Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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 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.

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 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

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.

In A Raisin in the Sun the family had some ups and downs in this story because so many problems has occurred throughout the story. The family faces hardships in that moment seem to tear them apart but through everything, they always stick together. Lorraine Hansberry wrote all this characters in so many different ways because they’re all special in their own ways, and who I think brings everyone together mostly is Walter because he made some mistakes that he can’t really fix but he proves to everyone that he can always make things better but can’t reverse what he did. In the play Walter cares for everyone especially for his son and wife but he wants to dream big like he said “Cause sometimes it is hard to let the future begin!” Walter believes his dreams of a better future has came true when Willy was at the door with some good news.

Ruth, a character from Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, goes through a change in demeanor over the course of the book. In A Raisin in the Sun, Ruth begins as a woman who works day in and day out doing domestic labor to provide for her family - her husband, Walter; her son, Travis; her sister-in-law, Beneatha; and her mother in law, Lena. She is quiet-mannered and lives in a small apartment with her family, where she manages to get by. During the play, Ruth develops a stronger will, and it changes her relationships with both the people around her and herself.

In Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, Lena Younger (Mama) is the steady and cohesive influence in a family beset by internal and external turmoil. Mama fights to uphold ethical standards that her children do not always share. Although the younger generation does not initially espouse Lena’s standards, in the end, they find a greater appreciation for the dignity of her values. Mama’s emphatic proclamation that “we a people who give children life” encapsulates her entire belief system (Hansberry 1861). The theme of life forms the foundation of Mama’s values, and it guides her interactions with all members of her family. It sheds light on what Hansberry herself states about A Raisin in the Sun---that the Youngers represent “people

Do you believe it's okay to be different? In the book Raisin In the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Beneatha searches her identity throughout the play. She also wants to be different from her family. How? Beneatha tries everything in her power not to give up on her dream of becoming a doctor. Throughout this play, it shows how this African American family struggles to become successful while going through segregation and racism. Beneatha doesn’t let none of this stop her, difficult situations happen and she has to still figures out who she is. In this play you’ll see how independent Beneatha is, she doesn’t believe in God but she believes in herself and she doesn't want to follow her culture.

Each member of the Younger family had their own distinct dream, but one thing they had in common was their lack of money. Their lack of income is the greatest factor stopping them from achieving their dreams. First there is Mama who dreams of moving her family into a white neighborhood with a big yard for her to garden and her children to play. She has had this dream since her and Big Walter first moved in to the apartment they currently live in. Despite the family’s hard work over the years they cannot afford the new house. The rest of this family also share this same dream, but the one it affects the most is Mama since she has had it the longest. The next dream is Walter Lee’s. Where he wants to own his own business and become rich. His main

A Raisin in The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a story about a family who continues to struggle while reaching towards The American Dream. The American Dream is described as “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” The Youngers are a hardworking family who all have different interpretations of The American Dream. Mama, Walter, and Beneatha’s shared powerful dreams that give the a look into The American Dream. Through hardships, hectic moments, and fighting between the family gives a look that not all dreams are easy to reach, but it gets achieved in some such way.

A Raisin in the Sun by “Lorraine Hansberry A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry's play, made its critical debut on Broadway in 1959. The name comes from the anthem Harlem, generally called “delay of the other”, by Langston Hughes. It tells the story of a group of individuals who come from a poor family in the Washington Park subdivision of the Woodlawn area in Chicago, where they were trying to "better" themselves with the installation of the security after the fall of their father. In New York, experts called it the best diversion in the year 1959.

The American Dream Lorraine Hansberry in the play, A Raisin in the Sun, connects her inspiration of, “Harlem”, a short poem by, Langston Hughes throughout the progression and title of the play. Hansberry pulled the title “A Raisin in the Sun” from the third line of “Harlem”. Her inspiration of using this poem as an outline for her play brings a new light and understanding to, “Harlem” that allows for a deeper connection to the overall truths of humanity and society, as reflected her play, in the 1950s. Neither passages giving a direct or simple answer to “What happens to a dream deferred?” (Hughes, line 1).

The realist dramatic play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is basically about dreams, as the main characters fight to deal with the painful conditions that dictate their lives. This is what stuck out to me the most while reading this play. After some research, I found that the title of the play locations a guesswork that Langston Hughes well modeled in a poem he wrote about dreams that were forgotten or put off. He spectacles whether those dreams shrink up “like a raisin in the sun.” All the members of the Younger family has a distinct, individual dream.