A Raisin In The Sun Analysis

No matter how hard they try, there are some people who cannot get ahead in life. Walter Lee Younger is a man who is frustrated with his current position in life, and every disappointment he has encountered thus far. Although he tries to be a loving man, sometimes he does not know how to show the idea of love, "Sometimes...sometimes...I don't even know how to try" (Hansberry 89). His position in life can be regarded as symbolic of every black male struggling to provide for his family by any means necessary. Although Walter has a job, it seems inadequate for his survival. As a result, he has become frustrated and lacks good judgement. Throughout this play Walter searches for the key ingredient that will make his life blissful. His

(page 45-46)” In the first act alone, the audience is shown the great disparities between the American dream for a white man and the American dream for people of color. However, now with this insurance money from Big Walter’s death, there is a chance of someone their dream, the problem that the Younger’s face is which someone should get to use the money. Beneatha needs it for college to become a doctor, Walter needs it to invest in a liquor store so he can finally “be somebody.” But Mama wants to use that money to buy a house. She wants to leave their current rented apartment and she wants a nice house in the suburbs where she could have a garden and “with a yard where Travis could play in the summer. (page 44)” Mama believes that a change of scenery is what the family needs and that it will bring them back together. These three characters have the most conflicting wants for the

The Younger family scrapes through life, each person searching for their own version of the American Dream. Walter clings to the original American Dream of being successful, even if that means going against his mother’s wishes. Mama wants a house for her family, this dream causes her to not fully support Walter’s dream. Walter holds on to his dream of being successful and nothing less, however Mama only wants a home for her family, meaning “Her dream is unacceptable to Walter, who will have nothing less than the complete American Dream, since her version of it only amounts to surviving, not living in the fullest sense” (Washington 94). Their dreams are so different and Mama struggles to support Walter’s risky dream of becoming successful through opening a liquor store. Finally out of the goodness of her heart, Mama gives him the remaining part of the insurance money to start his business, however Walter loses this money to a dirty friend. Thus causing pain to not only himself, but also his family. Barriers and issues constantly block or prevent him and his family from attaining the wealth and success that Walter desires so greatly.

How does a person make their dreams become a reality? In both books The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry the two main characters, Esperanza and Walter, are longing to fulfill their dreams. The defined images of a women's role in society, racial discrimination, and life-changing obstacles are just some of the ways both characters have difficulty of achieving their dreams. Although these books are different in many ways, they share the similarity of trying to find themselves and make their high-hoped dreams become reality in the struggling community around them.

“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.

No matter how hard they try, there are some people who cannot get ahead in life. Walter Lee Younger is a man who is frustrated with his current position in life, and every disappointment he has encountered thus far. Although he tries to be a loving man, sometimes he does not know how to show the idea of love, 'Sometimes...sometimes...I don't even know how to try' (Hansberry 89). His position in life can be regarded as symbolic of every black male struggling to provide for his family by any means necessary. Although Walter has a job, it seems inadequate for his survival. As a result, he has become frustrated and lacks good judgement. Throughout this play Walter searches

Walter presumes that ‘it’s always money’ and how Mama can’t use it in the right way. Walter later responds that ‘money is life,’ explaining to Mama that success is now defined by how much money one has. This conversation takes place early in the play and reveals Mama’s and Walters economic struggles. However we see a turn of events when Walter plans to accept Mr. Lindner’s offer. Walter is not concerned with the degrading implications of the business deal; it is simply a way to recover some of the lot money. However, Hansberry challenges Walter’s crude interpretation of the American Dream by forcing him to actually carry out the transaction in front of his son. Walter’s inability to deal with Mr. Linder marks a significant revision of his interpretation of the American Dream. Walter comes to a realisation that money is not everything and how family is so much more valuable. During the late 1950’s money was defined as one of the main characteristics of a man, and who that man will become. Walters dream is to obtain enough money to provide enough for his family, this dream of his suggests how his American Dream is also vanished, as money was an immense part of this dream of his. Wily Loman is the complete opposite; he fails to understand that there is so much more to becoming successful than being rich. The failure to understand this concept brought him to a sudden death. Willy is like every

Cynthia Kersey once said, “The only opinion about your dream that counts is yours. The negative comments of others merely reflects their limitations- not yours.” This quote applies to Beneatha, a character from Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun, because throughout the book readers see her talk about her aspirations in life and everyone always tells her she is aiming too high. They tell her that she should not be so bold and to settle and do what a typical woman should, but she is so driven she refuses to let them degrade her and her dream. She continues to push for what she wants no matter what anyone says. Throughout the book A Raisin In The Sun Beneatha appears to be insensitive, strong-willed

Lorraine Hansberry, famous playwright and social activist, had many experiences from her childhood to draw on when writing her works, many of which are especially present in A Raisin in the Sun. An example of this would be the Supreme Court case Hansberry v. Lee in 1940. Lorraine Hansberry’s family moved to a white neighborhood in Chicago and was evicted because the community had previously attempted to create a racially restrictive covenant preventing African Americans from moving into the neighborhood. Though the case was eventually brought before the Supreme Court and decided in favor of Hansberry’s family, it was not because the neighborhood community was discriminating against African Americans. The case was eventually decided in favor of Hansberry because the required number of people had not signed the covenant so it could not legally be in effect (Hansberry v. Lee). Though this event was decided in the family's favor, it can be argued that it was for the wrong reasons, even if it allowed the family to keep their house. This event was affected Lorraine Hansberry's writing in the future and was so impactful that she wrote a similar event into her play, A Raisin in the Sun.

In the play Walter Lee Younger Junior is a 35-year protagonist who can't provide or stand up to be the man to his family. Walter Lee Younger Junior suffered so hard and he was tired of they way him and his family were living in poverty and he's trying to take away poverty from his family and try to figure out a new, and better ways to secure its economic prosperity. Walter is going insane due to all

Walter's frustration festers and his anger turns inward towards his family who, in Walters eyes, do not understand him. Walter's family members do understand him and they also want to amass material dreams, but Walter's family members know that it is going to take work to get there.

Walter had a dream of opening a liquor store with his friends. However, Walter did not want to open this store not so much for the alcohol, but for the sensation of being in charge. All his life, Walter wanted to bring in enough money for his family so that his family did not have to struggle anymore. Walter wanted his wife and mother to not have to work anymore. He wanted his son to go to any college without worrying about tuition. Ultimately, he wanted to finally become the man he was hoping to become for his family. Walter proves this by saying, “Mama – sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool-quiet-looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking ‘about things…sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars…sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me” Walter wants to be able to essentially be like those white men. He wants to be able to go out during the day and not have to worry about losing his job. Walter wants to be like those white men who have money. He wants to feel financially secure. Walter had these dreams he not only wanted to achieve for him but also for his family. Walter had good intentions. He just showed them through acts of

In the play A Raisin in the Sun Walter has hopes and dreams but can’t succeed them because the racist society.Walter works as a drive for a white person and he doesn’t really like his job. Also he has a dream and that is to open a liquor store but can’t

All of the significant characters in the play have dreams. Walter wants to start a business in order to better support his family. Beneatha, his sister, wants to get an education to become a doctor. Mama and Ruth want their family to be happy. They all believe that their lack of money is holding them back, so when they receive the insurance check they believe they will finally be able to achieve them.

The play starts off with a poem by Langston Hughes, this poems purpose is to give the reader insight into what the theme of the whole play will be about. The main line in the poem to give this insight is when it asks “What happens to a dream deferred?” (Hansberry 918). This line allows us to think ponder on the question throughout the play and see how it affects Walter since his dream is being deferred. Walter is self-centered and can only think about his dream and what it means to him. He doesn’t like to hear what his wife or mother says about his dream he just takes it as them tearing him down. An example of Walter thinking that his wife has no faith in his dream can be shown here; “There you are. Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs.” (Hansberry 926). Walter thinks that it is crazy for his family to not support him even though he wants to open a liquor store. This also is a reason that he seems angry all the time. Not having the support from loved ones can