Manhood In Langston Hughes's A Raisin In The Sun

“A Raisin in the Sun” and "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)," written by Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes, respectively, represent the complimentary themes of dreams. “A Raisin in the Sun” depicts a family’s struggle for survival. The Younger family who lives in Southside, Chicago, fights for their civil rights during the 1960’s. They each have dreams and goals. Hughes illustrates, in “Harlem” that sometimes dreams dry up like raisins in the sun. Two stories analytically provide unexpected irony at the end. Jason Miller’s article, “Foreground and Prereading,” references these pieces to illustrate ideas and obstacles in the character’s lives – defining how obstacles strengthen the family’s perseverance while demonstrating how dreams and hopes can be deferred but are not soon forgotten.

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore– And then run?" (Langston Hughes). It is important to never lose sight of one’s dream. Dreams are what keep people moving in life, but if they are ignored, they may morph and lose their prevailing form. This is evident in Lorraine Hansberry’s "A Raisin in the Sun", as Walter’s, Beneatha’s, and Mama’s dreams become delayed, distorted, and blurred.

Throughout the play A Raisin in the Sun by Larraine Hansberry, one theme is persistent and that is the theme of manhood. Manhood has the ability to be defined in many different ways depending on the person and the situations that they currently face. This statement parallels the play as each man in the story has a different idea manhood and how they should carry themselves. This play also brings in the idea that manhood can change within oneself to accommodate a new situation. The three main ideas of manhood in the play stem from two characters, one idea from Joseph Asagai, and the others from Walter Lee Younger. Joseph Asagai’s definition of manhood is being close to one’s roots and being able to better one’s community. Walter Lee Younger’s begins the play believing manhood is being able to provide for your family and later in the play it switches to being able to protect and stand up for your family.

According to Vocabulary.com, a sympathetic character in literature is a character who is likable or who evokes feelings of sympathy from the audience. A prime example of a sympathetic character is Walter Lee Younger from A Raisin in the Sun. This is because he is the protagonist, his qualities are highlighted well, he is a victim, and he is a sacrificer..

In Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” he discusses the idea of unfulfilled dreams and their plausible outcomes using symbolism and imagery. He initially describes a “deferred” dream as a sun-dried raisin, depicting the dream originally as a fresh grape that now has dried up and “turned black” (Jemie 63). This idea provides Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun with its basic foundation, for it is a play about a house full of unfulfilled dreams. As the poem goes on, Hughes depicts the idea of a deferred dream as something rotten or gone bad. According to Onwuchekwa Jemie, this may be an allusion to the American Dream and its empty promises (Jemie 64).

At the beginning of the play “A Raisin in the Sun” the main characters from the play all demonstrate that they have dreams for themselves and all of them deal with how they identify with themselves. These dreams are, for Walter, to be perceived as wealthy, for Beneatha to be independent, and for Mama to continue what she and her husband started to own their own house with space for everyone. These characters had to comprehend their own identity to settle on the whole family’s dream of moving to a middle-class neighborhood, and how that dream fulfilled all their dreams. Walter’s dream of appearing wealthy stems from him wanting a better life for himself, his wife Ruth, and his son Travis. He believes he can accomplish this by investing in a liquor store and changing his financial standing. Walters dream is exposed when he discusses it with his son Travis:

A Raisin in the sun shows the hardship many need to face in order to attain this notion of the American Dream. The book did more than then just show what everyone faced, she shows the struggles that many African American families had to face when trying to achieve the notion of the American Dream. She does this by showing the environment that many African American lived in when there was bombing in the neighborhood or when white people would force African American who finally bought a home, out. Lorraine also shows the struggles of the characters of the book like Walter who struggles with the decision he makes and the contradictions that stop him from achieving his goals of being wealthy or when Beneatha goes against the norms of society

In the short play A Raisin in the sun conflict’s both internal and external occure for in three of the main characters regarding their dreams. When the opportunity came for them to accomplish their dreams through using the insurance money they’ve come across from the loss of a family member, one of the main characters, Walter, wishes to be successful in life; but he needs the insurance money to do so. He wants to use the insurance money to open up a liquor store because he believes this would change his life. A exceptional quote that shows his determination to be successful in life is when he speaks to Ruth “You tired, ain’t you? Tired of everything. Me, the boy. The way we live-this beat up hole-everything”(

No matter how hard they try, there are some people who cannot get ahead in life. Walter Lee Younger is a man who is frustrated with his current position in life, and every disappointment he has encountered thus far. Although he tries to be a loving man, sometimes he does not know how to show the idea of love, 'Sometimes...sometimes...I don't even know how to try' (Hansberry 89). His position in life can be regarded as symbolic of every black male struggling to provide for his family by any means necessary. Although Walter has a job, it seems inadequate for his survival. As a result, he has become frustrated and lacks good judgement. Throughout this play Walter searches

       The epigraph and title of the play, A Raisin in the Sun, are taken from Langston Hughe's famous 1951 poem "Montage of a Dream Deferred." Hughe's poem questions whether people surrender to circumstances when their aspirations are frustrated or whether their dreams explode in unpredictable ways after the accumulation of continuos disappointments. Walter gets close to exploding. After spending many years trying to open a liquor store, it is only his father's life insurance check that may allow him to finally achieve his dream of being an independent man and his own boss. Walter was not

In Langston Hughes poem Harlem, he discuses a “dream deferred” throughout the whole poem. Hughes discuses what happens when people let go or forget about their dreams. In lines two and three, Hughes says “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”. He is still talking about the dreams here trying to figure out what actually happened to it. A raisin starts off as a grape. Grapes are known as being juicy and colorful. When becoming a raisin, grapes are set out in the sun to dry out. When raisins dry out, they become brown and shriveled losing all their water. Although both are very nutritious for you, raisins contain no water and are not regarded as a fruit. They look dead. Grapes on the other hand are plumb and filled with water. They are colorful and are seen as alive. Langston Hughes uses a grapes, raisins, and sun symbolically. Grapes refers to peoples dreams, raisins stand for peoples “deferred dreams”, and the sun represents society. During childhood our dreams are colorful and full of life like grapes, but eventually society/reality dries them up like the sun dries up a raisin. The end product is our reality, other wise known as a raisin. During the 1920's, many young African-Americans gave up on their childhood dreams because of society old them they could not do it. Langston Hughes seems frustrated with this and does not understand

A Raisin in the Sun is a family drama about the importance of sharing a collective dream. A Raisin in the Sun is essentially about dreams, as the main characters struggle to deal with the oppressive circumstances that rule their lives.

In ''A Raisin in the Sun'' Hansberry uses Walter Lee Younger to represent the ambitious but, uninformed African American family. Walter's main role in 'A Raisin in the Sun' is to personify the African American families that make many gambles, which eventually lead to complete failure. Walter is shadowed by greed and ignorance which causes him to fail to achieve the success he wishes to gain. Walter Lee Youngers' greed is exemplified when he talks about, "Check coming today." (Hansberry 26). Walter's lack of wisdom and hard headedness allows him to portray American success, which he hopes of achieving in a very short time. When Walter Younger fails at what he has been trying to do he exclaims, "THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF MY FATHER'S FLESH."

The title of the play itself, A Raisin in the Sun, directly references the poem Harlem written by Langston Hughes. Written in 1951, the poem targets one of the most common themes of that time period: the limitations of the American Dream for African Americans. In the poem, Hughes wonders if a “dream deferred” dries up “like a raisin in the sun” (Hughes 1). In other words, Hughes wants to know whether or not delaying dream will make the dream lose its “juice.” Hansberry alludes to the poem to explore the same notion Harlem addresses through Walter Lee Younger, a black man whose struggles throughout the play to achieve his dream. Walter is, by definition, a dreamer. He dreams of being wealthy, he dreams of being important, and he dreams of being a leader, but his goals are often deferred as a result of racial inequalities. However, one dream at the end of the play is fulfilled: the Younger family moving into Clybourne Park. The Youngers defy the societal norm of the time. Instead of backing down when Lindner tries to prevent them from moving, the Younger family fights back. Critics, when evaluating the ending of A Raisin in the Sun, compare the “explosive ending” of the poem to the “unexpectedly happy ending” of the play (Gill 1). Upon hearing the word “explosive,” a negative connotation is created because the word is often used to describe a dangerous weapon. However, it juxtaposes the

In the play A Raisin in the Sun Walter has hopes and dreams but can’t succeed them because the racist society.Walter works as a drive for a white person and he doesn’t really like his job. Also he has a dream and that is to open a liquor store but can’t