Lorraine Hansberry 's A Raisin

“Mama-sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool quiet looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking bout things…sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars…sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me’’- (1.2.226). A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry was published in 1959, develops the plot of an African American family facing a war against racism in the slums of Chicago.

Broward College, Central Campus Theater in building 6, on Sunday, the 1st of November. The play was performed by Broward College students. The type of stage was Proscenium stage with extended apron. I thought it was a little bit small, but it did not show as a problem. The pre-show was dark and a feel of suspense. I felt excited to see how everything would play out. The play takes place down south of Chicago in the 1950’s.

Being black in America means to exist while subconsciously striving to reach out and own that imaginary white picket fence. You know, that nice house nested inside that white picket fence in that wonderful neighborhood with the perfectly cut grass on top of that sunny hill along with the perfectly paved roads leading up to it. African Americans see it all the time in televisions, magazines and newspaper ads. As poor blacks invest their life’s work in trying and subsequently failing to achieve this imaginary dream, they end up devouring any sense propriety remaining in their life; the play A Raisin in The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry exemplifies this tragedy.

In Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” (1959), she reveals the life of the Youngers family. In doing so, there surfaces a detrimental ideology that destroys the family financially and in their overall happiness. In Act II Scene I, Walter, the father figure of the family, says, “Why? You want to know why? 'Cause we all tied up in a race of people that don 't know how to do nothing but moan, pray and have babies!” (Hansberry 532). By way of explanation, the family and much of the African-American community for the 1960’s, is built upon a loose ideology that is a brutal cycle that infects the lives of those who inhabit the area; tired of all the commotion from the Caucasians who, to them, miraculously achieve a life of ruling and

Lena Younger became the head of the household upon the death of her husband. She moved from the south to the north to better herself and her life. Lena dreams and aspirations are link to those of her family. She does not aspire to be more than what she is, but she wants more for her family. Lena is struggling to understand how money as became such a big part of her family. She cannot comprehend the way her children are acting, when they were brought up better than that. Beneatha rejecting God by saying it is just man who does all the work and does not get the praise. She is just expressing the family situation in way that maybe Lena would have been able to understand. Lena wants Walter Lee to stand up and become the man he can be; she wants him to feel he is a man, so she decided to give the chance to be the head of the family by giving him the rest of the insurance money to put in an account to manage.

There is no doubt that Lorraine Hansberry uses her play, A Raisin in the Sun, as a platform to give her opinions and observations on the black community and of the racism they faced in the mid-1900s. Her play is filled with commentary

According to a 2017 publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter, black men in America earn 80% of what white men earn (Daley, Bart, Joseph). This illuminates the wage disparity and the notion that America is racially biased in terms of compensation. Power is often determined by the amount of money one has. How power is determined by race and skin color is a central theme in both A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It is also exemplified in US history, as shown in the documentary, American Dilemma. These sources show that the power of colored people is extremely diminished by their lack of access to good jobs and therefore money.

In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry utilizes the insurance check to symbolize the American Dream as the check provides the members of Younger family with the opportunity to achieve their aspirations. The concept of the check reveals Walter’s and Mama’s perceptions of themselves and of their lifestyle, and their responses to the check reveals their contrasting approaches for escaping their impoverished world; therefore, Walter’s and Mama’s characteristics and reaction to the arrival of the check ultimately emphasize the racist nature of society that restricts opportunities for advancement for African Americans in the 1960’s. Hansberry illuminates Mama’s power within the household as she makes all of the decisions regarding the insurance check. Additionally, Hansberry highlights her dignity and pride in her African American heritage as she intends to escape poverty through providing structure and decent, secure living for her family, which she intends to achieve through buying a house. In contrast, with the arrival of the check, Walter exposes his weak identity through disappointment and hatred for his job and his lifestyle. His desire to invest the insurance money in a liquor store presents his desperation for financial success and control over his destiny. Ultimately, Hansberry utilizes the check as a symbol for the American Dream for the Younger family; thus, with its arrival, Mama and Walter reveal their opposing identities in the household and different intentions

Broadway in 1959. A character named Walter Lee invisions to buy a liquor store in his poverty.

In Lorraine Hansberry’s play “Raisin in the Sun” many of the characters struggle to achieve their dreams and often have them deferred due to race and gender. In the play, an African American family must learn how to live in a time period where racial segregation and gender inequality is normal and obvious. In the 1900s, men saw women as less superior. In Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem”, it explains how dreams are deferred when it comes to the African American population. Hughes writes: “Does it dry up, /like a raisin in the sun?”(2-3). Hughes and Hansberry want to let everyone know the hardship African Americans dealt with and that at often times, their dreams were deferred. Racism made it difficult for some African American families to make

In the novel, A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry , shows the reader how society was viewed back then in the 1950s .It was tough for african american lives. An African american family living on the southside of Chicago in the 1950s. The play opens from receiving a 10,000 thousand dollar insurance check to do whatever they want with it. Living with five people in a tiny- one bedroom apartment puts the environment pressures high. The book portrays the idea of a dream within all the African american characters shown differently and the different struggles they have to live with in a world of racism, social standards/higher expectations, and regret fullness. Walter Lee Younger, the man of the house, truly encapsulates the American

Lorraine Hansberry created the play "A Raisin in the Sun". A Raisin in the Sun recounts an anecdote about The Youngers who is a poor African American family living on the Southside of Chicago. A chance to escape from neediness comes as a $10,000 extra security watch that the female authority of the family (Lena/Mama) gets upon her significant other 's passing. Lena 's kids, Walter and Beneatha, each have plans with the cash. The most established child, Walter (a man of 35 with a spouse and a youthful child), wishes so anxiously to put resources into an alcohol store. The more youthful sister, Beneatha, presently an undergrad, needs to utilize the cash for therapeutic school. Lena has arranged too for the cash which is to purchase a house

How does a man that struggles to provide for his family while wanting to pursue big personal goals handle his life? For many men, that is a very good question that with a tough answer. In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter Lee Younger faces the difficult challenge of raising a family in the 1950s Chicago, which is a heavily racist era. He wants nothing but the best for his family, while also trying to make a name for himself. Walter Lee Younger undergoes many emotional and personality changes, trying to find himself and find out how to provide for his family. From being a man as stubborn as a rock, to one who has learned to appreciate the situations given to him and his family, Walter shows that there can more to life than money

The book Raisin in the sun took place in the 1950’s it was in Chicago southside in this era there was racism and segregation. The character is Walter and the theme is money and morality. Walters choice on using the money for the liquor store shows how insensitive he is and doesn't even think about his mother's opinion on the matter.

Raisin in the Sun when racism was everywhere and African Americans were still maids and still worked for the white people. Every African americans were struggling to maintain their family other than if you go to school which involves money. Walter is someone who cares more about money then his own family. When Walters father died the family ended up get insurance money and Walter wanted to take the money for himself. When Walter thought about the money he goes overboard and treats his family bad and loses his morals. Throughout the play Walter cares more about money and doesn't have morals because he went against his family for the sake of having money, he was selfish against his family because they ¨don't understand¨ him, and he doesnt show love towards they people that care for him.