Compare And Contrast The Past Life In A Raisin In The Sun

Walter Lee is stubborn, very ambitious, and filled with pride at the beginning of the story. He strives for success with the money “Mama,” also known as Lena got from the life insurance from her husband who recently passed away. Walter was so selfish all he wanted was to provide a better life for he and his family because he was not satisfied with their current standards of living. He wants more and wishes to become rich because he believes he never had enough growing up, but at the same time he wants to provide money and societal respect for his family. He put his trust with the money into a person who betrayed him and he ended up losing it all including his sisters schooling money. After this scene in the play Walter was at his lowest point,

In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, and 1961 movie written by Lorraine Hansberry and presented by Columbia pictures, one of the most important themes is the American Dream. Many of the characters have hopes and dreams. They all strive towards their goals throughout. However, many of the characters have different dreams that clash with each other. Problems seem to arise when different people’s dreams conflict with one another.   Another theme is racism. Racism was rampant during the 1950’s and this often hindered African American dreams.

This only further infuriates Walter. Not only does his mother make a complete power-grab by buying the house; she bought it in a cracker neighborhood! Walter storms out and is almost ready to kill someone over it. He feels he has lost his only shot at power. Walter comes back home screaming at his whole family, they don’t support him, especially his mother. He accuses her of not supporting his dream.

She goes on dates with George but finds him boring and is offended that he finds her dreams of being a doctor stupid. She is a strong independent woman who is at the brink of being a full thrown feminist and is not at any time giving into the pressures of society to marry the richest man she can find. George is an African-American who shows no interest in his African roots, he does not like talking about Africa or talking to those who advocate it. George has completely assimilated into the American culture to gain the respect of the white people being one of the African-American families who cracked on the pressures of society assimilate. George’s wealth was not something that swayed Beneatha, his wealth sure could assist her in pursuing a medical career but she did not want to be tied by any boundaries. Asagai was different from George because he did not want to marry Beneatha to tie her down, he wants to marry her to set her free.

Walter does not feel like he is the man of the house so Mama and Walter sit down and discuss it. She tells him,

Walter instead of begging at the feet of Mr. Linder accepting the money too not move in the white neighborhood he, stands his ground on behalf of the family and states that they’ve worked hard their whole lives and are deserving of a spot in the white neighborhood, and despite discrimination are ready to live their lives in that neighborhood. At that point Walter got the respect from his sister who rarely admits her love towards him but, also the infatuation and justification from his wife, Ruth, who was very proud. When Mr. Linder tried to move onto Mrs. Younger (Mama-Lena) she state’s “I am afraid you don’t understand. My son said we was going to move and there ain’t nothing left for me to say.” (3.1.137) standing by her son and completely supporting him and his decision as the head of the household. Walter finally felt his manhood coming back, as Mr. Linder shut his briefcase and welcomed them too the neighborhood despite the problems they will face later on. The family celebrated and packed their stuff into the moving trucks immediately, and headed for the start of their new lives!

A raisin in the sun is a book by Lorraine Hansberry that tells the story of a lower-class black family's struggle to gain middle-class acceptance while facing internal family conflicts the book was written in 1959, so the movie is an interpretation of the book. Yet the movie made it seem as if Walter is a very selfish man. Reading the book brings a different visualization .The movie also was able to move to different locations, the book however, which was written originally to be acted out on stage. Yet besides all the differences, a common theme ran though in both the book and the movie

Toward the end of the play his spirit is broken, and he behaves almost like a madman, plotting to give in to Lindner and accept his offer; this action greatly worries his mother. The whole time, Walter wasn’t simply looking for a chance to follow through with his plans. He was seeking support from the system that he found himself subject to. This idea comes up in Gertrude Samuels’ Even More Crucial Than in the South. “…the real drive that is now rising ominously is a demand for personal dignity” (Samuels 1546). His personal dignity is at stake repeatedly throughout the story when he finds himself battling against a troubled family and a corrupt system.

In the playwright A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is about a poor African-American family named the Younger. This family live in a poor one bedroom apartment in the Southside of Chicago. In the play this family suffer and struggle a lot and they were always praying and wish to live in a very big house of their own. In the beginning of the play this family knows that they going to get Walter Lee Sr insurance worth 10,000 dollars that he left behind after his death for Lena ( mama). In the play this family was waiting on the check so that they share it to themselves. In the playwright Walter Lee wants to open his own type of business which is liquor store, in the other hand Lena ( mama) has always wanted to buy a big nice house with a backyard where her grandson Travis can been playing everyday. The three characters that are in the playwright are Walter Lee Younger Junior, Lena Younger (mama), and Ruth Younger this are three characters.

Walter begins to drink, stay away from home, and to constantly argue with his wife, Ruth. Walter's life is contrasted by the role of his recently widowed mother, who holds to more traditional values of acceptance of life's lot and of making the best of any situation. Walter Lee's "Mama" holds Walter's father up as an example of a man with pride and a man that, despite racial injustice in a dualistic society, worked hard to provide for his family. This adds to Walter's frustration. Walter now feels incapable and small in his mama's eyes.

Lena, Walter, Ruth, and Benaetha all live under one roof, but they all have different dreams. As Lena dreams that the dreams of her children should come true by using the money of their father’s life insurance and her family must be united in whatever economic and social circumstances they have to face. Walter Lee dreams of a liquor store. He thinks that having a liquor store; he can make his family’s economic condition good. Ruth dreams to have a wealthy and fine family, so that they don’t have to be worry for minor things. Beneatha

He is envious of the people in the establishment who can afford a higher standard of life, while he is stuck in a two room kitchen apartment, where they must share one bathroom with rest of the floormates. Walter hate seeing man around his age or even younger than him having such a lavish lifestyle because he believes that he would gotten the same type of opportunity if it was not for the color of his skin. Seeing his conversations with his mom, the readers can see that Walter feels that he is hopeless in the American

Ruth also works very and it becomes noticeable after she becomes pregnant. Lena Younger is the mother and inspirational leader of the Younger family. She knows exactly how to regulate her son and keep him in sync with his wife. Although Beneatha Younger is a very strong character younger sister to Walter she has dreams of her own and does not work or participate in the dreams of the family until the very end. The focus on these two characters is very strong and it shows the true leadership of the family. Internal conflict. Not all conflict involves other people. Sometimes people are their own worst enemies.

Miller creates the isolation surrounding Willy from the outset, Willy has just come home from one of his business trips, where he spends the whole time by himself. He is greeted by his beloved wife, Linda however instead of going upstairs to bed with her Willy stays down and starts to drift into the past, even from the first scene we see signs of Willy’s isolation. Miller uses his skilled play writing to allow us to understand that Willy is going into the past, he uses stage directions when Willy is going back in time, music is often played “a melody is heard, played upon a flute” this is an indication that he’s going into the past, this helps us understand play better, thus giving us a better understanding of Willy’s perplexed state of mind. This is our first insight that Willy is a very confused man, who is losing his mind, he drifts in and out of the past where

First, Ruth, is one of the women in the house who changes Walter’s decisions in the story. Her relationship towards him is poor. Ruth nags at the beginning, saying “Eat your eggs Walter” (Hansberry 34). This angers him because she repeats it multiple times throughout, not understanding him, showing their strained relationship. Ruth is also shown to not be on Walter’s side on multiple occasions. For example, when Walter finds out that Mama spent the money on a new house, he does not like it. Ruth however is not feeling the same way as him, and tells him “Walter honey, be glad” (Hansberry 92). Ruth tells Walter to be glad, because their views are different. Ruth thinks this was beneficial to the family, yet Walter does not. This hurts Walter throughout the story as he feels alone with no one on his side. Walter know this when he says “Cause ain’t nobody with Me! Not even my own mother!” (Hansberry 85). Since he is alone, and believes no one cares about him, he tries to fix his own mistake when he decides he will get more money saying, “That White man is going to walk in that door all to write checks for more money than we ever had.” (Hansberry 143). Ruth does not like Walter’s idea, but he does not care as no one is on his side, which disappoints Ruth.