisin in The Sun”, holds two influences, Walter, and Mama, who have the most significant impact among the plot. Here’s why; Lorraine Hansberry has created this play to prove what life was like before our modern generation had come about. As to why Lorraine brought Walter and Mama to help make up the conflicts and rising action to the plot. If the play was created without Walter, it would only be a story based upon, Beneatha, and Mama. There’d be no Ruth, no Travis, or new baby soon to come about. Whereas, if there was no Mama around anymore, the family would have no intelligence, faith, or leader, to help the children determine how to handle their problems or know what to do with themselves.