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A Raisin In The Sun Foreshadowing Analysis

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Thomas Jefferson once said, “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock” (David). Jefferson states that it is acceptable to be involved in the current fads and fashions, but when it comes to core values, one needs to stay grounded. Lorraine Hansberry grasps this concept in A Raisin in the Sun; a play centered around a poverty stricken African American family living in an apartment in Chicago. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry reveals the theme of staying true to one’s beliefs, and remaining strong during hard times by using foreshadowing, symbolism, and character development. In A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry uses foreshadowing to help uncover the theme of staying grounded to one’s convictions during tough trials. The narrator’s descriptions and characters names at the beginning contain examples of foreshadowing. The Younger family apartment and …show more content…

Since the first scene, Walter’s sister Beneatha has been set apart from the rest of the family. Beneatha is ambitious and plans on becoming a doctor, but plans change once her brother loses all of her school money, and she consequently call him, “ nothing but a toothless rat” (ARITS 3.1.117). Beneatha becomes dissatisfied with her dream when it now seems so out of reach. Her character begins to develop deeper when the neighborhood committee threatens her family’s honor. After a long talk with Mama, Beneatha takes a different approach with Walter when she backs him up saying “ That’s what the man said” (ARITS 3.1.121). The change in diction towards Walter from “rat” to “man” conveys that she has learned a hard lesson about family togetherness. Mama’s message to Beneatha is the same theme Hansberry is relaying to her readers. Each member of the Younger family demonstrate change in relation to the theme before and after the

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