Lorraine Hansberry 's A Raisin

In his 1931 book, The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams defined the American dream as, “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (Adams). Throughout the 1950s, the American Dream was a major philosophy believed by many. Much of society felt no matter what race, gender, or nationality they are, they are capable of achieving success. Within the play, A Raisin in the Sun, the characters are faced with many difficult challenges and obstacles that they strive to overcome. Each of them focus on a better life for themselves and the Younger Family. In A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor because in her perspective becoming an

Many people go through different moralities in there life some that they believe can change their life for the better but don’t know the consequences. This ties in with issues involving money. Many people believe that money is the way to happiness and do what they can to get money even if it means to hurt your loved ones. In the play “Raisin in the Sun” Walter Lee Younger is man that lives in South Side Chicago and at point in life that he’s in, he wants to do something in his life and make a difference for colored people. The way he believes he can accomplish that is by opening a bar to make money for his family while believing money is the only source of happiness. Walters ideal morality was to make sure he got his hands on the insurance money so he could open up the bar even if it meant his family would suffer when things went wrong.

“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.

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun features an African American family in the late 1950’s as they look forward to achieving their individual dreams in the era where racism and economic hardship among African Americans was the norm. While Hansberry doesn’t directly mention well-known events in the civil rights movement, she illustrates the realistic struggles an African American family would have faced during this time. In the introduction of the play, Robert Nemiroff illustrates several themes and issues that are addressed throughout Hansberry’s play. One of the subjects Nemiroff mentions is the “value systems of the black family”(Nemiroff, “Introduction,” 5-6). A main value that Hansberry illustrates throughout the play is the

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.

Lorraine Hansberry was a writer during the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement. She was the first woman, the first black person, and the youngest person to get a show on broadway with her hit A Raisin in the Sun. The name comes from Langston Hughes’ famous poem Harlem (Dream Deferred) where Lorraine got all of her inspiration from. Harlem is about what happens when you put off a dream for too long. In A Raisin in the Sun Hansberry uses the characters Walter, Beneatha, and Momma to show the consequences of deferring your dreams.

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

The play “ A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry shows three generation of women under the same roof and the struggle each women face, the dreams that they had and how they overcome the obstacle in their life to move on to something better. The women in the family has had to sacrifice a lot to make the family either happy or progress further in life.

The Big Debate One of the hardest decisions after reading a book is should i watch the movie. Most people do not want the movie ruining how good the book was. When it comes to A Raisin in the Sun, teachers may have some concerns as to reading the book or watching the movie or doing both when it comes to reading/watching something in the classrooms. Some of their concerns may include; Will it be a waste of time? , Is it even important?

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

Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin In The Sun, one is able to see the positive and negative effects that the American Dream has on the Younger family. Hansberry expresses her different views on the American Dream through the characters while portraying the daily struggles of a black family in the 1950’s. Within the play Hansberry is able to effectively show the large impact each member of the family has with every diminutive decision one of them makes. By portraying it through the characters in the play Hansberry is able to convey the message that the American Dream is always achievable.

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.

The play “A Raisin in the sun” by Lorraine Hansberry is a story about an African American family who have dreams to be successful and to improve their living conditions. Throughout the story, each character faces obstacles that they must overcome to reach their dreams.Although throughout most of the play, the characters didn’t achieve their dreams, Walter, Mama, and Ruth each got a chance to pursue their dreams once they got the $10,000 insurance check.Walter is the oldest child. He’s mostly a dreamer. His main dream is to buy a liquor store to have a better job as well as possibly getting better payments. When Mama gets the insurance check that everyone’s been waiting for, Walter already knows what he wants to do with that money. Obviously,