Analysis Of A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry

Characters in the play, aside from fighting with each other also have to deal with their own internal struggles. The best example of this sort of internal conflict is Ruth. Ruth is pregnant and does not know what to do. She wants to get an abortion to prevent putting any more strain on the family (Cheney, 61). She also feels that by having a baby it could put more pressure on Walter and instead of him wanting to sell liquor he will start to consume it and destroy his life. Lena is another one of the characters that faces an internal conflict. Her conflict is with the money. She has full control of the check and has already used part of it for a down payment on the house she bought. The other part of the check is where her dilemma lies. She wants to see Beneatha go to medical school, but at the same time she sees how desperate Walter is. Reluctantly she hands over control of the money to her son. She

Dreams don’t always work out the way you want them to. Beneatha, in A Raisin in the Sun, had many big dreams, not all easily achievable. Many of them, also never came true for her, and then some of them did. Beneatha’s character traits explain dreams, and how sometimes they don't come true. Beneatha's independence, indecisiveness, and modern views of society all help describe what Lorraine Hansberry is trying to make readers think about while reading A Raisin in the Sun.

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, centers on an African American family in the late 1950s. Hansberry directs her work towards specifically the struggles faced by African Americans during the late 1950s. Through the dialogue and actions of her characters, she encourages not only a sense of pride in heritage, but a national and self-pride in African Americans as well.

    Lorraine Hansberry faced many obstacles in her life which has made her  write this book A “Raisin in the Sun.” As said in Blooms Literature “She was the youngest of four children whose parents were well-educated, middle-class activists centrally engaged in the fight against racial discrimination. Early figures in the Civil Rights movement.” In the book “A Raisin in the Sun,” the first play written by an African American she made through experiences of  black people who live on Chicago’s South Side, Hansberry used members of her family as inspiration for her characters. Lorraine Hansberry life had comparisons in this book dealing with poverty

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a play that displays housing discrimination in Chicago during the 1950s. Housing discrimination was partially an effect of the Great Migration. This was an event during the 1950s that resulted in about six million African Americans “migrating” from the south to the north, Midwest, and west regions of the United States. This caused the population of black people in major northern cities to increase rapidly. They are then only able to live in certain neighborhoods, which keeps their communities segregated.

Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun is a monumental play in the theatrical world. Produced in 1959, it became the first play written by an African-American woman to hit the stage and was later nominated for several Tony Awards. The play touched many controversial themes of the time including racial discrimination and poverty. The design of Raisin in the Sun, including scenic, costume, lighting, and sound elements, were crucial to developing the plot and emphasizing these themes. All of the elements are vital to the message and audience interpretation of the production, and overall, the Playmakers Repertory Company executed them well.

Many artist use their form of expression to provoke feelings and thoughts that can give individuals more insight on a certain topic. In the play, A Raisin In the Sun. Author Lorraine Hansberry depicts the rollercoaster of the 1950’s. African Americans faced racial discrimination in many forms. In this play, the Youngers are a poor African-American family living on the southside of Chicago. In the play there are 5 main characters. There’s Walter who has has a job a a taxi driver, Beneatha who is a soon to be doctor, Travis Walters son, Ruth Walter’s wife, and Mama is Walter and Beneatha's mom. The Younger family are given an opportunity to escape from poverty because of a $10,000 life insurance check that the matriarch of the family Mama receives upon her husband's death. In the play the depiction of racial discrimination deciphers where the Younger family end up. Though there are numerous themes that can be associated with this play Lorraine Hansberry prominently displays how racial discrimination can carve out the path of the Younger’s life.

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, addresses the hardships of an African-American family living in the projects of post-segregation Chicago. The family aspires to fulfill their dreams of owning a home despite the odds they face. W.E.B Du Bois critical race theory explains the issue of racism and white dominance that not only the family in the play faces, but the African American community as a whole.

A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry is a dramatic play depicting economic and social prejudice during the Harlem Renaissance era in Chicago. The central theme of this written drama is centered upon a forgotten dream. In this same way, This theme could be applied to both Walter's dream of economic stability as well as Beneatha’s dream to be a doctor. Hansberry uses literary symbolism techniques to convey the theme of economic and struggle in society for minorities in America. This drama uses multiple examples of symbolism to contribute to the theme of class and wealth.

Through her character , Walter Younger Hansberry created a real example of a Black Americans struggles to reach the American Dream. Throughout the article we see Walters struggle to achieve the American Dream which is life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Walters American Dream was to get the best quality of life for his family / get out of poverty. He was going to achieve this dream by depending on the insurance check for the down payment on a liquor store. His dream was deferred because his dreams became postponed by circumstances beyond his control.

When A Raisin in the Sun debuted on Broadway in 1959, America was a much different place than it was today. Racism was as prevalent as ever in our schools, the workplace and the government. Segregation and Jim Crow was still law in most of the country. Not to mention even though women had the right to vote, women still did not feel like equals compared to their male counterparts.This social climate is what made A Raisin in the Sun such a success for the ways this play explored various social issues at that time. A Raisin in the Sun was so groundbreaking because it addressed the underlying racial and domestic tension that is covered up by the economic prosperity that we learned about in history class. From the role of the black man to even

5.) Walter wants the check and then Beneatha is denying the check and tells him its up mom. “That money belongs to mama, Walter, and its for her to decide how she wants to use it.” (pg.497,Para. 4) she knows the money is not hers and is not wanting the money. Walter also knows that this money he could invest into his dream liquor business. He also throws out other ideas for the money to beneatha. “If mama got that money she can always take a few thousand and help you through school too” (Pg497,Para.5) he is trying to get her to imagine how much this money can do but she is not interested and doesn’t want any handouts. This shows that Walter is the most worried about money and beneatha doesn’t really think it’s all about money.

A group of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) sent job applications to different businesses in Chicago and Boston; using made-up names, they discovered the name which were more “black sounding” were fifty percent less likely to be contacted by the employer (Feagin 143). Racism is just as real today as it was in the 1930s when Lorraine Hansberry, a black American writer, was born. Hansberry was born in Chicago to her activist parents Carl and Nanny. Both of her parents participated in many black activist groups and were devoted to stopping housing segregation. Hansberry’s inspiring play, A Raisin in the Sun, is loosely based on her family’s experience on trying to move to a white neighborhood when she was only eight years old. Many years later, Lorraine attended the University of Wisconsin and the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied drama and painting. After college, Lorraine packed her things and moved to New York to continue her writing career. Before she was able to completely support herself through her writing, she had many jobs including reporting and editing (“A Raisin in the Sun”). Hansberry’s writing relates to a diverse racial audience by adding black culture in her writing, discusses controversial topics of the 1950s such as introducing black people into white neighborhoods, and because of her inspiring writing, she paved the way for other black writers.

Walter believes that the people that are going to school are not been thought what they should be learning, instead they are been thought comment things that white people do. Walter has a strong point of view over “colored college boys” and feels like they believe that they are much better than other color people just as Walter. Walter makes fun of Joseph Asagai because he is a college boy. Walter Lee Younger said” I see you all all the time—with the books tucked under your arms—going to you (British r A—a mimic) "clahsses." And for what! What the hell you learning over there? Filling up your heads— (counting off on his fingers)—with the sociology and the psychology—but they teaching you how to be a man? How to take over and run the world? They teaching you how to run a rubber plantation or a steel mill? Naw—just to talk proper and read books and wear them faggoty-looking white shoes . . .” (page 530) about the fact that African Americans go to college. It shows how Walter has a different point of view then her sister and doesn’t value education. Walter doesn’t see any benefit of the education that people like his sister are trying to get, just because the doesn’t see it right away doesn’t mean that they will not be something great later on. Throughout the play, Walter is seen as the typical man of the family who struggles to support it and who tries to discover better ways of making money in a faster way. There are many barriers that stop the progress and attain, constantly frustrate Walter. He believes that money will solve all of their problems, but he is not that successful with

These dreams, and the struggles necessary to reach them, as well as coming to terms with the dreams that are out of reach, are the focus and driving force behind this story of every persons struggle to achieve goals that are not always in tune with societies thoughts or ideas on a persons place in life. The internal difficulties of the family, and the detrimental effects of these problems, are major themes in the play. In the opening scene; a husband, Walter,