Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

       Lena, Walter, Ruth, and Beneatha Younger all lived under the same roof, but their dreams were all different. Being the head of the household, Lena dreamed the dreams of her children and would do whatever it took to make those dreams come true. Walter, Lena's oldest son, set his dream on the liquor store that he planned to invest with the money of his mother. Beneatha, in the other hand, wanted to become a doctor when she got out of college and Ruth, Walter's wife, wanted to be wealthy. "A Raisin in the Sun" was a book about "dreams deferred", and in this book that Lorraine Hansberry had fluently described the dreams of the Younger family and how those

Hansberry develops this particular issue by illustrating how important success is to the second generation of the Younger family, Walter and Beneatha. After a long heritage of slavery and servitude, the Younger siblings want to take advantage of this age of social reform and break from the binding traditions that have beset their race in the past. Mama illustrated this when she says, “Son – I come from five generations of people who was slaves and sharecroppers – but ain’t nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth. We ain’t never been that poor. We ain’t never been that – dead inside” (Hansberry, 143). They view the expected income of $10,000 in insurance money as a gateway to get what they each desire and achieve success. Walter Younger feels degraded and miserable in his job as a

Walter Lee, at the beginning of the play is hopeful to reach his dream. He expresses his excitement to Ruth and explains how his family’s life would be different if he was able to reach his dream. Walter talks

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.

He is on the most important characters that influenced the plot because of his deportment in the scenes the class has read, deportment is his behavior and manners. Walter became very selfish, he believed that he should have a say with what happens with the insurance money, which accumulates several problems between Walter and all the other characters in the house. In fact, there is a great deal of hostility between Walter, Ruth, and Mama. Walters actions have even threatened Ruth and his marriage. It shows that, as a character Walter is becoming shallow and he is losing family value. In one of his arguments between him and Ruth, Walter exclaimed, “and you turn mine too, baby! That was my biggest mistake.” In these two short sentences Walter is telling Ruth that is biggest mistake was marrying her. With Walter saying this leaves the question, that will Walter and Ruth remain married or are their problems larger than they

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, is a great example of the struggles faced by an impoverished black family; who strive to deal with the realities of life on the ghetto side of South Chicago. Written in the 1958, this play illustrates the destructive consequences of impecuniousness and repression on African American families. Throughout the play, Hansberry (who is he, describe) shows the day-to-day struggles of a black family and explains the different perspectives on the American Dream. Each character in the play have their own hopes and dreams, however, these end up clashing with one another. Hansberry uses the Younger family to show that despite oppression and subjugation; a dream to live a better life is achievable with family unity and support.

By doing this Walter puts himself in the pothole and loses his wife’s and sister’s trust. Secondly, Walter’s dream is obstructed by the shamelessness that exists in his body. If Walter is not able to get what he wants, he will stop caring about life, and anything else. Generally speaking, he will be shameless. After Mama bought the house, Walter felt depressed and spent three days in leisure.

Mama realized that she had put everyone’s dreams above Walter’s. His dream had been neglected prior to him openly expressing how his job made him feel inferior and he felt as if he could not provide for his family, which he desperately desired to accomplish. He needed to take on the responsibilities as the head of the house for himself.

"A Rasin In The Sun" is written by Lorraine Hansberry. Most of Hansberry's work is about the struggle of African American's during 1950's. Hanberry was the first African-American women to have her play played on Broadway. "Seems like God don't see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worthwhile" as said by Lorraine. A Raisin in the sun is about a family who is facing economic hardship and racial prejudice. The theme of the play is Dream; American dream for the colored family.

Then when he does fail he blames his failures on other people who are close to him, this is shown when he makes the remark of, "No thanks to the colored women." (Hansberry 35). Walter fails to understand that his wife gives him continual support, which ties into one of his "harmatias" which is his ability to make rash decisions. Ruth, is a very important character in this story for the fact that she has the opportunity to do something amazing, that is go to medical school. But in Walters' everlasting foolishness invests in a liquor store instead of her college funds. It is this rash decision made by him that causes feuds within the family.

Walter Is money hungry, He over exaggerates and exclaims how he wants things, things that he's always wanted, he says to mama “ I want things That they are driving me kinda crazy... Mama, look at me” (Walter, 1.2.222) Walters desires are complex to the point that it’s becoming a hazard to him.

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.

Has money ever been so important to you that you forget about family values? In A Raisin in the Sun, a play by Lorraine Hansberry, the mother and her son Walter argue over money and religion. The source of their conflict is the $10,000 that they received from their father’s life insurance. Walter and 2 of his partners attempt to open a liquor store, however Mama is an honest Christian woman and she believes that investing in a liquor store is not right, whereas Walter believes that it could change their lives if their store succeeds.

The book A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry demonstrates the need to fight racial discrimination. Hansberry shows racism issues through the characters in the story, especially Beneatha and Mr. Lindner. A Raisin in the Sun establishes the problem of racism by the discrimination of the Younger family, such as when Mr. Lindner tells that family not to move and when Beneatha changes her hairstyle so she will fit in with everyone else. Mr. Lindner exposes racism in the story by showing up at the Younger’s apartment and giving them an offer and in return they would not move to their new house.

All of the significant characters in the play have dreams. Walter wants to start a business in order to better support his family. Beneatha, his sister, wants to get an education to become a doctor. Mama and Ruth want their family to be happy. They all believe that their lack of money is holding them back, so when they receive the insurance check they believe they will finally be able to achieve them.