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How Is Harlem Related To Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

681 Words3 Pages

A Dream Blocked Why is the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes related to the play, “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry? The characters in the play relate to some of the lines of the poem through their actions throughout the play. Some characters get really angry or change how they act later on. Two Characters from the play really show their emotion and change a lot. These characters are Walter and Mama. Walter relates to the poem Harlem. One line from the poem that relates to Walter is, “Or does it explode”. This line relates to Walter because he would get frustrated when people weren't listening to his dream. In the story Ruth, Walter's wife keeps telling him to just eat his eggs instead of listening to his dream. Then Walter says, …show more content…

She then started to beat him, “quiet without thinking about it, starts to beat him senselessly in the face” (129). Mama was usually a really gentle and kind person throughout the story but now she went out of control or, exploded because of how angry she was with Walter. Another line that relates to Mama is, “like a heavy load”. This line Relates to Mama because people keep constantly asking about what she's going to do with the check. But she really had a lot of pressure on her when Walter keeps asking about going into the liquor store business but Mama doesn’t want to, “and there ain't going to be no investing in no liquor stores” (70). The Last line that relates to Mama is “Does it dry up”. This relates to Mama because she is starting to lose the power in the family and she is giving it to Walter. Mama also doesn’t own anything and is starting to lose Walter, “I ain’t got nothing, don’t own nothing, ain’t never really wanted nothing that wasn’t for you” (106). After she gave him the power Walter started to be more happy and even though Mama lost the money, at least they are

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