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A Raisin In The Sun Critical Lens

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Money plays a crucial role in "A Raisin in the Sun," affecting characters differently. Lena sees the insurance money as a chance for a better life, as she prays in Act I, Scene 1, "Lord, just let me get my hands on $10,000." For Walter Lee, money means freedom and success, as he tells his son in Act II, Scene 1, "Your daddy's gonna make a transaction... a business transaction that's going to change our lives." But money also brings conflict when Willy Harris steals their investment, leading Walter to realize the consequences of his obsession with wealth in Act II, Scene 3, where he admits, "I been doing to you what the rest of the world been doing to you." Money thus drives hope, dreams, and betrayal, shaping the characters' lives and relationships. …show more content…

At first, Lena, the mom, had control over the money from her husband's death. In (Act I, Scene 1), Lena says, "I'm telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be." But as the story unfolds, her son Walter wants to make his own decisions about money and his business idea. In (Act II, Scene 2), Walter insists, "A man needs a woman to back him up, yessir." Meanwhile, Beneatha, Lena's daughter, questions traditional rules and wants to find herself. In (Act III, Scene 1), she says, "I'm just tired of hearing about God all the time... Man, I'm a volcano." These moments show how power changes within the Younger family, reflecting their hopes and struggles in

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Dynamic Characters In A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry

629 Words | 3 Pages

A Raisin In the Sun takes place in southside Chicago during the 1950s when segregation was prevalent. The Youngers, a black family, have gone through a recent death of a relative named Big Walter. Mama received $10,000 from his life insurance. Each family member hopes to achieve their dream with this money. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the author uses brief characters to develop dynamic characters and their actions by showing internal and external racism and how cash alters people.

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Analysis Of A Raisin In The Sun: A Raisin In The Sun

86 Words | 1 Pages

A raisin in the sun talks about a poor African American family during the 1940’s. every person in the younger family had dreams but due to the financial issues, they could never accomplish them. After older Walter’s (Father) death, their dreams could come to reality with the $10,000 insurance check. Walter lee is a good example of a characters dream that went down the drain because of financial trouble. With the insurance money, Walter lee wanted to buy a liquor store with three of his buddies.

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Examples Of Sacrifice In A Raisin In The Sun

1010 Words | 5 Pages

They do not want to sacrifice their own dreams to please the others. Unwilling to make a sacrifice proves to bring more animosity in a family as shown in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry through conflict involving money and how the characters handle their actions. Walter’s dream is to use the money to open up his own business even if it goes against his family’s wishes. Walter argues, “.... he’s

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1017 Words | 5 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun depicts a couple of weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. At the point when the play opens, the Youngers are going to get a protection check for $10,000. This cash originates from the perished Mr. More’s youthful life coverage approach. Each of the grown-up individuals from the family has a thought in the matter of what he or she might want to do with this cash. The female authority of the family, Mama, needs to purchase a house to satisfy a fantasy she imparted to her spouse.

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Examples Of Greed In A Raisin In The Sun

700 Words | 3 Pages

Beneatha’s money too?” (29) after she finds out he just blew all of the money. This quote emphasises the discomfort and pure shock and disappointment of Mama at losing all of the money. Mama also cries in the play, "You mean your sister 's school money, you used that too?" (29) revealing her discomfort and despair in this quote shows just how upset that she is that Walter has gone and blown all of Beneatha’s money that was going to be her future on his little gamble.

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655 Words | 3 Pages

In the momentum of risking his money, he also used his sister’s tuition money to pay for the liquor store. Regrettably, one of his business partners, Willy Harris, takes off with all of their money, leaving Walter and his sister with nothing. The dream of providing for his family does nothing but “explode” (11), sending shrapnel and death to Beneatha’s dream as well as his. A Raisin in the Sun accurately depicts the average twentieth century black family, struggling with their dreams if happiness and success amongst segregation.

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705 Words | 3 Pages

(114-115) By giving up the money, Walter is shown to be spontaneous and quick to trust. He made a quick decision about giving Willy the money, without even thinking about the consequences, which shows his spontaneity and trust issues. He also didn’t even think to put any money away for Beneatha and he just trusted Willy to get the license before actually getting to know him. The play A Raisin in the Sun, shows how Walter settles on a brisk choice to give his Mamas insurance money to the character Willy Harris so he could purchase an alcohol store. Thus, his choice accounts Willy Harris to steal the cash which causes an apathetic temperament in the story and makes lost expectation in the family.

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1500 Words | 6 Pages

In the play Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry takes place on the southside of Chicago where Walter and his family are racially profiled and show us how the survive throughout their struggles. The central struggles for the younger family in their search for the American dream is mostly poverty and being racially profiled against for their actions. Hansberry challenges the traditional gender roles and issues of dominance throughout the play when Mama gives Walter lee the rest of the money at the end of the play. He becomes all excited and was supposed to save some for himself and put the rest of the money to Beneatha 's education. Instead, he gave all that money to Willy another character in the play which later on that he stole from him.

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916 Words | 4 Pages

The author, Lorraine Hansberry, puts in different characters to help display these themes and the correlation between money and how it affects people. In A Raisin in the Sun, there is a connection between pride and money with more than one character. She puts these specific characters in to display the themes clearly. Lorraine Hansberry puts Walter in the beginning of the story as very pride driven, never wanting to show his son or family their financial struggles. He is a hard worker, but being a chauffeur for a rich white man is difficult for him and his pride and further into the play takes a toll on his attitude, ambitions and family’s future.

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What Is A Reader Response In A Raisin In The Sun

702 Words | 3 Pages

She is also upset because Walter is giving in to racial tension and calling Mr. Lindner back to negotiate taking money in exchange for not moving into the white neighborhood. Lena immediately snaps back and calls out Beneatha for not learning to care for her brother. In this scene Lena’s maternal instinct really shines through. Even though she is disappointed in Walters foolishness and lack of pride, she knows that Walter is at his lowest point and that persecution and ridicule will not help the situation in any way. She also understands that his pursuit of money wasn't for self interest but to make things better for the whole family.

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Dreams And Faith In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

732 Words | 3 Pages

Lena Younger was a religious mother to her family regardless of the anger that her family has towards one another. Lena faith was soon tested when she gave her son the rest of the insurance money to put towards Beneatha college funds and the rest in his name. Instead of doing exactly what his mother told him Walter put the rest of the insurance money towards his liquor store plan only to receive the news from his friend, that the entire plan was a money scheme and Willy Harris ran off with their money. Heart broken by the hard work her husband put towards his life and her son spent the entire money out of selfishness she still loved her son. Lena was a part of faith which is also symbolized through the plant that she carried for the received little sunlight.

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The Importance Of Dreams In Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

1034 Words | 5 Pages

His journey takes him from total jerk, obsessed with get-rich-quick schemes, to a man worthy of respect. “A Raisin in the Sun” is a respectable story about family, struggles, change, and how one can redeem themselves through moral courage and by staying true to one's own beliefs. Through Walter Younger, Lorraine Hansberry also shows how poverty and racism can twist and depress people, turning them against those that they love most. Walters dream didn’t come true but he definitely got more than money could ever buy and that’s the respect and support from his family. “A Raisin in the Sun” shows that the idea everyone can achieve their desires if they work hard, doesn't always stand up in the face of real life and people can redeem themselves through moral

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920 Words | 4 Pages

this makes her stand out as an ambitious young woman the words such as "get away from the life of 'do as I say'," makes her stand out as a sophisticated and intelligent young woman as she doesn't want to live life the traditional way of getting a regular job she wanted to go above and beyond. Beneatha's individuality and ambition are most obvious when compared to the other characters of the play, like her mother, and sister, Walter and Ruth. Her views and desires, such as her desire to become a doctor, and a rejection of traditional views of womanhood, separated her from the traditional expectations of the time and her family, making her one of the most dynamic characters of

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Reaction Paper On A Raisin In The Sun

825 Words | 4 Pages

The main characters of this play are Travis, Ruth, Beneatha, Walter and Lena. Travis is the son of Walter and Ruth is the wife of Walter. Beneatha is Walter’s sister and Lena is Walter’s mother. Walter Lee Younger is the protagonist because he is the man of the house and

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1001 Words | 5 Pages

so she wants to use some of the money for medical school. Tension grows within the family as Lena and Walter butt-heads on what the money should be used for. Lena uses thirty-five hundred of the ten thousand to buy a nice house for her family. Walter take this as an action directly against him and it sends him into a depression. After seeing how broken walter has become, Lena realizes that it is her duty as a mother to support her child and entrust walter with the remainder of the money and instructs him to put three-thousand in the bank for Beneatha’s tuition and use the rest for whatever he sees fit.

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