A Raisin In The Sun Analytical Essay

“A Raisin in the Sun” Throughout the generations many different people from all walks of life have battled through the struggles that make them who they are. Even though Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, was written over fifty-five years ago, it still hits strong on the topic of equal rights, and how the struggles of generations can come to define a person. Throughout the play we learn a great deal from the three generations of women in the house and how they have developed their own strong and very different identities. Even though these women have all had major setbacks throughout their lives, they have made the best of their situation and work hard for all that they have. The first example of this would be Lena Younger. With the play being set in the 1940’s, we can place the birth of Lena, or Mama, somewhere around 1880-1890 and possibly even earlier. With this speculation based of the general ages, Walter in his mid thirties (1128), and size of her family, there is a good chance that growing up, Mama had family members who were involved in the Civil War, and

Ruth is the wife of Walter and mother to their son Travis. She is a very strong and proud woman. She stays level headed and like Mama cares very deeply about all members of their family. This is seen throughout the play where she is perceived as the peace maker in many situations. But from the very beginning of the play you see her authority shown as she makes rounds waking everyone up and regulate bathroom time (1129). She forgives discretions and is just trying to do the best for her family. It isn’t until the dream becomes real and then is seemingly taken from her that you see her become very emotional and lets her strong walls down for a moment. In a brief panic of not being able to move she makes a plea to Mama telling her that she will do whatever it takes herself to get her family out of that small two bedroom apartment, and finally into a house