What Is A Raisin In The Sun American Dream

In A Raisin In the Sun Lorraine Hansberry uses everyday objects-a plant, money, and a home to symbolize a family's struggle to deal with racism and oppression in their everyday lives, as well as to exemplify their dreams. She begins with a vivid description of the family's weary, small, and dark apartment in Chicago's ghetto Southside during the 1950s. The Youngers are an indigent African-American family who has few choices in their white society. Each individual of the Younger family has a separate dream-Beneatha wants to become a doctor, Walter wants to open a liquor store, and Ruth and Mama want a new and better home. The Youngers struggle to accomplish these dreams throughout the play, and a major aspect of their happiness and

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:

Lorraine Hansberry, the author of the play A Raisin in the Sun, uses the characters’ dreams to expose the nightmares of racism.  Each character wants to escape the “ghetto life on the South Side of Chicago” (Brubaker).  The Youngers are an African-American family living in Chicago during the 1950’s.  The play focuses on their dreams for a better future.  The play begins with the family waiting on a $10,000 life insurance check, as Walter senior has recently died.  Walter senior’s wife, Lena (Mama), her two adult children, Walter and Beneatha, Walter’s wife Ruth, and their son, Travis, all live together in a two-bedroom apartment.  The main characters has different dreams of what success means to them and how best to use the inheritance money; they know that the money is the key to unlocking a better life.  Mama, Walter, and Beneatha each pursue their own vision of the “American Dream”, but they all meet the same challenge of racism in the 1950’s.

Just as any well composed story or film, in A Raisin in the Sun there are structural elements that strategically map the play. Moreover, I contend that the inciting incident would be the fact that the family was expecting a large life insurance check from the death of Mr. Walter Lee Younger, Sr. In the 1950s, $10,000 was a large amount of money, especially for working class African Americans. It was not surprising that everyone in the family had their own plans as to how they would have liked to spend the lump-sum amount of money. The crisis point of the plot, then, would be the fact that the Younger family was an African American working class family, struggling financially during a time of high racial prejudice—the civil rights era. The rising action would include Ruth getting pregnant with a second child, Mrs. Younger using some of the insurance money to make a down payment on a new house, Mrs. Younger giving Walter the remaining amount of the insurance check, and ultimately, Walter investing the money into a liquor store. The climax of the story would be when Walter found out that his business partner ran off with the insurance money, and consequently, the family loses over half the insurance money to the null investment. The falling action? Walter refused to accept Mr. Lindner’s offer to buy the family out of the new neighborhood, and the family finally moved into a new, spacious home in a new neighborhood.

The “Raisin in the Sun” has two main conflicts I the story which are economic hardship and racial discrimination in America. The reason that economic hardship is a conflict of interest in the story is that the family is very poor. Which causes them a lot of problems when it comes to food, school, and business opportunities. The reason it conflicts with food because in the play Mama Young asked Travis mm did she fixed him hot grits instead of cereal because they do not have money for him, to eat a full course meal. Another example that economic hardship is a conflict in the story is when it comes to school because Beneatha goes to college to become a doctor and money plays an important part because you have to pay for school. The family help funds Beneatha college tuition by working as a maid and being drivers for white people. They also had to let Travis wear old clothes and

The American dream can be completely different for two people depending on their financial status and beliefs. The story The Great Gatsby is about a man that started with a humble background who then became an extremely wealthy business owner that needed money to attract a woman named Daisy. “A Raisin in the Sun” is about a black family that was not wealthy, but received a check that was split among the family members. Due to the endings of both texts, they show that money is not important to attaining the American dream.

THE LIFE OF GLENN FREY This paper will discuss the history of Glenn Frey, a man well known for his musical talents. From growing up as a young boy born with musical talents, to becoming a Rock and Roll legend known to the world. Glenn Lewis Frey, the multi-talented mastermind behind the Eagles and gifted solo artist in his own right, came into the world on November 6, 1948 in the Motor City - Detroit, Michigan.

In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, every member of the Younger has their own dreams of an ideal life, but that is all they will ever be, a dream. Still, the family, especially Walter and Beneatha, are trying to make the best of the unfortunate situation they are in and, at least, gain a little pride and sense of accomplishment in this life. For Beneatha, her goals, while not impossible, are ones that very few women go into and require a decent amount of money. On the other hand, Walter is trying to build his “world” around money. He wants to invest the money from the check in a liquor store so he can have a sense of pride and feel that his life was worth living, as well as bring in enough to support his family that needs a change of scenery, or the apartment.

All people are given the opportunity to achieve their American Dream. If you are willing to work hard, you can be successful and build a good life for you and your family furthermore. The American Dream remains a beacon of hope, but many elderly people have stated that they believe that the dream is dead. A CBS correspondent stated, “Losing your job and having to move back in with your parents is an awful thing” (Lucas).

In today’s society, most people like to believe that racism and discrimination is a thing of the past. But as many race-fueled incidents begin to surface throughout the nation, we begin to see that it is still a common issue. It has even fanned out to Universities across the United States. In CNN’s article written by Holly Yan and AnneClaire Stapleton, “University of Missouri students report threats; police quell KKK rumors” we get a chance to witness these incidents and how it has affected the surrounding community and the nation. The article even clearly states that “African-American students at Missouri have long complained of an inadequate response by university leaders in dealing with racism on the overwhelmingly

In A Raisin in the Sun, a stronger will to achieve the American dream is portrayed by each of the characters in their way. This is because despite their race, in each member of the Younger 's family lies in the dreams and aspirations for a better life. It is important to note that although each character has his or her perspective on what a better life is, it is not confined to their race since the underlying motivation is the same to everyone. Mama, for instance, is a single parent after the death of her husband. At the beginning of the play, she is portrayed as the head of the family although she would prefer it if the head were a man (Hansberry 21). Her dream is that her son Walter will mature up and take over the role of heading the family. In addition, she also has big dreams for her deceased husband insurance money. She plans to invest the money for the benefit of her whole family instead of spending it on herself. From a long line

When it is taken into account the hardships people have had to live through because of money and its value, it is easy to assume that a possession of that wealth would solve the issues faced. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, money is seen as the way out of the tunnel the Younger family has been stuck in for so long. The arrival of a ten thousand dollar life insurance check spins the family upside down as they try to figure out how to use the money to better themselves, individually and as a family. The only dominating male figure in the family, Walter Jr., is set on making his family’s life better with the money by using it to hopefully make more money. Walter has seen what his family has gone through as a result of their socioeconomic status and he wants more than

During the 1900s many black families barely had enough money to pay for the basic necessities needed to live. At times some families would receive a significant sum of money, something they were not used to getting. Deciding on how to spend this money is what caused problems among some families. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, she argues that there are times when in a state of financial instability and where money is a necessity to completing one’s dream that some family members choose to put their dreams over others when suddenly given the opportunity. After Mama’s husband died she was bound to receive an insurance check that would be used by the Younger family. Before even receiving the

The drama A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, shows the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living on the Southside of Chicago in the 1950s. In the beginning, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. This money comes from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money. Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with her husband. Mama’s son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. He believes that the investment will solve the family’s financial problems forever. Beneatha, Walter’s sister and Mama’s daughter, wants to use the money for her medical school tuition. Ruth, Walter’s wife, discovers that she is pregnant, but

In his novel, Orwell creates an allegory by comparing the events in both revolutions and the actions of both leaders. The events and characters in this novel matchup real well with the real life events that happened back in 1917. Orwell uses an animal fable to compare the two. Orwell is spot on when comparing the similarities between the characters and real life people. Orwell is able to show his subject in easy similar terms by treating the making of communism as a story that is taking place on a single farm with talking animals.