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Improbable Goals In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

1312 Words6 Pages

Importance of a Probable Goal Life is an intricate maze of problems and unique pathways to overcome hardship. Some face simple issues while others face convoluted issues. Prior to applying the new historical lens to A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, it is vital that the reader understands that the play was written in 1959, the same time period as several African American Rights movements. With this in mind, Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, emphasizes the importance of establishing an unique American Dream with probable goals for African Americans by providing examples of Mama’s success in moving into a larger house to fulfill family unity, and Walter’s failure in opening a liquor store to achieve prosperity, despite …show more content…

Such improbable goals not only occurred in the play, but also in history. When looking at Malcolm X’s legacy, it is clear why his attitude towards achieving the American Dream for African Americans was not ideal. He stated that the African Americans are the original people of the Earth, the White people are the devils, Africans are superior to Whites, and that the demise of the White race is imminent. Even though these statements served as a centrifugal force for African Americans initially, his statements were rather disrespectful and suggested violence. Like other violent attempts, this movement also failed as Malcolm X had an improbable goal in his path to help African Americans to achieve their American Dream (Mamiya). In A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry also emphasizes this ideology through Walter. He says that he has “got some plans that could turn [that] city upside down. [He wants to go] Big. [Investing] big, [gambling] big” (Hansberry 84). Walter dreams of gaining money through the liquor store, a highly improbable goal. As the play continues, Walter realizes how absurd this goal is and decides to abandon his American Dream. As a result, he takes it on himself to ensure that his mother’s American Dream gets fulfilled when he mentions “we don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight causes, and we will try to be good neighbors … we don’t want your money” (Hansberry 148) to Lindner. By doing so, Walter makes it evident that he lost all interest in money and only wants to move into the house to aid in uniting his family, proving Walter’s shift in his American Dream. Clearly, using evidence from the Malcolm X’s legacy and Hansberry’s emphasis on Walter’s failure of his unique American Dream due to an improbable goal, the importance of every individual person having probable goals is vital to

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Similarities Between A Raisin In The Sun And The American Dream

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By comparison, they will do anything to be able to fulfill their American Dream. Without a doubt, Walter would give up anything for wealth, since money runs the world. While Walter was having a conversation with his mother she says, “So now its life. Money. Money is life.

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Examples Of Allusion In A Raisin In The Sun

867 Words | 4 Pages

The hidden meanings in the references that authors write about, when they write their novels or plays, change how a play or book is thought of and also commences the development of better critical thinking skills.. In the play, A Raisin In The Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses many different types of literary devices for the play to have a deeper meaning or idea than what is just read. Taking place during the 1950’s in Southside Chicago, the play is about an African American family who live through many struggles, racially and financially. When the father dies and the Younger family receives $10,000, their hopes and dreams are possible and may come true. It is until they lose their money that they realized they “aimed to high”(140), especially Mama and Walter Younger.

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Comparing Happiness In Douglass And A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry

422 Words | 2 Pages

Mama said, "so money is life, once upon a time freedom used to be life not it's money"(Hansberry). Walter view that money is more important than freedom which bring pleasure in their life. He desire to buy liquor store and he refuse to do small, want bigger the what he have now.

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Theme Of Greed In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

1393 Words | 6 Pages

Another way Hansberry elucidates the impact of being greedy is when Ruth goes to get her baby aborted and Walter says nothing about it. Once the audience learns that Ruth is going to abort her baby, Lena says, “When the world gets ugly enough -- a woman will do anything for her family. The part that’s already living” (Hansberry 198). Ruth rationalizes her decision to kill her baby by stating that killing the child will leave more money for the family, and since Walter only wants to be rich, he is not willing to save his child. Hansberry uses Ruth’s attempt to abort her baby to show the reader that being too money focused can lead a person to sacrifice their own family members for the sake of earning more money.

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Theme Of Selfishness In A Raisin In The Sun

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.

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Langston Hughes's A Raisin In The Sun

600 Words | 3 Pages

He wants to be a businessman and own a liquor store. He wants to be able to provide for his family and give them what they have never had. Walter also wants to take his mother’s position as the head of the house and make the financial decisions for the family. Walter can be seen as selfish as instead of putting the money for him and his sister in the bank he uses it all and loses it trying to fulfill his own dreams with no regard to his sister’s dreams or the rest of the family’s.

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Raisin In The Sun Character Analysis

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?”

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Belonging In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

921 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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Impossibility Of Ambition In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

778 Words | 4 Pages

After receiving news that his investment was swindled, Walter exclaims, “That money was made out of my father’s flesh!” (Hansberry 85). Although Walter’s commitment to success is admirable, his impulsive investment caused further strife to his family. Through Walter’s actions, Hansberry highlights how impulsive ambition leads to the unsuccessful fulfillment of the American dream and worsened conditions for

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Race And Dreams In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

1138 Words | 5 Pages

As a civil rights activist, Stokely Carmichael once said, “We are told,” If you work hard, you’ll succeed”- but if that were true, black people would own the country. We are oppressed because we are black- not because we are ignorant, not because we are lazy, not because we are stupid, but because we are black!” This quote is still relevant even to this day, blacks are still considered a minority and they get treated differently simply because of the color of their skin. People continue to treat others by the color of their skin rather than their character. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the interaction between the themes of race and dreams demonstrates that your race can affect the dreams that you have and what you choose to do about it.

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A Raisin In The Sun American Dream Essay

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.

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Hardships In A Raisin In The Sun

1127 Words | 5 Pages

Walter responded with “I know ain’t nothing in this world as busy as you colored collage boys with your fraternity pins and white shoes”(Hansberry . 84). Walter was basically saying wow your a preppy rich boy that thinks he 's better than me. George was thinking that he was better than walter just because he had more money. But that is not the case he is no better than walter. Walter works hard for his money while george just gets it handed to him.

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A Raisin In The Sun Analysis

809 Words | 4 Pages

Being the man of the household, Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and plans on using Lena’s money to do so. Walter is always after money and believes that the only way to succeed in life is with money. For example, when Walter is talking about the check, he says, “Mama, sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool, quiet-looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking about things, turning deals worth millions of dollars, sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me” (992).This shows how Walter wanted something more out of life and not just be a poor black man. Everyone in this family had dreams but no one supported each other dreams.

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Dreams And Faith In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

732 Words | 3 Pages

In Susan Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the themes identified are dreams and faith that each character signifies throughout their struggles in their daily lives. The theme dreams refer to how each of the main five characters: Ruth Younger, Walter Lee Younger, Travis Younger, Beneatha Younger, and Lena Younger dealt with different oppression situations that took part in their lives that put the dreams on hold. Furthermore, the theme also connects towards the faith that each main character had to pursue to keep their family together after the death of a love one. The characters’ in A Raisin in the Sun tries to chase after a separate dream, unfortunately their dreams are utterly pushed away to realize the importance of their family

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A Raisin In The Sun Walter's Dream Analysis

466 Words | 2 Pages

Despite the fact that dreaming of a liquor store is shallow, Walter’s motivation to be able to support his family helps reconcile his somewhat immoral hopes. Later, Walter shows the idiocy of his plan to own a liquor store when he gets drunk. In act 2, scene 2, Walter borrows Willy Harris’s car and drives around Chicago for two days, then “just walked”, and finally “went to the Green Hat” (2.2 105). Through his actions, Walter shows that he is immature and cares more about pretending to be rich than his job that would allow him to provide for his family.

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