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A Raisin In The Sun Literature Essay Samples

The work describes the volume of Himes’ works but looks most closely at his beloved novel if He Hollers Let Him Go. The message of the work is distinctly responsive to the 1950s as a period of social transition for the African-American families, as they are told one thing and treated in a manner altogether different. Don’t understand nothing about building their men up and making ’em feel like they somebody. The two plays A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry are two classical plays that are based on the daily struggles by families trying to live life as best as they know how.

Who knows if Toula would have ever meet Ian if she never went to college and quit working at the restaurant. Her family never thought she was going to get married, but because she saw how others were living their life and were already married and had kids she wanted that for herself. Walter had the dream of buying his own liquor store so he could provide a better life for his family. Beneatha wanted to go to medical school and needed the $10,000 to do so but Mama knew using the money towards a house would have been more beneficial. In ABC Jin Wang´s dream was too fit in and be like a regular boy.

  • And even within their stations as servants, Walter and Ruth’s roles are further divided according to their sex—Walter is the chauffeur, Ruth the domestic servant.
  • Another one of Beneatha’s suitors, Asagai, is a student from Nigeria who is very proud of his African heritage.
  • The play generally describes several themes which revolve around the life of African-Americans in 1950s.
  • According to Keating and Cagle, in the post-classical period, “cinematographers began to mix the visual markers of newsreel authenticity with different stylistic choices that also connoted realism, many of which deemphasized glamour”.
  • The play follows the life of a small black familys struggle to keep their dreams from tenants to owners alive.

This causes the Youngers to become closer and move in to the new house. When the inheritance arrives walter is has a nervous breakdown and leaves the house for a week or so and mama goes looking for him. Mama doesn’t like seeing her son sad so she eventually ends up giving walter half the money saying to put two thousand in a bank account for bennie his younger sisters schooling and to keep the rest for himself. The money that mama gave walter never gets put into a bank account and ends up getting stolen by his friend Willy Harris.Walter never gets to accomplish his dream of having a liquor store.

American Dream In Plays “raisin In The Sun”, And “death Of A Salesman”

She does not see the reason why women are considered less human yet they are expected to take care of their households. The same is demonstrated as Walter considers accepting an offer from Mr. Lindner without visualizing the implication of this business deal. Walter’s wrong interpretation of the American dream is challenged as he carries illegal transactions before his son. He revises this understanding after finding it hard to deal with Mr. Lindner . This competition leads to a clash of dreams as more challenges emerge as the family later moves to Clybourne Park, fulfilling their shared dream. They remain optimistic and united as they hope for a better life in future .

a raisin in the sun theme essay

Lorraine Hansberry’s family loved each other when they were at their lowest point, just like in the play when mama says her love speech. (This case was heard prior to the passage of the Fair Housing Act—Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968—which prohibited discrimination in housing). The Hansberry family won their right to be heard as a matter of due process of law in relation to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court held that the Hansberry defendants were not bound by the Burke decision, because the class of homeowners in the Washington Park Subdivision had conflicting goals, and thus could not be considered to be the same class.

A Raisin In The Sun: What Happens To A Dream Deferred

Specifically, he hoped that by investing in a liquor store, he would be able to make enough money to help his African-American … To conclude, Hansberry by using punctuation, repetition, rhetorical questions, stage directions and metaphor is able to show the public more than a simple fight. Here, the playwright insists on the pressure Walter is putting on George and how it doesn’t work because he thinks he is above this and how they all feel about it but also, how Walter feels and why needs to do this. Walter has to express himself, he has to explode because he feels like nobody understands him. Walter is truly alone and is unable to hold any longer what he has been expressing for years. Finally, the metaphors Walter uses illustrate how as a coloured people he feels in his own family and in society.

a raisin in the sun theme essay

This is another assurance that nature often controls the physical and social world. Dissecting texts like these allow the reader to think beyond the physical natural things discussed or mentioned in a story, like animals or dirt. Symbolically, the Afro serves as a way college assignment helper to say natural is beautiful. Rather than force her hair to conform to the current society’s styles, which dictate so many girls, Beneatha chooses a style that assists her to easily reveal and represent her identity and culture.

Great Expectations Rhetorical Analysis

Her achievement with the plant helps her believe that she would be a great gardener. Characteristics that book report writing help these themes of nature bring about in mama is her persistence and dedication as a person, not only to the plants but to her children and herself- she wants her dream to come true. Lastly, in the novel American Born Chinese JIn Wang changes from being seen as a stereotypical Chinese kid to being an american little boy. Chasing your dreams was another common theme between the three stories.

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A Raisin In The Sun Theme Essay

Write an essay where you identify the sex dynamics into the play, considering whether or not the gender functions are because rigid or scripted because they appear to be. In the event that you agree totally that the male figures represent mostly negative qualities although the feminine characters represent mostly good traits, explain exactly what Hansberry’s cause for employing such sex stereotypes could be. In addition, indicate perhaps the stereotypes are ready to accept changing by the play’s end. Her feelings of contempt for the few inferior roles that society provides for woman causes her to rise at the next opportunity for becoming a doctor, but this comes at a cost. Beneatha’s commitment to her dream of becoming a doctor causes her to throw away her principles of being independent, which now she relies on her soon to be husband.

This is a biblical allusion of when Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and the path to Jesus’ crucifixion – also relating to Walter Lee’s downfall. Thirty pieces of silver was the price Judas was paid to hand Jesus over to Pilate’s soldiers. Just like Walter Lee, Judas made an ultimate betrayal to Jesus and returned the money out of guilt after Jesus was arrested. It wasn’t until he saw the consequences of his actions then he realized not that enough money in the world would justify his action to make such a betrayal. Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.

Character Summary

The main conflict in A Raisin in the Sun is the skirmish the Younger family partakes in over how to spend the ten thousand dollars. This conflict lends to its continued popularity because it reflects ordinary people’s desire for money and the confrontations that obtaining money often leads to in real life. In the play, almost every member, including Mama, Ruth, and Walter are headstrong in their decisions for how to most effectively spend the money. Ruth is thrilled at Lena’s news, and she asks Walter to be glad, too. Lena describes the house, to Ruth’s great joy, and Lena turns to Walter Lee and tells him, “It makes a difference in a man when he can walk on floors that belong to him” .

  • Because money is such an important element in this play, the difference of opinions about it adds unnecessary conflict.
  • The Youngers struggle to attain these dreams throughout the play, and much of their happiness and depression is directly related to their attainment of, or failure to attain, these dreams.
  • Achieving dreams is a major theme in this play, and here, dreams are what fuel everything, including emotions and the future.
  • At first his frustration is because of the family’s financial situation, but it…

This house is located in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighborhood. When the Youngers refuse, Walter faces the stark reality of losing his investment through his friend, Willy Haris, who has run away with his money. Albeit, the family learns that they lost the money to Willy they refuse to take money from Mr. Linder.

A Raisin In The Sun American Dream

She was born to an African American family who at this time were perceived as better off than others in the African American community. He used his education and his achievements as a platform to uplift and speak out for the Black community who at this time, especially in the South, were being mistreated. Despite Hansberry’s father’s educational and academic accomplishments, he was still mistreated by society. In A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry reflects on events that actually took place in her life what google did to me, things she witnessed her father and family experience. In the play, a family gains financial stability and decides to move into a more suburban community. They receive opposition from the community when a community representative personally offers the family more money than they intend to pay for the house in exchange for not moving there.

a raisin in the sun theme essay

This book was written by Lorraine Hansberry and inspired by a poem named “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. Both “Harlem” and A Raisin in the Sun are about African-Americans in the… In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, “A Raisin in the Sun”, Hansberry opens the play with a chaotic tone.

Based on a similar question, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, asked, ‘What happens to a person whose dreams grow more and more passionate while his hopes of ever achieving those dreams grow dimmer each day? ‘ One of the major themes of A Raisin in the Sun is that even under the most devastating circumstances, one’s continued pursuit of his/her dream can provide a ‘lifeline’ and an opportunity to escape the trials of everyday life. The family is looking to move into a house in a white bourgeois neighborhood. Although part of the $ 10,000 insurance check was used as a down payment on the house, the rest of the money was returned to the son of the family.

Joseph catches Beneatha off guard, she does not understand what is wrong with her hair. She makes the claim that she straightens her hair not because she sees it as “ugly” (Hansberry, 1.2), but because it is hard to manage. Joseph pushes Beneatha to recognize that in manipulating her natural hair she is trying to blend original site into the white society, rather than embrace her roots.

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Top 28 A Raisin In The Sun Essay Topics & Ideas

However, she conveys the message that money is not life, as Walter claimed it was. Rather, family, pride in yourself, and pursuing understanding your dreams are the things that are really important. The character that seems to express this view the closest is Mama. In Act I Mama tells Beneatha, “There is always something left to love. Even after all the mistakes Walter has made, Mama shows that love for your family, not money holds greater value.

  • Mrs. Johnson is the Younger family’s nosy and loud neighbor, at the beginning of the play.
  • An individual\’s response to conditions of internal and external conflict is explored throughout literature.
  • Walter had the dream of buying his own liquor store so he could provide a better life for his family.
  • In 2019 her piece, “I Love My Mother” was selected and performed by her at the fifth annual season of “Thinking In Full Color’s, which is an award-winning organization that empowers women of color through education and the arts.
  • In the Journal of Black Studies scholar Richard A. Duprey points out that A Raisin in the Sun is “…full of human insights that transcend any racial ‘concerns'” .
  • He also struggles with the oppression from within his own family; his mother’s reluctance to share the insurance money so that Walter can invest in a liquor store is seen by him as a great injustice.

Though Ruth is content with their lot, Walter is not, and desperately wishes to write my essay become wealthy. His plan is to invest in a liquor store in partnership with Willy and Bobo, his street-smart acquaintances. Is a play about Walter Lee Younger and his family who live in a small apartment in Chicago and chase after their dreams, written by Lorraine Hansberry. In conclusion, Hansberry shows Walters deep emotions by using punctuation, stage directions, and diction of dreams.

Major Themes In A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry

A Raisin in the Sun displays a great recurring theme in life that many times the good of the few has to be sacrificed through the needs and propagation of the group. The character of Mr. Lindner makes the theme of racial discrimination prominent in the plot as an issue that the Youngers cannot avoid. The governing body of the Youngers’ new neighborhood, the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, sends Mr. Lindner to persuade them not to move into the all-white Clybourne Park neighborhood. Mr. Lindner and the people he represents can only see the color of the Younger family’s skin, and his offer to bribe the Youngers to keep them from moving threatens to tear apart the Younger family and the values for which it stands. Ultimately, the Youngers respond to this discrimination with defiance and strength.

He also expresses his resentment and all the negative feelings he has been holding for too long. Suburban home ownership became a barometer of American success in the 1930s and 1940s, with mortgage loans newly subsidized by the Federal Housing Administration. But Black and Brown citizens were systematically excluded, so most African Americans could not pursue home ownership until the 1950s. Placing Black people’s struggle to attain this marker of American achievement on Broadway, Hansberry accomplished a feat parallel to that of the family she portrayed. Both the Youngers and their creator encountered hostility for daring to reach for what the country defined as success.

Hansberrys Hope For America Through A Raisin In The Sun

He decides to degrade in his futile efforts to achieve his goals. Racism in A Raisin in the Sun is almost sickening to most people and i hope that more people see this play to help spread the word about how African American people were treated in the 1950s. Racism is still alive today through communities that want one color out of their neighborhood which is not right either.

a raisin in the sun theme essay

These thesis statements for “Raisin in the Sun” offer a short summary of different elements that could be important in an essay but you are free to add your own analysis and understanding of the plot or themes to them. Using the essay topics below in conjunction with the list of important quotes from “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry at the bottom of the page, you should have no trouble connecting with the text and writing an excellent paper. Walter was unhappy having to squash his family into his mother’s small apartment having his son sleep on the couch. Walter struggled with his manhood due to his inability of being the breadwinner in the household.

Thematic Analysis Of Lorraine Hansberrys a Raisin In The Sun Analytical Essay

The Younger household is not a safe haven, especially for women who question male leadership. After years of labor, Walter Senior passed away, but from his hard work came an Insurance check that represented his dedicated life to his children. Mama’s nurturing personality is also represented in the play, this is symbolized by the way she treats the houseplant. Much the same as her family, Mama’s plant does not have the essential assets to prosper.

Being a father to Travis appears to be the role that Walter values the most. He sincerely wants to be perceived as honorable in his son’s eyes. Knowing the family has little money to spare, Walter gives Travis a dollar when he asks for fifty cents. Walter chooses the liquor store investment not just to make more money for himself, but also to be better able to provide for his wife and family.

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Top 28 A Raisin In The Sun Essay Topics & Ideas

The Youngs appear to be a representation, and an inspirational symbol for African American families in 1950s America as Walter chooses to stand up against social normalities and oppression. It is, as put by Judith E. Smith, “a plotless story, in the way that life itself never seems to offer much in the standard notions of plot” . To achieve dreams, and make a stable life, the presence of money helps greatly. But because of the society and human status African American people lived in, in the 1950s, it was pay someone to write my college essay extremely hard to pursue dreams and create a bountiful life. Lorraine Hansberry represents this idea in the award-winning play, “A Raisin in the Sun.” The play portrays the story of a poor family, the Youngers, residing in a small apartment in the southside of Chicago. During Act I and II, the Youngers eagerly await a $10,000 Insurance check, following the death of the hard-working Walter Senior.

a raisin in the sun theme essay

“A Raisin in the Sun” is the story of a lower class black family living on the south side of Chicago. The Youngers struggle socially and economically throughout the play but unite in the end to realize their dream of buying a house. Mama strongly believes in the importance of family, and she tries to teach this value to her family as she struggles to keep them together and functioning. Walter and Beneatha learn this lesson about family at the end of the play, when Walter must deal with the loss of the stolen insurance money and Beneatha denies Walter as a brother.

What Is Beneathas Dream In A Raisin In The Sun

In Act I, Walter responds that “money is life” when Mama asks Walter why he always think about money. He believes that money is all of their problems are about, but he is rarely successful with money. These difficulities and barriers that retard his and his family’s progress to fulfill his dream constantly frustrate Walter.

a raisin in the sun theme essay

This is like the clan that is when they are getting together and celebrating a holiday. It is the point that the family in the play is not only together and united, but they are also following their old beliefs as well. The most important decision about your goals is not what you are willing to do to achieve them, but what you are willing to give up¨, Dave Ramsey tells readers. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang is a graphic novel about Jin Wang who moves from San Francisco and is being stereotyped by all the kids in his class just because he’s Asian.

Lena Younger, a.k.a. Mama is a down-to-earth, hard-working black woman who doesn’t suffer fools. Mama has dedicated her life to her children and struggles to instill her values in them – with mixed results. One of Lena’s most poignant moments might be when she admits to Ruth that sometimes her children frighten her. Except for the face-slap moment, Mama is mostly kind and patient with her family. Her nurturing personality is symbolized by the way she treats her houseplant. Just like her family, Lena’s plant lacks the necessary resources to flourish.

Depiction Of The Relationship Between A Writer how to write an essay proposal” And Their Work In The Play A Raisin In The Sun

In either case, you can also check our free essay examples for “A Raisin In The Sun”, which focuses on various relevant questions. Use quotes from the book to support your ideas and don’t forget to mention the symbolism of dreams. Mama attempts to teach her family that money isn’t everything and tries to instill in them strong values, such as taking pride in themselves and their dreams. However, Mama does hold the insurance check very dear to her heart. In The Dead, Joyce’s Dubliners are trapped in monotonous lives of frustration and negativity. Obviously, Gabriel has been enduring a broken marriage because of the paralysis, a natural condition experienced by most of the characters in the book.

  • He says he sees the future as “a big, looming blank space – full of nothing.
  • She has also lead many jazz groups in Manhattan’s, Fat Cat, Smalls, Ornithology, Little Branch and Hermana.
  • The message of the work is distinctly responsive to the 1950s as a period of social transition for the African-American families, as they are told one thing and treated in a manner altogether different.
  • In this phone call with Lou Ann, Taylor realizes that since she and Lou Ann have already been through some tough times together and supported each other then, they will definitely continue to encourage each other in the future.
  • In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry’s insertion of a simple house plant conveys the harsh reality for many Americans as they continue to struggle to reach the arguably unattainable American dream.
  • On the other hand, the local people send their representation, Mr. Lindner with an offer for them to stay away from the area by giving them money.

Rather than pushing her away, family turned out to be the element that brought her in and encouraged her to find her identity as a mother. What describes family is not the people who are blood related or someone who has an obligation. Family is the people who play the largest role in shaping identity. Now, that identity can take the form of a number of characteristics in relation to family. No matter how adoring a family might be, with their newfound identity, it is not always in the best interest of the individual to stay close to home.

Critical Essays

Gretta and Gabiel’s marriage has decayed, similar to any natural food, plant, or living organism-even human. Many comparisons metaphorically are made throughout the story to symbolize the state of certain situations such as the marriage. Joyce uses natural symbols of snow and ice and also represents the colors yellow and brown. She uses snow and ice as a way to point out that something is frozen and motionless just like paralysis. Daniel Petrie makes changes in his film version of A Raisin in the Sun, thus affecting Hansberry’s central theme of society’s responsibility of oppression.