Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Hansberry, not only, played on the condition of the apartment; she used the size as well. The condition alone portrayed the despair and oppression the Youngers felt, but Hansberry wanted to make their struggle to suppress depression undeniable. She did this by placing the family of five, soon to be six, in a two-bedroom apartment with no bathroom. This small, cramped apartment also symbolized the pressures from society to divvy up the limited resources partitioned for African-Americans. By setting the scene this way, Hansberry also was able to set the mood. The feeling of tension and need for the characters to fight for their fair share is apparent in the opening act, as Ruth rushes Travis into the bathroom before the neighbors. These feelings serve as a foundation for the problems in act three between brother and sister, Ruth’s motive to have an abortion, and represent an explanation to the need so many African-Americans felt to compete against each other. Hansberry characterized the lack of resources, a common theme here, not only in the lack of space, but also in the lack of food, money, and sunlight. As conflict intensified in the small space, Mama realized that her be-loved family was falling apart and only the reality of owning a home could bring unity.

Lorraine Hansberry's  play, A Raisin in the Sun,  revolves around the positive and negative effects of achieving the American Dream. Hansberry expresses different points of views on the American Dream through the characters and she portrays the daily struggles of African American family going throughout  A Raisin in the Sun. In this play, she can effectively show true life experiences that can have a big impact on a family. Hansberry shows the many different attachments that come with the fulfillment of this American Dream. “What happens to a dream deferred” (Lorraine Hansberry). Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, each family member has their own pursuit of happiness which involves the American Dream. Today, we have similar issues related to back then because we tend to emphasize the importance of dreams. But, we still have struggles of poverty and racism in order to reach success.

Economic and societal poverty are the key forms of poverty highlighted in the three-act play, A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine Hansberry, the playwright, discusses the hardships of African-Americans attempting to emerge in society in the 1950’s. The play is staged in ways where the audience can grasp the trifles of an African-American family continuously experiencing setbacks whilst attempting to achieve their notion of the “American Dream”. To Walter Lee Younger, his idea of the “American Dream” is that anything is possible for those who have money. Unfortunately, there is a minor problem: Walter Lee Younger is a working-class African-American man who struggles to make ends meet in the Southside of Chicago, Illinois. The family undergoes

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.

The value of success contributes to the greater theme of acceptance and civic equality, by demonstrating throughout the play that it’s evident the family feels like they’re spectators watching white people go about their privileged lives. Like many African Americans felt at the time, they were outsiders that weren’t included in the opportunities that were offered to whites. Walter expresses this sadly to his wife, Ruth; “This morning, I was lookin’ in the mirror and thinking about it…I’m thirty-five years old; I been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in the living room and all I got to give him is stories about how rich white people live” (Hansberry, 34). When Mama places an investment in Clybourne Park, a predominantly white neighborhood, the residents send Mr. Linder persuade them not to move. “What do you think you are going to gain by moving into a neighborhood where you just aren’t wanted and where some elements-well-people can get awful worked up when they feel their whole way of life and everything they’ve ever worked for is threatened” (Hansberry, 119). The sibling’s dreams of success are challenged when they learn they are unwanted and viewed as second-class citizens who don’t get the opportunities that white people are presented with. Beneatha observes this and expresses her frustration with other African Americans who submit themselves to white culture and accept

In Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun,” she uses the Younger family to show that as characters strive to reach their dreams they often disdain the determinations of others but they may eventually learn to care one another in effort to better their lives. 'A Raisin in the Sun' by Lorraine Hansberry is a play about a family in the late 1940s that struggles through lack and discrimination to find the American Dream. American Dream the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. This message explores their hopes and dreams. As it shown in the book that everybody wanted to pursue their own dreams and goals. They weren’t thinking about anybody else but their self. The absence of the American Dream does infiltrate much of the play. Each main character in the play seeks to appropriate the "American Dream" in their own lives. The family consist of the Mama, the deeply Christian grandmother; her son Walter Lee, his wife Ruth and son Travis; and Beneatha, her daughter.

In the Southside of Chicago in the 1950’s, the Youngers are a typical poverty stricken family that works hard to be able to rise out of poverty. Each family member has a different dream of being able to reach this goal. Mama has the dream of owning her own house, Walter wants to be able to open a liquor store, Beneatha wants to go to school to become a doctor, and Ruth wants to move out of their current apartment. In the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry shows the effect of a deferred dream in Walter Lee’s character.

Falling into the trap of believing that reaching one’s dreams is a simple task is a fatal mistake many make. This is prominent in the case of the Younger family from the short story, “A Raisin in the Sun”, by Lorraine Younger. The story entails the journey of a colored family in a white-dominated society striving for their dreams. The Younger family believes they can achieve their dreams through overnight success, to blame others when their plans fail, and whenever there is guaranteed prosperity, to settle down.

Beneatha is a character that shows the struggles of an African American female at the time. Beneatha’s struggle is trying to become a doctor when others are telling her to give up on her dream. Walter, Beneatha’s brother, says, “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy 'bout messing 'round with sick people—then go be a nurse like other women—or just get married and be quiet” (Hansberry 12-13). This is evident that Walter does not believe that Beneatha should become a doctor because it goes against the social norms of the time. Ruth shows determination by continuing her dream even with her family putting her down.

Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, we see the positive and negative effects of chasing the American Dream. Hansberry expresses her different views on the American Dream through the characters and she portrays the daily struggles of a 1950 black family throughout A Raisin in the Sun. In this play, she is able to effectively show the big impact that even small decisions can make on a family. Hansberry shows the many different attachments that come with the fulfillment of this American Dream. Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, each family member has their own pursuit of happiness, which is accompanied by their American Dream.

As the British-American author Simon Sinek most adequately stated, “There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice.” This quote explains that with every seemingly good decision there will be consequences that come along with it. So, with Walter’s decision in a Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry to move into the white neighborhood there will be negative repercussions. Although Walter’s decision will not create the happy ending his family wanted, it is ultimately the right choice for not only the pride of his family, but also for the whole black community.

Lorraine Hansberry is a famous African American playwright. She was inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem “Dream Deferred,” she wrote an entire play based off his poem. Her play is called Raisin in the sun. This play is about the Younger family, a black family living on the Southside of Chicago. The whole family tries to make their dreams come true.

Few plays have created a vision of 1950s American life as nuanced or multi-layered as A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. The stage of the play is set in Chicago in the home of a Youngers, an African-American family that live together in a small, squalid apartment. This close-knit family, though full of different personalities, has a dynamic which drives the story forward. Lena, known as Mama by everyone in the household, is the family matriarch and recently turned widow with a fiery personality and wisdom cultivated over the years. Her elder son, Walter, is married to his wife Ruth and has a young child with her named Travis.

The story, for the most part, centers upon an African-American family, their dreams for the future and an insurance check coming in for death of the eldest man. Stirring into the mix later is the hugely oppressive,

Second, the journey in the Younger family is very important to each of an individual has tried to achieve these dreams on the road of the succeeding. All these dreams in the journey could be very great to become a billionaire and the talented leaders in society. As same as the Younger family, everyone has different treaties in life like Mama's, Beneatha, Ruth, and Walter. But first, Mama's dream was to have a beautiful house with a garden in the back yard like her husband wanted. She felt her dream that she would do everything in her life to take care the oldest son Walter with a real dream in the journey life. In addition, Walter is the oldest son of Mama, he believes that he has a dream that could open a liquor store that he have planned