ipl-logo

Impact Of Greed In A Raisin In The Sun

1148 Words5 Pages

When people are poor, they often have a lot of problems in their life. They struggle through every day, but they learn to appreciate everything that they have. However, when people are going through tough times, they often think that money will solve all of their problems. In “A Raisin In The Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, she guides the audience through a black family living on the south side of Chicago that was impacted by the need for money. The Younger family gets an insurance check from the death of Lena Younger’s husband that is used to buy a house in a white neighborhood, to pay for Beneatha Younger’s medical degree, and to try and start a liquor store. The $6,500 used to start the liquor store and Beneatha’s college money is stolen, but …show more content…

To begin, the reader sees the impact of greed through George Murchinson’s behavior. George always acts like he deserves to be respected because he is very rich, and members of the Younger family have pointed this out many times. His possession of money has altered his ego to where he is disliked by many people. Through this transformation, Hansberry shows the reader that greed can change people to be self-centered and despised. Another way the negative impact of greed is shown is through Willy Harris’s betrayal. Willy had an enormous amount of money, and the power of greed convinced him to steal it. Hansberry shows the audience through this betrayal that if people give in to greed, they will do awful things and can ruin people’s lives. One other way the dangerous power of greed is demonstrated through Lindner and his community 's actions. Lindner tries to use the power of greed to gain an advantage by offering money to the Youngers to get them to stay in their apartment. By Linder trying to bribe the Youngers with money, Hansberry shows the reader that greed could possibly destroy dreams if its power is not overcome. All in all, Hansberry teaches the reader about the negative power of being wealth centered by the actions of the minor characters throughout the

Show More
Related
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.

Read More
714 Words | 3 Pages

“People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get” – Fredrick Douglass. The Life of Fredrick Douglass by Fredrick Douglass was published in 1845. He was a slave who ran away to the North to be labeled as free in America. He soon became an abolitionist who was the voice of civil and political rights of slaves. On the other hand, a play called, A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1959, expresses how wealth is a dream in Walter’s eyes.

Read More
607 Words | 3 Pages

In We Were Liars, a novel by E. Lockhart, the setting of the novel plays a significant role in developing the theme of greed. The setting shows their wealth and need to maintain power, it also shows the consequences of greed and more. All of these things combined, add up to the theme of greed, based in the setting. The Sinclair family's private island is a symbol of their wealth and privilege. The island's luxury attracts envy from people outside the family, making it an object of desire for many.

Read More
700 Words | 3 Pages

In the play Mama exclaims, “Son... Is it gone? Son, I gave you sixty-five hundred dollars. Is it gone? All of it?

Read More
587 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
460 Words | 2 Pages

Did you know greed will corrupt and change people? Take the Whites for example, they wish for money while knowing there would be consequences and they lost their son. Through the story The monkey's Paw, the Whites are visited by a friend with a magical item, the Whites makes the decision to wish while knowing there will be consequences. Greed takes over people, Mr. White wished for money and his son was killed in a factory and he got his money Mrs.White wished her son back to life, but then Mr. White wished his son back to rest because you knew there would be more consequences. The whites were the same as any other family only if they weren't corrupted by an evil force of greed.

Read More
1393 Words | 6 Pages

One way Hansberry demonstrates the negative impact of greed is by Asagai’s response to an event caused by greed. When Beneatha is upset about losing all of the money from the insurance check, Asagai says, “... isn’t there something wrong in a house -- in a world -- where all dreams, good or bad, must depend on the death of a man?” (Hansberry 238). He explains to Beneatha that money does not define a person’s life and goals, and that if she has a dream she can still fulfill it as long as she is sedulous. Hansberry uses Beneatha and Asagai’s conversation to show the reader that money does not have the power to make a person’s future immutable; a person can achieve all of his or her goals as long as he or she works hard enough.

Read More
973 Words | 4 Pages

The house Mama bought was $3,500 leaving $6,500. Mama asks Walter to take the money to the bank and put $3,000 away in a savings account for Benetha's medical school. Mama made a smaller decision to give Walter $500 more than Benetha. She felt as though, with the new baby coming, Walter and Ruth may need the money more than Benetha. The remaining $3,500 was for Walter and his family.

Read More
811 Words | 4 Pages

In the text “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, the author uses the writing strategy of conflict to develop the central idea of how oneself can become selfish when trying to achieve the American dream. The text shows that the central idea is selfishness because circumstances are presented where various characters fail to take into consideration others while seeking their dreams. For example, Walters says, “ Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy ’bout messing round with sick people, then go be a nurse like other women-or just get married and be quiet…. ’’. This example of greed shows that the ambition to obtain a dream brings out the selfishness is true in the instance of Walter.

Read More
1500 Words | 6 Pages

This shows the family such as Mama and Ruth that they can’t trust Walter with anything now because he lost all of the portion of the money. He is looked down upon for not becoming the “Man” of the house and taking full responsibility when he is supposed to. Another traditional gender role that I see Hansberry challenging is Beneatha in the middle of the book. Beneatha explains how she has started taking guitar lessons Mama and Ruth laugh out loud making fun of her and asking why she wants to play the guitar. All of sudden she gets upset when Mama and Ruth don’t take it seriously “How come you done taken it in your mind to learn to play the guitar?”

Read More
1177 Words | 5 Pages

Greed is an “Intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food” (Oxford Dictionary). In The Maltese Falcon, everyone has the aspirations of finding the falcon for themselves. This is the driving force behind the murders, and betrayals many of the characters commit. Brigid, Cairo, Wilmer, and Gutman all seek the falcon for the same reason, the unimaginable wealth it will bring them. Possessing this rare object seems to consume them and they will do anything to get their hands on it.

Read More
1601 Words | 7 Pages

“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.

Read More
699 Words | 3 Pages

In A Raisin in the Sun, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry, the audience was able to obtain a sense of the struggle for the American dream. We are introduced to the Youngerś a black family living in the Southside of Chicago around the 1950’s. Each member of this family has their own meaning to what is the American dream. A Raisin in the Sun teaches us that even though life might be full of conflicts, it is important to not give up on our dreams.

Read More
916 Words | 4 Pages

The world stereotypes rich people as rude, stuck up and selfish. Ever wonder why? Studies from Yale, The New York Times, TED and more have concluded, money changes everything. Whether it’s attitude, morals or values, money can affect and change all aspects of someone’s life. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, has a theme showing this claim clearly.

Read More
963 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Impact Of Greed In A Raisin In The Sun

Related Topics

Open Document