ipl-logo

A Family In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

747 Words3 Pages

Throughout life, there are high and low moments, but no matter how difficult times get, a family is supposed to stick together. In the play A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, the Younger family goes through a roller coaster of emotions. Within the play, the Youngers come to face many different problems. However, in the play, the main issues occur between Lena Younger (Mama) and Walter Younger (Son of Mama). There always seems to be one main issue, how to spend Walter Lee Senior’s life insurance money. Nevertheless, the Youngers show that family hardships can either make or break a family.

In the play, Walter wishes to open up a liquor with Willy Harris, and Bobo. Opening a liquor store is Walter’s dream. He believes that the liquor store could make him and his family's lives better. To be able to open up the liquor store, Walter and the others will need to acquire a lot of money. In the play Walter says, “You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on the place be ‘bout thirty thousand, see. That be ten thousand each” (Hansberry 33). This is an example of how Walter believes that in order to make money one …show more content…

One of the hardships that stick out the most is what to do with money. Even today money tears families apart and it definitely causes some problems with the Youngers. It is understood that in times of need, family always comes first. Although there are several different conflicts between the character and the setting, the Youngers always find the brighter side of the situation. Mama and Walter go back in forth within the play, and this truly shows how no one person, nor the family is perfect. Although there is conflict in the play between the two characters it is obvious that without some disagreement Walter would never learn the importance of family and that it was time to

Show More
Related
1016 Words | 5 Pages

“Part of growing up is just taking what you learn from that and moving on and not taking it to heart.” ~ Beverley Mitchell. Walter Lee Younger changes drastically throughout the play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. Walter starts out as a person who whines and throws a fit when he does not get his way and turns into a responsible man who can care for himself and make important decisions. Three examples of this in the play is when Walter goes into a depression because Mama will not give him the money to open his shop.

Read More
700 Words | 3 Pages

These are all traits that would describe Walter Lee and his actions. Walter Lee is a character from the play A Raisin in the Sun in which a black family tries to get out of poverty and go against stereotypes by trying to start over with their Grandpa’s life insurance money. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry explores the concept that greed leads to being blinded by money and forgetting about one’s loved ones as shown by the climax of the play, the character of Walter Lee, and the effect that his actions have on the rest of his family. The Character of Walter Lee shows that greed blinding a person can cause him to forget about the ones he loves.

Read More
587 Words | 3 Pages

“No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear.” the wise Greg Kincaid says. This explains resilience and that you can overcome bad situations with hard work and perseverance. In A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, this kind of resilience connects with Beneatha Younger.

Read More
1393 Words | 6 Pages

When people are poor, they often have a lot of problems in their life. They struggle through every day, but they learn to appreciate everything that they have. However, when people are going through tough times, they often think that money will solve all of their problems. In “A Raisin In The Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, she guides the audience through a black family -- impacted by the need for money -- living on the south side of Chicago. The Younger family gets Lena Younger’s dead husband’s insurance check and buys a house in a white neighborhood, and they save the remainder of the money for Beneatha’s medical degree and for starting a liquor store.

Read More
600 Words | 3 Pages

He wants to be a businessman and own a liquor store. He wants to be able to provide for his family and give them what they have never had. Walter also wants to take his mother’s position as the head of the house and make the financial decisions for the family. Walter can be seen as selfish as instead of putting the money for him and his sister in the bank he uses it all and loses it trying to fulfill his own dreams with no regard to his sister’s dreams or the rest of the family’s.

Read More
866 Words | 4 Pages

Both characters try to reach their dreams by moving their families and responsibility aside. For example, Walter Lee dreams of opening a liquor store, so to reach his dreams he took his family is money trying to act like a man but then that money was stolen by his friend Willy

Read More
921 Words | 4 Pages

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun follows the struggles of an African American family living in a neighborhood in 1950s South Side Chicago. The play discusses several issues pertaining to African Americans of the time, such as poverty and discrimination. One of the major themes of the story is the search for a sense of belonging; whether that’s a sense of belonging to the continent of Africa, a neighborhood in Chicago, or on a personal level within the Younger family. The play explores this theme through its characters Beneatha, Mama and Walter.

Read More
861 Words | 4 Pages

Walter states that the Youngers are a calm, good family who “don’t want to make no trouble for nobody,” and are not looking to stir up trouble. All they intend to be is hard working, peaceful “good neighbors” and that give them every right to live in Clybourne Park. Afterwards, Mama, talking to Ruth about Walter, states that, “he finally come into his manhood today,” (151). Walter made his family proud and after much struggle they feel that he has matured. For Mama proudly exclaims that Walter “come into his manhood” by doing the morally right thing “finally.”

Read More
1127 Words | 5 Pages

All Walter wanted was to have money and open his own liquor store but it was not possible. Walter’s dream was unfortle not able to come true

Read More
916 Words | 4 Pages

The world stereotypes rich people as rude, stuck up and selfish. Ever wonder why? Studies from Yale, The New York Times, TED and more have concluded, money changes everything. Whether it’s attitude, morals or values, money can affect and change all aspects of someone’s life. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, has a theme showing this claim clearly.

Read More
963 Words | 4 Pages

Family is important to everyone in some way because family sticks together no matter what. The play A Raisin in the Sun is about a black family named the Youngers and the hardships they face together as a family. In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Ruth Younger is motivated by her family. This is shown by Ruth wanting to make her family happy, her working even though she is tired, and later when Ruth finds out there is going to be another mouth to feed. Ruth Younger is constantly worrying about her family’s well being and happiness for them.

Read More
809 Words | 4 Pages

Being the man of the household, Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and plans on using Lena’s money to do so. Walter is always after money and believes that the only way to succeed in life is with money. For example, when Walter is talking about the check, he says, “Mama, sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool, quiet-looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking about things, turning deals worth millions of dollars, sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me” (992).This shows how Walter wanted something more out of life and not just be a poor black man. Everyone in this family had dreams but no one supported each other dreams.

Read More
795 Words | 4 Pages

Especially towards his family. “Oh, Walter…(Softly) Honey, why can’t you stop fighting me? WALTER (Without thinking) - Who’s fighting you? Who even cares about you?” Walter was also very stressed and angry about his current situation.

Read More
791 Words | 4 Pages

The Younger family, is a family who are honest and who also work hard for what they want, just because they are black, does not mean that they don 't deserve to live in a better neighbourhood. However, racism also impacted the Younger family beneficially in the way Walter rejected Linders’s offer at the end of the play. The example of racism gives Walter the opportunity to become the man he always wanter to

Read More
466 Words | 2 Pages

Despite the fact that dreaming of a liquor store is shallow, Walter’s motivation to be able to support his family helps reconcile his somewhat immoral hopes. Later, Walter shows the idiocy of his plan to own a liquor store when he gets drunk. In act 2, scene 2, Walter borrows Willy Harris’s car and drives around Chicago for two days, then “just walked”, and finally “went to the Green Hat” (2.2 105). Through his actions, Walter shows that he is immature and cares more about pretending to be rich than his job that would allow him to provide for his family.

Read More

More about A Family In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Related Topics

Open Document