The struggles of being African American have been very evident throughout history. To present day many African Americans (commonly referred to as "black") endure injustice and inequality. As many racial protests and movies have been made to depict such hardships, so have books. The controversial topics of racism and gender roles are spread throughout A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine Hansberry lived through such a time where racial and gender discrimination was at its highest point; which she portrays in her book. As the Younger family eventually developed into a family so do the gender issues. My goal in this paper is to identify gender injustice as it has been dominantly illustrated, whether that be where the women stand or what the men should be doing as opposed to the women having higher power. …show more content…
"The characters are, on the one hand, controlled by their gender roles, but those roles and the behavior in those roles also reflects the impact of race on the family structure" (Copenhaver 156). At times the family members clash with one another due to their attempts of enforcing their way of how the family should live. Lena Younger decides to strip Walter Lee from his control as the man of the house when she perceives his incapability to advise Ruth to not fulfill her decision of having an abortion. The family's negligence and disapproval of Walter's idea of opening up a liquor store leads him to act out. He then displays every common stereotype a male should have and so do a black women's
Money is a major struggle for some families in the 1950’s. Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin In The Sun, shows that in multiple ways. The father in the family, Walter Lee Sr. passed away, and all the family has to look forward to is the life insurance check of ten-thousand dollars. The younger family is Mama, Walter , Beneatha , and Ruth. Ruth is married to Walter and they have a son named Travis. Another thing that causes major problems is the fact that Ruth is pregnant. This causes more problems because there is barely enough room in the house to begin with.
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
Ruth being the only one not connected by blood. Walter and his sister both share dreams where they pursue something individually. Walter wanting to open up a Liquor store to help bring in a constant flow of income for the family. While his sister wishes to go off to
Hope Is a Thing That Is Believed In “ A Raisin In The Sun” a drama by Lorraine Hansberry, is based in the 1950’s in South side Chicago. The Younger family has a devastating catastrophe with a very important item to their dream. There is a way to represent the Youngers and that is symbolism, symbolism is the use of symbols to represent to represent ideas or qualities. But the Younger can get back their dream if they have HOPE, and their hope is symbolized by Mamas plant.
A Raisin in, the sun deals with the trials and tribulations of the Younger family. Facing the struggle of culture identity crisis , racial integration, death and societal barriers. All of these and more are presented to the family in order to test their will and their drive for a better life then they live now.
During the time of the book was made their were plenty of racism going around. It would take 9 years for the civil rights movement to end. Many African-Americans would still be treated not as humans. Many black families have to put up with poverty and discrimination. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is about a small African-American family living in Chicago trying to make ends meet while the family receives a large sum of money from their father’s insurance money. The family still try invest the money in a way it could help all of them. Walter cares for profits and business ideas to begin making money like big CEO’s. Walter’s ego and selfish desire to help the Younger family disrupts the family bond they have by his bad morals on life like his view on his responsibility as a father, alcohol consumption, and poor decisions of his ideas.
A go getter, someone who will do anything to succeed in life. Even though people may judge unfairly and not believe in them especially, when it comes to a color women. During the 1950’s gender equality was an important issue especially when segregation was relevant. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry shows a 1950s young colored woman fighting for what she wants. Beneatha Younger, an open minded and naive twenty year old daughter whose goal is to become a doctor and will go to extreme lengths to prove her family wrong. Her devotion to her education will lead her down a great path.
The “I Have a Dream” speech was given by Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28th, 1963. The speech was given at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The point of the speech was to bring awareness to the public about the racial inequality and what Marin dreamed the world would be like in the near future. A Raisin in the Sun, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry, had taken place in the 1960s and focuses around the Younger family. The Youngers are a black family living in the city Chicago who have just inherited a large sum of money and used it to buy a house in a white neighborhood and are bribed to leave it. The play and the speech are similar in many ways, such as it shows the struggle to achieve the American dream, acknowledges segregation, and shows racial discrimination.
Think back to some world history class. Think back to the moment learning about how the Jewish population was oppressed and powerless in Nazi Germany. What if I said a similar oppression was happening in the United States, but this one lasted about 833% longer. By using two time-testable texts, a documentary on the study of how racial bias blocked the American Dream, and an article about the Jim Crow laws, I will detail how the oppression of Blacks, especially prevalent in the contexts of housing, equal justice, and movement, diminishes power.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, feminism is defined as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” (“feminism” def. 1). In the American drama, A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha, a young college student aspiring to be a doctor, embodies the characteristics of feminism through her defiance of conventional gender roles. Throughout the course of the text, Beneatha’s family, suitors, and society alike attempt to thrust subordinance upon her, and encourage her to accept her role as a woman in America. Nonetheless, Beneatha rejects this stereotype and continually challenges misogyny. Thus, in A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry employs the character of Beneatha as a feminist figure in order to criticize the unjust role of women in the
The play, “A Raisin in the Sun” written by Lorraine Hansberry, showcases the struggles of an African American family in 1959. One of the major themes throughout the play is money, but the women’s role throughout the play make a huge statement on their suffrage back then. The women in the story are portrayed differently through each character. These women constantly fight to keep their dreams alive, but it becomes difficult because of their social status. Lena, Ruth, and Beneatha are three generations of Younger black women. Each woman dreams of a better future but have different ways of going about it. They each want to future the image of black women each in their own way. The Youngers live in a broke down apartment in Chicago, and cram[ped with five people living
A Raisin in the Sun: The Life Changing Book “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore- and then run?”
A Raisin in the sun. The play was written by Lorraine Hansberry. She was one of the first playwrights to portray such a realistic representation of an African-American life; The plot is based on real life experiences that took place in her adolescent years. For many years she had seen her parents and family members, fight publicly against the discrimination towards the black nation. Those events that took place left such an impact on her, that it encouraged her to write a play based on what had happened. The play is focused on an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950's, A family in particular ; The Youngers. In this play you will have the insights of the struggles and obstacles that the Younger's had been
Lorraine Hansberry's 'A Raisin in the Sun' showed the different ideas that African American families had during the Civil Rights era. Hansberry used each member of the Younger family was to portray the
Black men and women of the 50’s had strong, prideful attitudes. Walter had a fun side to him, like his wife Ruth. They would joke around, yet they knew when to be serious. Walter believed he was the man of the house and his opinion should be top of the list. Walter was one sided and only thought about himself. Mama tried to allow Walter to be the king, however she knew Walter was still immature and foolish. Unlike Walter, Mama, was a quite loving person who put her family first and wanted to provide a nice home for the family. She was a religious women who believed God would find a way to make her dreams come true, but Walter was a loud boisterous man who did not think about the best interest of the family. He looked for the quickest way out. Ruth, wanted the family happy and did not want to burden anyone. With a news of a new addition to the family, Ruth stresses over abortion and survival. She was the mediator between her husband and the rest of the family. She sided with her husband, but also tried to talk sense to him, unlike Bennie who liked to taunt Walter. “You are a nut,” Bennie told Walter after a discussion about the money. (pg987) Bennie was a free spirit, history seeking woman. Unlike Ruth, Bennie was