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
Primarily, in A Raisin in the Sun portrays a low-class African American family, living on the Southside of Chicago in the 1950’s. Throughout the play, an opportunity to escape from poverty comes in the form of ten thousand dollars of a life insurance check for the family ( Mrs. Younger, mama ) received upon her husband’s death. Lorraine Hansberry’s play shows the struggles of accomplishing dreams and how racism still exists today.
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.
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
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
Many can see the appeal of the play” A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry because it is telling how much the Younger family wants the American dream, the better life that each character wants are different from each other. The family wants the insurance money to start their dreams, the money that would not have been available if not for the death of the head of the family.
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value” (Albert Einstein). In the Raisin in the Sun Mama achieves being successful and being a person will value. The American Dream is hard to define because it’s different for everyone trying to achieve it. The american dream for someone could be becoming a millionaire while another person definition of the american dream is being able to provide and take care of their family. The best definition for the american dream is ; Making a better life for yourself then what is given to you. Success can be defined the same way as the american dream. In the Raisin in the sun ,Mama successfully achieves the American Dream because she never loses hope in her family and buys a house
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.
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
Why was the American dream so important to some people or even families? Or some that don’t really care about it because they’re already living that American Dream. Hard work isn’t easy nobody said it was easy but putting the time to work hard will get anybody a better life its takes time for those results. What I think and feel about the American dream? Is if you want to live a better life then you should chase the dream and put the time & work but not only that you will have to go through tough times and fail many times. But if you still have the dream, then at the very end everything you worked for will pay off you will live it to the fullest no matter what. American dream is about you approach if you approach it with a positive attitude and willing to work until you reach the goal you will even you fail to the first time. You get back up and try and keep trying until you reach it.
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).
What Most of the American population wants in life is wealth, it's been like that in the past
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