Free Essays on A Raisin In The Sun

â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† In â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun,† Lorraine Hansberry shows that having dreams is essential to the lives of the characters in the play. In particular, the main character Walter Younger has idealistic dreams of better lives for himself and his family. When Walter is introduced in the play, it appears that he is frustrated with his current position in life. His frustrations stem from his inability to provide for his family and his lack of control in making his dreams of a better life become a reality. Throughout the play Walter struggles with these dreams and exhibits greed and foolishness. The consequences of his actions force him to grow up and become the man that his family needs him to be. Walter realizes the selfish nature of his dreams and learns that he must put the dreams of his family as a whole before his own. In Act I, Scene 1, Walter speaks of his dreams and appears to have the best intentions for his family. He believes that an investment in the liquor store business with his friends is the ideal way to lift them out of poverty. The desperation with which he talks about these dreams even causes his wife Ruth to have a slight change of heart about them. The urgency in his voice shows his serious need for change and prompts her to bring the subject up to Mama. â€Å"Walter Lee say colored people ain’t never going to start getting ahead till they start gambling on some different kinds of things in the world – investments and things.† (p. 1815) In 1959, the time period of the play, most black men in America faced struggles and a lack of opportunity in trying to become providers for their families. Without his dreams and the resources to achieve them, Walter feels that his existence in the world is insignificant. However, Walter’s complete determination to have the means to invest in the liquor store begins to overshadow the good intentions of his plans. He wants to use the insurance ... Free Essays on A Raisin In The Sun Free Essays on A Raisin In The Sun Pride in â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† In the play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun†, by Lorraine Hansberry, pride is one of the major themes. Several of the characters display their own particular kind of pride. Walter Lee shows a type of pride that could be called â€Å"manly† pride. Beneatha is constantly displaying her â€Å"intellectual† pride. Mama has a deep-rooted â€Å"old-fashioned† pride. Collectively, all of their prides come together to form a sense of â€Å"cultural and ethnic† pride. Walter Lee’s â€Å"manly† pride shows itself as he always insists on being accepted and respected as the head of the Younger household. He expects the rest of the family to listen to him and follow his guidance. When is â€Å"manliness† is questioned, he becomes very angry. Walter Lee wants to invest the ten thousand dollars of insurance money that his mother has inherited from his father’s death in a liquor store. When his wife, Ruth, ignores his idea he becomes angry because he wants to be respected at the man of the house. He tries to make his mother understand his point of view. He thinks that money is the only way that a man can be successful. Beneatha’s name is well suited to her since she seems to feel that everyone is â€Å"beneath† her. She feels that school and learning about her African heritage is the most important thing in her life. Her need to be intellectually superior causes her to often disrespect her mother. She shows this when she sounds out Asagai’s name unnecessarily slowly to her mother, as if her mother was not capable of understanding otherwise (Hansberry 1401). She also insults her mother when she asks her mother not to â€Å"ask any ignorant questions about Africa †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hansberry 1401). Most of Mama’s pride has been inherited from her late husband, Big Walter. She believes strongly that everyone in put family first, respect their mother and father, and respect the Lord. She often spoke with prid... Free Essays on A Raisin In The Sun A Raisin in the Sun Title - A Raisin in the Sun Author – Lorraine Hansberry Genre – Drama Copyright Date – 1958, 1986 by Robert Nemiroff, as an unpublished work 1959, 1966, 1987, 1988 by Robert Nemiroff Setting – The setting was after WWII and the present (1958), in the south side of Chicago. Effect of Setting on Characters and Plot – The Younger family is a low class African-American family, who plans to move into an all Caucasian neighborhood. In this time period, an African-American can hardly have any rights because of discrimination and prejudice. The family faces some decisions that change their lives and make conflicts between family members. Main Characters – The mother, Lena Younger, works as a maid for a Caucasian family. She is expecting to receive a $10,000 check from life insurance because of her husband’s death, Walter Lee. With the money that she receives, she hopes to retire. Lena’s son, Walter Lee Younger, also known as Junior, is a dreamer. He wants to open a liquor store, which was his father’s dream. He hopes to use the check that the family receives to open his own business. But, when he pursues this, his plan falls apart, and makes conflicts between his family members. Walter Lee’s wife, Ruth Younger, has some problems with her husband, and wants to make peace with him. She wants the family to learn about their history, and she strongly believes that learning about their past could help the family make a decision about the money. She wants to move into a bigger apartment, because of the amount of people in the house, especially when she finds out she is pregnant. Beneatha Younger, Lena’s daughter, plans to make something of herself and go to medical school. She is a perfectionist and takes pride in being a South African. She has morals and views, and some in which came from college, causes disagreements with her mother’s orthodox beliefs. Travis Younger, the son... Free Essays on A Raisin In The Sun I believe that Lorraine Hansberry is trying say that the African American Women’s experience has been tough. Many women living in the United Stated during segregation, mainly African-American had hard times supporting their families. Also I think she is trying to say that they had many unpleasant experiences, but they also had some nice experiences too. Another thing I believe she is trying to say is they are determined. There are three main African-American women in the book who all struggle in different ways to help their family. All three have similar problems and a difficult path to walk. One woman is Lena Younger or Mama. Mama has a very difficult path to walk in the play; one of those hardships on the path is living in a crowded apartment with her children, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Mama and Ruth, one of the other African-American women, were friends from the beginning of the play. Both women lived with Walter Lee Younger, a drunkard, dreamer, and often a very picky, unpleasant man to be with. Beneatha, Mama’s daughter, wants to be a doctor and does not agree with Mama on many things, such as God. In conclusion, Mama wants to have a house and please her family, though all Ruth wants is for Travis to be happy, and Beneatha wants to marry Asagai and become a doctor. That leads us into our next paragraph about how they cope with their problems. All three women have bumpy paths and problems to cope with. Mama has the insurance money and what to do with it is fought over by her family. Finally Mama decides to put a down payment on a two-story house with a garden, because she has always wanted a garden. Even though Mama bought a nice house, the white neighborhood that it was in was not very friendly. A representative from Clybourne Park (the neighborhood in which the house is) came to the apartment telling the Youngers that the neighborhood does not want them to move in. This upsets the whole family. Thou... Free Essays on A Raisin In The Sun â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† In â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun,† Lorraine Hansberry shows that having dreams is essential to the lives of the characters in the play. In particular, the main character Walter Younger has idealistic dreams of better lives for himself and his family. When Walter is introduced in the play, it appears that he is frustrated with his current position in life. His frustrations stem from his inability to provide for his family and his lack of control in making his dreams of a better life become a reality. Throughout the play Walter struggles with these dreams and exhibits greed and foolishness. The consequences of his actions force him to grow up and become the man that his family needs him to be. Walter realizes the selfish nature of his dreams and learns that he must put the dreams of his family as a whole before his own. In Act I, Scene 1, Walter speaks of his dreams and appears to have the best intentions for his family. He believes that an investment in the liquor store business with his friends is the ideal way to lift them out of poverty. The desperation with which he talks about these dreams even causes his wife Ruth to have a slight change of heart about them. The urgency in his voice shows his serious need for change and prompts her to bring the subject up to Mama. â€Å"Walter Lee say colored people ain’t never going to start getting ahead till they start gambling on some different kinds of things in the world – investments and things.† (p. 1815) In 1959, the time period of the play, most black men in America faced struggles and a lack of opportunity in trying to become providers for their families. Without his dreams and the resources to achieve them, Walter feels that his existence in the world is insignificant. However, Walter’s complete determination to have the means to invest in the liquor store begins to overshadow the good intentions of his plans. He wants to use the insurance ...