A Raisin In The Sun Literary Analysis

     Ruth has an intriguing personality. She is very loving towards her family. She will do all in her power to improve the lifestyle of her family. When it appears that the deal for the house in Clybourne Park will fall through, she promises to dedicate all of her time to make the investment work. “Lena-I’ll work… I’ll work 20 hours a day in all the kitchens

In A Raisin In the Sun Lorraine Hansberry uses everyday objects-a plant, money, and a home to symbolize a family's struggle to deal with racism and oppression in their everyday lives, as well as to exemplify their dreams. She begins with a vivid description of the family's weary, small, and dark apartment in Chicago's ghetto Southside during the 1950s. The Youngers are an indigent African-American family who has few choices in their white society. Each individual of the Younger family has a separate dream-Beneatha wants to become a doctor, Walter wants to open a liquor store, and Ruth and Mama want a new and better home. The Youngers struggle to accomplish these dreams throughout the play, and a major aspect of their happiness and

In the book, “A Raisin in the Sun”, the family is faced with many challenges. Between gender, discrimination, family, social classes, and the very unique American dream, conflictions surfaced and began to become bigger problems. At the end of the book, the Youngers moved out of their apartment. But, we did not know what the future held for this family. If the Youngers stayed in the old apartment they were living in, they would revert back to their old habits. “Who’s fighting you? Who even cares about you?” (Pg.32). In this quote, Walter talks about his wife’s importance. He shows how vulnerable he was and took out all his anger on her. This quote relates to reverting back to their old habits because Walter and Ruth would continue to complain about how they see no change coming for them to work for.

During the 1900s many black families barely had enough money to pay for the basic necessities needed to live. At times some families would receive a significant sum of money, something they were not used to getting. Deciding on how to spend this money is what caused problems among some families. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, she argues that there are times when in a state of financial instability and where money is a necessity to completing one’s dream that some family members choose to put their dreams over others when suddenly given the opportunity. After Mama’s husband died she was bound to receive an insurance check that would be used by the Younger family. Before even receiving the

that ain’t anything at all. Mama, I don't know if I can make you understand” (73). Walter is not able to provide for his family by American standards, and as a result, his family lives in poverty.

Finally the check comes. Walter and his prospective partner, Willy Harris, get very excited. He finally has his chance to take the control he feels he deserves. Then the bombshell news of Ruth’s pregnancy and imminent abortion comes, Walter is thrown off balance. To try and settle matters, Mama goes out and buys the house.

The play A Raisin in the Sun illustrates the social and economic pressure that is placed on the Younger family, especially Beneatha who aspires to become a doctor at the time where not many women could even imagine such aspirations. The Younger family's daughter Beneatha is an outspoken intelligent member who raises the argument for the other side of the spectrum at all times. Beneatha is aspiring to become a doctor and has some hope that some of the money from her father's social insurance cheque would help go to her medical school. The pressure of being lower middle class severely affects the relationships of the Younger family as Walter, Beneatha's older brother shows no regard for his sister as he sees her as the only one in the house not

Does money control today's society? The Younger family is an African American family in Chicago in the 1950s. The family lives in a small and ratty one window apartment. They are an “average” family who receives the proceeds from a $10,000 life insurance policy from the death of Walter Lee Sr. Everyone in the family has their own idea of what they want to do with the money, if it was up to one of them. The author's story setting is in the apartment surrounded by various conflicts, conversations and actions of the characters. The story line is only a couple of days, but in that time the author is able to show how poverty can have a negative effect on the Younger family.

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.

The new house, the money and even Mama’s “raggedy looking” plant are all symbols of the book A Raisin in the Sun which is portrayed to parallel the difficulties presented to minorities in America. A Raisin in the Sun, yet more specifically, captures the concept of the struggles the African Americans endured during the period of the book, late 1940s to 1950. In the book the characters each reflects the stereotype of the typical Afro-American in America trying to make the best out of their opportunities, each symbol in the book represents the ideal situations correlated with it the struggles.

Ruth’s unselfish dreams affect her positively because they push her to work and to not accept the life she has now. In an argument with her mother in law, Lena, Ruth proclaims, “Lena—I’ll work…I’ll work twenty hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago…I’ll strap my baby on my back if I have to and scrub all the floors in America and wash all the sheets in America if I have to—but we got to MOVE! We got to get OUT OF HERE!!” (140) Ruth is inspired and driven to work by the idea of a better life, she will “wash all the sheets in America,” to escape the reality of her living situation. When Lena uses her alimony money to buy a house for the family Ruth joyously responds to the news, “So you went and did it! … PRAISE GOD! Please, honey—let me be glad…you be glad, too. Oh, Walter…a home…a home.”

Oh no, what have caused. I shouldn’t have started to talk about to Walter when I knew he was upset and angry. I shouldn't have told him about the baby. This house doesn’t need any more arguments. I am sick of Walter talking about money and after the news about this baby all he is going to talk about is how he doesn’t have the money for this

Our parents always told us that we should have goals and dreams in our life, and through them we will gain happiness. There are some things in life that get in the way of our dreams and goals. In the Declaration of Independence, It states that we have the right to pursue happiness. For example having everybody in the world be equal, and not be shamed upon or looked at differently due to the color of their skin. The poem ¨The Negro Mother,¨ the play A Raisin in the Sun, and the article Innocence Is Irrelevant, all show how our society and they way people can get in the way of our happiness.

Lorraine Hansberry’s novel, A Raisin in the Sun, revolves around a middle-class African-American family, struggling during World War II. By reading about the Younger’s true to life experiences, one learns many important life lessons. One of the aforementioned would be that a person should always put family’s needs before their own. There are many examples of this throughout the novel. Just a few of these would be the example of Ruth and her unborn baby, Walter regaining the respect of his family, and Mama and her unselfish ways.

“To realize the American Dream, the most important thing to understand is that it belongs to everybody. It is a human dream. If you understand this and work very hard it is possible.” However it is not always guaranteed. A Raisin in The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a story about a family who continues to struggle while reaching towards The American Dream. The American Dream is described as “The ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” The Youngers are a hard-working family who all have different interpretations of the American Dream. Mama, Walter, and Beneatha’s shared powerful dreams that give the a look into The American Dream. Despite