“A Raisin in the Sun” is play written by Lorraine Hansberry about a struggling African American family. Set in the nineteen-fifties, the play explores the dynamics of how the family operates in a time era Chicago that challenges the family with poor economic status and racial prejudice. Hansberry uses dreams as one of her main themes in this play. Three of the characters, Walter, Beneatha, and Mama, all have a similar goal in their respective dreams, to improve the life of the whole family, but have different ideas on how it should be executed with the insurance money they obtain. With these slight differences, Hansberry uses her dream theme to display how their individual dreams ultimately require sacrifice and a submission to reality …show more content…
Walter’s unwise decision making leads to the demise of his own dream and difficulty on everyone else’s dream. If Walter thought his dream out and saw the reality of his challenges he could have made a wiser decision potentially realizing the challenges in his plan such as the man stealing his money, being an African American man in racially tense setting against him, the multiple hardships that come with owning business, and the reality that all of these things would work against his dream. Walter could have also accomplished helping his family by supporting their desires rather than making their dreams drastically more challenging. This situation drastically affects Beneatha, referred to as Bennie throughout the play, and her aspirations. Bennie fanaticizes the idea of becoming a physician to assist people through their struggles and to become something more than what she is currently. This dream is fueled by defining childhood moment where she sees her friend hurt and doctors cured his injuries “I remember… thinking that was the end of Rufus… They fixed the broken bones and they sewed it all up… I never got over that” (Hansberry 1834). Bennie elaborates after this and explains what this meant to her by saying “That that was what one person could do for another, fix him up… That was the most marvelous thing in the world… This was truly being God” (Hansberry 1834). This experience
In hope that readers will think about when dreams don't come true, Hansberry introduces Beneatha's as a bright, young, independent woman. “Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet – if I ever get married.” (Act One, Scene
Exposition The characters are introduced by Hansberry. It is the 1950’s in a tiny apartment in Southside Chicago. The Younger family has just suffered the loss of Walter’s dad, with a $10,000 inheritance check supposedly to arrive in the near future. Upon hearing about the check, Walter, the protagonist, hopes to be able to take the money to invest in a liquor store. His sister, Beneatha hopes to be able to use it to attend medical school and Mama
Beneatha is probably one of the most independent and individual characters in the play. She does not worry about the prejudice her community has about her. She is confident in herself, her abilities, and her intellect. She tries to be independent by not allowing anybody to help her. When she first hears about the insurance money she does not want any help from it. When Walter suggest that mama could use a little bit of the money to help Beneatha out with the cost of college, Beneatha responds by saying, “I have never asked anyone around here to do anything for me” ( Hansberry 281). Beneatha refuses help from others, because she feels that doing everything on her own will make her a stronger woman. She presumes that asking for assistance for anything in life will make her weaker. She does not understand how dependent she is on others until she starts dating George Murchison and joseph Asagai.
The story of this play is simple and the majority of African-Americans faced such issues in the 1950’s, living on the south side of Chicago, struggles with poverty, dignity and dreams of a better life. Wanting better for your children and trying to fit in, while maintaining family values. A Raisin in the Sun is an excellent example of the relationship between family values and conflict. In this play it portrays: values and purpose of dreams, the need to fight for racial discrimination and the importance of family.
Beneatha is a character that shows the struggles of an African American female at the time. Beneatha’s struggle is trying to become a doctor when others are telling her to give up on her dream. Walter, Beneatha’s brother, says, “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy 'bout messing 'round with sick people—then go be a nurse like other women—or just get married and be quiet” (Hansberry 12-13). This is evident that Walter does not believe that Beneatha should become a doctor because it goes against the social norms of the time. Ruth shows determination by continuing her dream even with her family putting her down.
Beneatha is a round, dynamic character that evolves throughout the play. She comprehends herself and her general public better toward the finish of the play than toward the start. She learns to deal with the failures of the people around her. She learns that her views on African culture are based on her personal experiences not on a wholly African one. She also discovers that there are
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
Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, we see the positive and negative effects of chasing the American Dream. Hansberry expresses her different views on the American Dream through the characters and she portrays the daily struggles of a 1950 black family throughout A Raisin in the Sun. In this play, she is able to effectively show the big impact that even small decisions can make on a family. Hansberry shows the many different attachments that come with the fulfillment of this American Dream. Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, each family member has their own pursuit of happiness, which is accompanied by their American Dream.
He finally realized that he had been wrong all along, and that he should have done what was best for his family before he tried to benefit from the money for himself. This part of a poem by Langston Hughes best describes his dreams: “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun…”. That is exactly what happened to Walter’s dream, it just sat there and dried up like a raisin in the sun because he did nothing about it until he
A Raisin in the Sun was written by Lorraine Hansberry and is a play about an African American family who are struggling in the 1950’s to keep the family together. Although the play is portrayed in the 50’s many issues like the economy, racism, and family dynamics the characters had to face; these issues are still issues in the 21st century.
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.
Beneatha wanted to help people. She was the only one in the family to go to college. She had a dream to become a doctor. Beneatha felt like she wanted to help people when they were the most vulnerable. She also wanted to travel to Africa and learn about her background. Beneatha demonstrates her passion to help people when she said this, “That was what one person could do for another, fix him up – sew up the problem, make him all right again. That was the most marvelous thing in the world…I wanted to do that. I always thought it was the one concrete thing in the world that a human being could do. Fix up the sick, you know – and make them whole again. This was truly being God…I wanted to cure. It used to be so important to me. I wanted to cure. It used to matter. I used to care. I mean about people and how their bodies hurt…” Beneatha wants to be able to help people when they can not help themselves. . That is her dream. She wants to be there for the people who do not have many people there. She wants to put in the extra work in school in order to do this. She wants to be able to make a difference in her family. She also wants to be a successful black doctor. There were some successful black doctors during this time, but not many. None that the Younger family actually new. Beneatha is a strong willed woman whose intention in no way disappeared no matter what was going
Beneatha is an intellectual. Twenty years old, she attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family. Some of her personal beliefs and views have distanced her from conservative Mama. She dreams of being a doctor and struggles to determine her identity as a well-educated black woman. She realizes her brother, Walter, dislikes the idea of spending the insurance money on the college tuition but is determined to be successful in her life: “BENEATHA: What are you talking about Ruth? Listen, I’m going to be a doctor … first I’m going to be a doctor! (I.i pg. 50)” Beneatha builds her frustration upon the doubts of her brother. When Walter
	In the play A Raisin in the Sun, the playwright Lorraine Hansberry depicts the life of an impoverished African American family living on the south side of Chicago. The Youngers, living in a small apartment and having dreams larger than the world in which the live, often use verbal abuse as a way to vent their problems. Many times, this verbal abuse leads to unnecessary conflict within the family. The most frequently depicted conflict is that between Walter and his sister Beneatha. Walter wants nothing more than to be a wealthy entrepreneur that can provide for his family, while Beneatha plans to go to medical school and become a doctor. Both characters are opposed to the others’ dreams. This
There are several themes present in A Raisin in the Sun. The subjects of hope, dreams, and values are all recurring motifs throughout the play’s entirety. Despite the repressive conditions faced by the Younger family due to the racist and sexist societal views of the sixties, they still maintain a degree of hope throughout their ordeal. They hold onto the hope that, in the face of their circumstances, things will get better and they will be able to achieve their dreams. The symbolism used in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun helps emphasize the themes and tone of the play.