Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

According to writer Gerald Weales, "The play is concerned primarily with his [Walter's] recognition that, as a man he must begin from, not discard, himself, that dignity is a quality of men, not bank acounts." (Gunton 183) Walter was very impulsive, not lending enough thought to his actions. He faced so much humiliation that he was willing to sacrifice his dignity in order to climb the socio-economic ladder. A problem that Walter had was that he focused to heavily on his dream and neglected more precious things in life, such as his family's emotions. Sadly though, Walter did not understand or evaluate his dream of success. Weales stated, "Walter Lee's difficulty, however, is that he has accepted the American myth of success at its face value, that he is trapped...by a false dream." (Gunton 183) Many black Americans chased false dreams as they tried to assimilate into a system that worked differently for them. Julius Lester, who thought that Walter blindly pursued his dream wrote, "Walter was castrated by the blade of the American dream, but...blamed the

Walter has long dreamed of making his family’s condition better, of giving them wealth that his low-paying job is unable to do. Nature appears to be against Walter and his family, for they are living in a poorly maintained tenement apartment while surrounded with racism. Walter understands this

Throughout the story “A Raisin in the Sun”, Lorraine Hansberry creates the theme of the story by introducing tension between the characters on what each ones dream is in life.

The play A Raisin in the Sun was a fantastic book that had a lot of life lessons within. A Raisin in the Sun was written by Lorraine Hansberry. Lorraine Hansberry was born on May 19, 1930, and grew up in Chicago’s south side just like the characters in the play. This play was first produced on Broadway in 1959, and its success made Hansberry the first African American playwright to win the Best Play of the Year Award from the New York Drama Critics. This play falls under the genre of a dramatic tragedy. The name of the play came from a line for the poem called Harlem or Dream Deferred, written by Langston Hughes. In the poem Hughes asks, “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”. The theme for this unit is The Realization and Disillusionment of the American Dream. Rafael Cruz stated, “ Only in America can someone start with nothing and achieve the American Dream. That is the greatness of this country”. In the play the Youngers became disillusioned with the American Dream.

This only further infuriates Walter. Not only does his mother make a complete power-grab by buying the house; she bought it in a cracker neighborhood! Walter storms out and is almost ready to kill someone over it. He feels he has lost his only shot at power. Walter comes back home screaming at his whole family, they don’t support him, especially his mother. He accuses her of not supporting his dream.

Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun opened in a New York theater March 11, 1951. This play, although based on Hansberry’s own life and personal experiences was also inspired by Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem”. Hansberry used this play to tell the story of a 1950’s African American family trying to better themselves. She also used this play to shine a light on the issue of racism that were prominent during this time frame. This highly successful play “ran for 530 performances and was nominated for the 1960 Tony Award for best play”, and has had several adaptations made in its honor(Aurora). Despite the fact that these adaptations were made to equal the original play there are many differences between them and their predecessor.

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.

He finally realized that he had been wrong all along, and that he should have done what was best for his family before he tried to benefit from the money for himself. This part of a poem by Langston Hughes best describes his dreams: “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun…”. That is exactly what happened to Walter’s dream, it just sat there and dried up like a raisin in the sun because he did nothing about it until he

Maybe it just sags / Like a heavy load. / Or does it explode?” (7). Walter is a resentful man and he no longer had any hope. His dreams are like a sore, which can spread to the surrounding skin and affect his relationship with his family.

Hansberry’s most popular play, A Raisin in the Sun, was inspired by Hughes’ poem, “Dream Deferred.” The purpose of Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is to answer the question in “Dream Deferred” of what happens to a dream deferred. In her play, A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses Mama, Walter, and Beneatha to show the negative consequences that occur when a dream is deferred. First, Hansberry uses Mama Younger to show the negative consequences that occur when a dream is deferred. Mama is a strong black woman living on the south side of Chicago, trying to make a good life for her family.

The American society that Walter has grown up in has alienated him into believing that wealth and money will fix the poverty that his family suffers. Sadly, Walter and his family live in south side Chicago where there is unofficial segregation, which prevents black people from benefiting from the opportunities given to the white people. In Langston Hughes’ “Harlem,” Hughes writes, “What happens to a dream deferred…Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”, which mirrors the desperation that Walter feels. This line is significant because a raisin had the potential as a grape but over time became dried up. Similar to a raisin, Walter and his family have the potential of becoming financial secure however the societal boundaries for black people have prevented the Youngers from escaping the cycle of poverty that they face.

Lorraine Hansberry sought to counter the growing white liberal criticism of the racial militancy expressed by a younger generation of African Americans. She wanted to change the way people treated African Americans, she wrote the play, A Raisin in the Sun, to express her feelings to the people reading her play. It changed people’s perspectives on segregation which made her play very popular. Lorraine shows the development of Walter by his conflicts with Mama, treatment of Ruth, and Beneatha, that when trying to achieve a dream, it is hard to live up to people’s expectations. Lorraine Hansberry, the author of, A Raisin In The Sun, is a woman with powerful opinions about segregation and fairness.

After years of hard working on low-paid jobs, living in poverty, and being someone’s servant, he finally realizes that he does not want to live this way any longer. Therefore, Walter Lee with his two friends decides to invest in a liquor store and establish their own business. To make that happen, he needs money, and that is why his mother’s financial support is very important for him. The $10,000 insurance check is as an incentive does not give him rest, and all his thoughts are occupied with the idea of how to get rich and get his family out of the abyss of poverty and racism. As Ruth mentions to Mama when she tries to convince her to help Walter “he got his heart set on that store”; it is Walter’s big dream (949).

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.

A Raisin in the Sun is written by a famous African- American play write, Lorraine Hansberry, in 1959. It was a first play written by a black woman and directed by a black man, Lloyd Richards, on Broadway in New York. The story of A Raisin in the Sun is based on Lorraine Hansberry’s own early life experiences, from which she and her whole family had to suffer, in Chicago. Hansberry’s father, Carol Hansberry, also fought a legal battle against a racial restrictive covenant that attempted to stop African- American families from moving in to white neighborhoods. He also made the history by moving his family to the white section of Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood in 1938. The struggle of Lorraine Hansberry’s family inspired her to write the