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Examples Of Betrayal In A Raisin In The Sun

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Betrayals of A Raisin in the Sun

One simple act of betrayal can break bonds between two people once one dishonors the other. In the play A Raisin in the Sun written by the playwright Lorraine Hansberry the reader witnesses various acts of betrayal from family members and friends throughout the selection based on a black family living in the South Side of Chicago during the 1950s. After Walter finds out Mama has used the insurance money from Big Walter’s death to buy a house he feels as though she has no interest on his dream in life. Mama feels bad so she trustingly gives the rest of the money to Walter. As a result she is expecting him to follow her wishes to put some away for Beneatha’s school funding. Walter betrayed Mama by investing all of the money into his liquor store business he proves this by telling his son Travis “You wouldn’t understand it yet, son, but your daddy’s gonna make a transaction...a business transaction that’s going to change our lives…”(Hansberry 108). He tells his son Travis his good news, and yet he still does not realize the act of selfishness he has committed. …show more content…

Walter thought that everything was well although something had gone horribly wrong. One of his partners he was working with for the liquor store named Willy Harrison had taken the money and ran off with it. He betrayed the trust Walter Lee and Bobo had for him “What’s the matter with you, Walter! When a cat take off with your money he don’t leave you no road maps!”(Hansberry 128). When Mama finds out her son had used Beneatha’s schooling fund and lost the rest of the insurance money she becomes angry with Walter “ You mean… your sister’s school money… you used that too… Walter?”(Hansberry 129). She trusted him and he abused her

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1449 Words | 6 Pages

The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry debuted on Broadway in 1959, and the movie was made in 2008. “A Raisin in the Sun” is about the Younger family, the fifth generation of lower-class African-Americans living in Chicago’s Southside. They are faced with problems such as racial discrimination, poverty, and conflicting dreams. As the family decides on how to spend the insurance check of $10,000 from Walter’s father’s death, these problems cause many conflicts to rise. Reading the 1959 play and the 2008 movie, I have realized certain similarities and differences in how the story plays out.

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1132 Words | 5 Pages

“There is no education like adversity” (Disraeli), is a quote which describes Walter Lee Younger, a 35 year old African-American man who undergoes many adversities until he becomes a strong leader who unifies his family. Walter achieves this growth by facing and learning from his many misfortunes. After the death of his father, Big Walter, Walter’s family is given a small fortune from insurance. Walter, believing he is doing what is best for the family, tries to invest the money only to lose it all. This event leaves Walter feeling hopeless but he manages to learn from this mistake and make a choice that unites his family and rekindles their trust in him.

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1227 Words | 5 Pages

Walter wishes for approval and trust. Beginning with his friends, Ruth has not respected Walter’s friend choices throughout the play. Willie and Bobo are the friends; they all share the same dream. Walter asks his mother for financial support to help him chase his dream of opening up a local liquor store with his buddies. Mama puts her foot down by saying, “I don’t ‘low no yellin’ in this house, Walter Lee. .

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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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614 Words | 3 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a play which contains many different obstacles that the characters face. One character, Beneatha, faces an obstacle that is out of her control. This obstacle is gender inequality. Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, gender inequality is experienced by Beneatha and reflects the struggles women faced in the 1950s. One of the issues that Beneatha faces in the play is her relationships with two men in her life, George Murchison and Joseph Asagai.

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973 Words | 4 Pages

In this line, Walter is hinting at the liquor store investment, that no one in the family approves. A few days later, Bobo pays the Younger's a visit to update Walter on the investment. Walter finds out, along with the rest of the family, that Willy, their other business partner took all of the money and ran off with it. This upsets the whole family and Mama says to Walter, "You mean... your sister's school money...you used that too...?"

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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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1561 Words | 7 Pages

When Mama comes home she tells Walter what she really did with the money. She goes on by saying that she put 3500 dollars to the house she bought and the rest is to be decided by him. Mama gave Walter the money so he can decide what to do with it. She wanted half of the money to be for Beneatha 's school. After hearing this, Walter

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866 Words | 4 Pages

Beneatha wants to study to become a doctor, but instead Walter Lee wants to spend his family’s insurance money so he can open a liquor store with Willy and Bobo his friends and be a man. Since Walter Lee and his family were in a bad position and were very poor it was Walter Younger’s responsibility to keep the family together and he saw this a very big responsibility. He frequently complained about being a chauffeur and ridding rich people, every day when he woke up in the morning. He would always fight with his wife Ruth, Mama and his sister Beneatha. For instance (Hansberry 32-34) he says to Ruth his wife “You tired, ain’t you?

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861 Words | 4 Pages

Although Walter eventually does the morally correct thing he still has bad morals. Walter does the right thing by standing up to Lindner. When Lindner actually arrives and Walter is about to disgrace himself and the black community by begging Lindner for the money he can’t do it. Instead he says, “We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, and we will try to be good neighbors.

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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

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702 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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779 Words | 4 Pages

The family starts to tear apart as Walter decides to sell the house to Mr. Lindner and take the check. Mama and Beneatha try to explain to Walter that their family, through generations, would have never thought about taking money in hard times. Beneatha then begins saying that their dream of moving to a new house is now dead, which Walter replies, “What’s the matter with you all! I didn’t make this world. It was give to me this way!

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845 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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