Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun Essay

Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun, relates the story of a working-class African-American family with dreams. They are willing to rebel against the position that society has forced on them because of their race and class in order to fulfill their dreams. Walter Younger is a chauffeur who "can find no peace with that part of society which seems to permit him and no entry into that which has willfully excluded him" (Willie Loman 23). He wants to rise into wealth and live as his employer, Mr. Arnold, does. Walter feels as if he is going crazy at times. He tells Mama, "sometimes it's like I can see the future stretched out in front of me-just plain as day.... Hanging over there at the edge of my days. Just waiting for me- a

As I have written about over the last few months: A Raisin in the Sun is a play of many themes. Besides the central idea of the blacks trying to get out of the ghetto, it has many side plots. One of the most predominant of these side-plots is the role and effects of power and authority. In general, most people strive for power and control, whether they can handle it or not. Humans don’t like to be subservient to one another.

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, centers on an African American family in the late 1950s. Hansberry directs her work towards specifically the struggles faced by African Americans during the late 1950s. Through the dialogue and actions of her characters, she encourages not only a sense of pride in heritage, but a national and self-pride in African Americans as well.

The story of this play is simple and the majority of African-Americans faced such issues in the 1950’s, living on the south side of Chicago, struggles with poverty, dignity and dreams of a better life. Wanting better for your children and trying to fit in, while maintaining family values. A Raisin in the Sun is an excellent example of the relationship between family values and conflict. In this play it portrays: values and purpose of dreams, the need to fight for racial discrimination and the importance of family.

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.

In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, one of the most important themes is the American Dream. Many of the characters in this play have hopes and aspirations; they all strive towards their goals throughout the play. However, many of the characters in the play have different dreams that clash with each other. Problems seem to arise when different people’s dreams conflict with one another; such as Walter’s versus Bennie’s, George’s versus Asagai’s, and the Clybourne Park versus the Younger’s.

   “Why do some people persist despite insurmountable obstacles, while others give up quickly or never bother to try” (Gunton 118)? A Raisin in the Sun, a play by Lorraine Hansberry, is a commentary on life and our struggle to comprehend and control it. The last scene in the play between Asagai and Beneatha contrasts two contemporary views on why we keep on trying to change the future, and reaches the conclusion that, far from being a means to an end, the real meaning of life is the struggle. Whether we succeed or not, our lives are purposeful only if we have tried to make the world a better place for ourselves and others- only, in other words, if we follow our dreams.

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

Although Walter hadn’t accomplished his dream of getting a liquor licence, or Beneatha hadn’t accomplished her dream of going to school and becoming a nurse, they were taking their first big step all together. They found a starting place for their dreams and buying the house and physically moving out signified a large change in their life for a new beginning. Walter told Lindner that their family would be moving because they earned it themselves, “We have all thought about your offer and we have decided to move into our house because my father-my father-he earned it,” (254). Walter seemed to have finally understood the intentions of Mama and that the house was something they had all come together to earn and share for the beginning of their new life. The action of the play brings the ideas to life as the author describes the reactions to the events of moving from each character, it is evident through Walter’s actions that he changes as a character to support his family along with himself and shares the same values as his

Another reason why this play is considered historically accurate is because small details throughout the novel hint at possible Cold War references. Some argue that a few of the subtle phrases said in A Raisin in the Sun can be related to not only to the bombing of black families’ homes but to the rising fear of nuclear war during the 1950s and 1960s. Since nuclear testing began in the early 1950s and lasted until 1962, Hansberry’s novels, interview, and personal beliefs reflected Civil Rights activism and anti-nuclear policies (Foertsch). With this in mind, the chances of Hansberry commenting on the issues are pretty high; however, since the novel’s main focus revolves around racial discrimination and financial instability, the antinuclear commentary would act as minor details inside a story about an average black family in the 1950s.

Over the past couple weeks, I have gained a lot of knowledge on African American history and a look into their daily lives. The unit that I thought influenced me the most was unit two with "A Raisin In The Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry. The reason I thought unit two influenced me the most was because of the play "A Raisin In The Sun" and the unit readings that explained how bad the tension between the white and blacks were. I thought this was a big eye opener for me, I knew there was tension between the two races, but not as bad as to where blacks could not even live in a white neighborhood without the possibility of their house being bombed. I also learned a lot from the unit about job positions back then and how it was hard for black men to

Famed Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes no doubt had an extensive reach to the African American community at that time. However, his influence can also be traced to other writers. Lorraine Hansberry was one such writer who used a line from Hughes’ poem “Harlem (Dream Deferred)” to center her play around. She even had the poem as a preface to her tale of the Younger family just trying to make life better during the time of segregation. Within this play, A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry seamlessly applied Hughes’ concept of deferred dreams to demonstrate the struggle of the typical African American family through her title choice and the symbolism within the characters of Mama, Walter, and Beneatha.

A Raisin in the sun, is a great movie, which was talking about a story happened in the Youngers family which was a poor African-American family. One day, the family encountered a chance to get rid of poverty, because the matriarch of the Youngers received a $10,000 life insurance check, which was due to her husband’s death. This was the clue for the development of the story.

In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, the Younger Family, lives in a run down apartment building that has thin walls and one bathroom that the whole floor has to share. The Youngers are fragile family that somehow seems to keep their image strong. The family starts to fall apart when Mama Younger’s husband’s insurance check comes in the mail. The Younger’s have to fight to keep together. All the Youngers have certain dreams they want to obtain.

The American Dream has been in the hearts of people all over the United States and even worldwide for many years. It is an ideal that is not limited to age, race, or social standing, but represents family, a secure job, and a house with a car in the garage. A Raisin in the Sun explores the dreams of the Younger family and how these dreams affect their relationships with one another. Along with dreams and family, another major theme of the book is racial discrimination. These themes intertwine throughout the book by creating what will be lasting memories for the family, both good and bad. The Youngers have to take it a day at a time to decide what is really important in life.