Character Analysis Of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

In some plays the experience of an important character changes him or her. In others the experiences of an important character leaves him or her almost completely unchanged. In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Lee Younger goes from being selfish to being the man his family needs. The road to becoming the man they needed was very rocky and difficult at times.

In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry shines a spotlight on Beneatha who reinvigorates the belief that freedom is life, and while the Younger family may be free in some ways, society still attempts to confine them in others. Throughout the play Hansberry depicts the restrictions that society has placed on the hopes and dreams of the family, specifically those of Beneatha, Walter, and Mama. Hansberry thus conveys that assimilating into society is negative because by assimilating one is submitting to the limitations society attaches to one’s labels.

Mothers are typically seen as kind, loving, and nurturing, at least in a perfect world, that’s how they are. Rather, in the real world many of us wish that is how all mothers are. Various situations can lead to a woman to be too mothering. It is a factor that transcends real life. This conflict causing dynamic is very prevalent in numerous stories, films, and plays. Two plays where it is shown in significance are Machinal and The Glass Menagerie. In both cases, the actions taken by the mother roles in the shows, resulted in some of the character’s roles ending in unfortunate events of some sort.

I have an internal conflict right now, and will probably last for the next 3 years. I do not know what I want to be when I grow up. People say you have time left, but three year is going to go by really fast. I feel like I am not going to know what I want to by the time I graduate. Your sophomore year in high school is picking out a career, so I am worried.

Mama was a person that was upfront but she was also person that Liesel could rely on when everything looked to be going downhill. Rising action: in the rising action of the story liesel

In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha Younger is the highly motivated, opinionated daughter of Lena Younger. As a black woman attending college with intentions of becoming a doctor, she is a trailblazer character whose goals stand out among the rest. With such independent desires and arduous goals to meet, Beneatha does not dwell on her romantic life. Her focus lies in her future, not the boys who court her. Beneatha is more than willing to consider the possibility of being single her entire life, seemingly unbothered when she poses the idea (Hansberry, 739). Beneatha believes in her ability to succeed in medical school because of her positive attitude, analytical opinions and wholesome values. Hansberry writes Beneatha as

In Everyday Use, Mama is described as a big-boned woman with rough hands that were worn from years of hard labor. She wore overalls, and was both mother and father to her daughters’ Dee and Maggie. Mama was very poor and uneducated like most during this era, she wasn’t given the opportunity to escape her rural lifestyle. Although she was a loving mother, her outspoken, upfront nature forbids her from lying when it comes to her daughters downfalls. Mama understanding of her heritage wouldn’t allow her to let Wangero (Dee) to take the family quilts (P.78).

Ambition is one of many key roles that take place in an individual's life. Many have the ambition to fulfill their dream of becoming of what they want to be. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry demonstrates a family like no other. Hansberry shows a very smart, young African American woman. Beneatha Younger, an ambitious, childish, educated young woman in her twenties. Beneatha attends college and will go to any length to reach her goal on becoming a doctor. Throughout the play, she faces many difficulties, but will not let anything or anyone in the way of becoming a doctor, which was not commonly seen in the late 1950s, due to the segregation still occurring throughout this time period. But, nothing will stop her from accomplishing

In the play, A Raisin In The Sun, Mother tries to keep everything under control because she believes in her children and their dreams, yet understands that they still need to learn and strengthen their value's as they begin to realize their own aspirations. She is the head of the family around whom the conflicts arise and are resolved.

   “Why do some people persist despite insurmountable obstacles, while others give up quickly or never bother to try” (Gunton 118)? A Raisin in the Sun, a play by Lorraine Hansberry, is a commentary on life and our struggle to comprehend and control it. The last scene in the play between Asagai and Beneatha contrasts two contemporary views on why we keep on trying to change the future, and reaches the conclusion that, far from being a means to an end, the real meaning of life is the struggle. Whether we succeed or not, our lives are purposeful only if we have tried to make the world a better place for ourselves and others- only, in other words, if we follow our dreams.

     Family values are the context of Mama’s second nurturing lesson to Beneatha. After a conflictive encounter with her brother, Beneatha expresses a lack of respect and love for Walter. Lena Younger first quickly ensures that she correctly heard her daughter. Although Mama does not come across as gentle as she has in the past, her

The United States is very popular and well-known for its widely diverse population. In America, there are: Africans, Catholics, Buddhist, Mexicans, Spaniards, etc. Many people of American are stripped of their culture and are expected fit in into the basic American image. Regardless of how diverse we may seem diversity and individuality are not the new standards encouraged more than uniformity and conformity. It is the exact opposite in the view of many people of America.

   We can learn a great deal by observing a given moment in history. The politics, fashion, and religion of a given society reveal the inner workings of the individuals that combine to make the society functional. While every society is different and unique, there are universal themes that apply to every society; the need to eat and sleep as well as the concept of "family" exist in all societies. In Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," we are witness to the common drama that occurs within a family set in a specific historical period.

Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes met in the 1950s in Harlem while Lorraine was working for the newspaper called Freedom. Shortly, they became friends because of their shared views and similar interests. Hansberry and Hughes were both writers, and worked in the NAACP together to move against African American discrimination. Hughes was mostly famous because of his poetry and social activism. Hansberry was well known because of her plays and her push against racial discrimination.

Lorraine Hansberry uses symbolism and imagery in the play to describe the tough times and hardships in the life of an urban African American family. She is clever when she uses symbolism and imagery. She is able to portray a feeling of what it was like.