Analysis of A Raisin in the Sun Essay

The era during which a drama is written can altogether change or exemplify certain motives, that if written in another time, would not only be misread but could also possibly be entirely unrecognized. It is during the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, that two prominent dramatists, Amiri Baraka and Lorraine Hansberry, sought the perfect opportunity to create plays that brought forth, with earnestness and directness, the great trials faced daily by African-Americans throughout the United States. Through their two protagonist's interactions with a representation of the white race of that time, Walter Lee's handling Mr. Lindner in A Raisin In the Sun, and the oppression of Clay caused by Lula in The Dutchman, the very the

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry shows how people’s actions can be perceived as both good and bad. In this play, the Younger family is trying to achieve the American dream, “the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American”(cite dictionary.com). The Youngers are a black family living in a poor part of Chicago. The family inherits ten thousand dollars from a relative. Each family member has their own idea about how to use this money to fulfill their dreams. The play uses the decisions of the family members to make the reader think about what are the right choices. Mama is the matriarch of the family, and she wants to use the money to buy a house in a white neighborhood. She wants to move to this neighborhood because it is a better environment for her family. Lindor is a man who lives in the white neighborhood and he appears to make decisions for the benefit of the family. The decisions that Mama and Lindor make and the actions they take can be viewed as good or bad for both the individual and the community.

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

We all work with one. Maybe you live with one. Or maybe we've done it ourselves...pretending to know something we don't, trying to act like something we're not. Why do people do this? Pride. Some are afraid to admit that they just don't know something, they want to appear intelligent than they are and so they stretch the truth about themselves or embellish certain things they say. This is what Walter Lee of A Raisin in the Sun was doing as he conversated with his sister's date, George, about business plans. Walter Lee was THAT guy. He had goals. He had dreams. He was also desperate and thought he knew it all. Prometheus was a Greek god that was known for his sly intelligence. As annoyed George exits the conversation, he bids Walter "Good

The play is set in a slum near the Brooklyn Bridge. In the story the

Just as any well composed story or film, in A Raisin in the Sun there are structural elements that strategically map the play. Moreover, I contend that the inciting incident would be the fact that the family was expecting a large life insurance check from the death of Mr. Walter Lee Younger, Sr. In the 1950s, $10,000 was a large amount of money, especially for working class African Americans. It was not surprising that everyone in the family had their own plans as to how they would have liked to spend the lump-sum amount of money. The crisis point of the plot, then, would be the fact that the Younger family was an African American working class family, struggling financially during a time of high racial prejudice—the civil rights era. The rising action would include Ruth getting pregnant with a second child, Mrs. Younger using some of the insurance money to make a down payment on a new house, Mrs. Younger giving Walter the remaining amount of the insurance check, and ultimately, Walter investing the money into a liquor store. The climax of the story would be when Walter found out that his business partner ran off with the insurance money, and consequently, the family loses over half the insurance money to the null investment. The falling action? Walter refused to accept Mr. Lindner’s offer to buy the family out of the new neighborhood, and the family finally moved into a new, spacious home in a new neighborhood.

This play was an inspiring and motivational. I had a deep connection with this play by how they portray the Tuskegee airmen and the difficulties they faced in their time. They had to earn the respect from their peers. They have many challenges they have to face to accomplish this goal. many African Americans faced many government difficulties later on in the 1960’s leading to the Civil Right movement. Where many African Americans fought equality. In today’s society, there is much racial discrimination we face today. There are many tragic stories where cops killed innocent black teens. With a lot of killing of young African men, a group is developing for the protection for African Americans.

Name and significance: Walter which means “Commander of the Army” wants to be the head of the family and wants to make decisions on his own to show his manhood and his capability of being the man of the house. But he is also tired of living in a world where he is judged based off his color and race.

Demi Lovato Once said, “No matter what you're going through, there's a light at the end of the tunnel and it may seem hard to get to it, but you can do it and just keep working towards it and you'll find the positive side of things.” A play, A Raisin in the Sun, was written in 1959 by Lorraine Hansberry. The play is about the Younger family who wants to move out of their neighborhood for a new beginning. Among each Younger, they each face a conflict that is related to money.Lorraine Hansberry reveals her idea through the character Beneatha.

The play has edge, humor and a significant powerful meaning that relates to the black community. “The Director of Theatre Arts, Jonathan McCrory, TAP mounts a season of three full productions each year, including two main stage productions and one workshop production” (NationalBlackTheatre.org). The workshop allows TAP to engage with the community through feedback and discussion bringing the community and the theater close together.

In our lives money, dreams, and identity play big roles of our lives. Is life fulfilled with money? Is our identity important to us? Do we need dreams to live? After reading the book “A Raisin In The Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, it has showed me that dreams, identity and money has become important subjects in our lives.

A Comparative Study of “A Raisin In The Sun” (1959) Based On Scholarly Articles by Effiong and Kodat: Perfect Examples Of How Different Scholarly Critiques View The Same Story In Literature “A Raisin in the Sun” is one of the best-selling short stories of the 20th century, written by Lorraine Hansberry. She was the first black person to ever do a playwright acted on Broadway. The two critical essays by Effiong, Philip Uko, and Kodat, Catherine Gunther both agree on the skill and passionate style of the writer but Kodat believes the book was inspired by the social situation in the 20th century America and Effiong holds that the African oppression by the European colonialists is the first breath to all of Hansberry’s writing. The book addresses several philosophical but realistic issues in human life such as the idea of deferred dreams (Hansberry).

Poverty is always a great place to start a story, yet is there a lesson to be learned if the characters ends up right where they started? That is one of the several predicaments in the story “A Raisin in the Sun” by Afro American writer Lorraine Hansberry. The story takes place in Chicago during the late 1950’s the civil rights era, and the most prevalent question is what makes an African American different to any other person. The story dives deep into what that is through the use of money, as the family who is generally poor finds themselves with money to start a new life someplace new and fresh. One who does not have an equal opportunity or results, as others do resent the system for that reason that the system favors those that are “normal”.

Let me first just say that you are a very admirable woman. You overcame every obstacle that you faced and ended up accomplishing many inspiring successes. You were the first African American woman to be a playwright on broadway while also being the youngest American playwright and the fifth woman to receive the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best play. Aside from your work as a play wright being an activist for African American rights and gay rights is very honorable seeing that your work was published during the center of the Civil Rights Movement.

When the play was being written, there were social changes. A fight called Civil Rights focused on having a black civil rights movement which has been going on for many years and it was finally changed in the 60’s. Two events occurred called the Brown vs. Board of Education and Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. The Brown vs. Board of Education focused on separating black and white children schools. Martin and Malcolm had civil rights movements demanding to change the systems of rights among race.