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A raisin in the sun summary
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More handpicked essays just for you.
A raisin in the sun summary
Critical review of a raisin in the sun
Essay on the great migration
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
Ruth, one of the main characters in Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun," represents the hardships that women faced in the 1950s. Her character embodies the expectations and limitations placed on women during this time period, and the ways in which they navigated these challenges. Ruth's character is that of a devoted wife and mother who is constantly working to keep her family together. She is married to Walter Lee, who is struggling to make ends meet, and they have a young son, Travis. Ruth works as a domestic servant for a white family, which is a common occupation for women during this time period.
A Raisin in the Sun is an inspirational book/play that tells the overcoming story of an African-American family Going through the terrible struggles of Chicago in the 1950’s. Greg Kincaid once said “No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear.”. This explains Beneatha younger, a young woman who tries to find herself while dealing with others scrutinizing and being treated like a child in her family. In conclusion, Beneatha younger is an overpowering character that is shaping her life through independence, an education, and growing closer to her
A Raisin in the Sun The A Raisin in the Sun is a story that reflects how lower-class black family struggles to acquire middle-class recognition in the society. In this regard, Younger's family lived in an apartment the suburbs of Chicago where many blacks lived in 1950's. During this period, race discrimination was a significant issue in the area. Throughout the play, there arise generational conflicts concerning idea and perception between mother and her children that help depict personality of characters. In this regard, Younger's family consists of three generations: Lena, also known as Mama or grandmother, is about sixty years and has a lot of responsibilities as a family leader and represent the first generation.
In the play “A Raisin in the Sun,” the family explores many issues, both within their family and with outside conflicts. This play has a historical feel to it. In Chicago 's south side a black family is living in a run-down apartment. It takes the readers back to a time that many young people don’t know of, and a time that offers respect to older generations (1959). The play takes on a few social reforms.
In the story "Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry, an African American family the younger's family lives in a crowded apartment in a lower income community. The family struggles to live a happy life because of the living situation which is making them feel sad and depress. Due to the circumstances, the three women in the house mama (Lena), Ruth, and Beneath plays an important role in demonstrating the struggles, sacrifices, and determination they make for a better life. Beneatha is a college student with big dreams, Ruth is a mother and works in the kitchen of other people’s home to help support the family, and Mama is close to the age of retirement but continues to work because she is the head of the household. Although, the three women in the story are different from each other, they all play a strong role in the family.
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.
“A Raisin in the Sun,” written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1959, was the first play ever produced on Broadway by an African-American woman and was considered ground-breaking for it’s time. Titled after Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” sometimes known as “A Dream Deferred,” the play and the subsequent film adaptations are honest examinations of race, family, poverty, discrimination, oppression and even abortion in urban Chicago after WWII. The original play was met with critical praise, including a review by Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times where he wrote, “For A Raisin in the Sun is a play about human beings who want, on the one hand, to preserve their family pride and, on the other hand, to break out of the poverty that seems to be their fate. Not having any axe to grind, Miss Hansberry has a wide range of topics to write about-some of them hilarious, some of them painful in the extreme.” The original screen adaptation released in 1961 was highly acclaimed in its own right, and was chosen in 2005 for preservation in the United States of America National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for its cultural and historical significance.
In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, Ruth and Walter influence the plot the most. Throughout the play, Walter and Ruth argue an abundant amount of times about things that causes conflict between the characters Walter is an African American male who works as a chauffeur, and he lives with his mother, his sister, and his wife and son. Walter is a very rude and bitter person towards the other characters in the play. He wants to use his father’s insurance money to start a liquor business so he can help support his family, but everybody thinks it’s a bad idea.
She is an optimistic and caring character. Ruth is somehow like Mama. She is a soft character. "Ruth is easily embarrassed and tries too hard to please others" (James 44). She is not an aggressive character; she just lets life happen to her.
Reader Response: 3 “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, is a play about a black families experience in 1950s South Side Chicago. The story revolves around what happens to the family when Lena Younger, the matriarch of the family, receives a ten thousand dollar life insurance check upon the death of her husband. Everyone from the family has different plans for what they want to do with the money. Lena Younger serves as the head of the family. She is Walter and Beneatha’s caring mother so they and Ruth call her Mama.
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.
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun presents the rise of feminism in America in the 1960s. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, with the feminist notions displayed in the play, women establish their rights to fulfil their individual dreams which diverge from traditional conventions of that time. Beneatha Younger, Lena Younger (Mama) and Ruth Younger are the three primary characters displaying evidences of feminism in the play. Moreover, Hansberry creates male characters who demonstrate oppressive attitudes towards women yet enhance the feminist ideology in the play. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, the play encourages women to develop an identity for themselves, particularly through education and career.
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun presents the rise of feminism in America in the 1960s. Beneatha Younger, Lena Younger (Mama) and Ruth Younger are the three primary characters displaying evidences of feminism in the play. Moreover, Hansberry creates male characters who demonstrate oppressive attitudes towards women yet enhance the feministic ideology in the play. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, with the feminist notions displayed in the play, women can fulfil their individual dreams that are not in sync with traditional conventions of that time.
Just within the recent decades, men and women started to fight against the gender stereotypes and started to challenge their roles in a family and in the society. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, portrays the lives of African–Americans during the 1950s. Lorraine Hansberry, a writer and a social activist, reinforced the traditional gender roles, especially female’s, by depicting how the Youngers interact and how they act in an economical struggle. Throughout the play, A Raisin in the Sun, she uses Walter Lee Younger, Ruth Younger and Lena Younger to reinforce the traditional role of fathers, wives and mothers within a family.