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Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s, A Raisin the Sun, there is a positive message about the quest for the American dream. She was able to express her different views through the play through her characters as she depicts the daily struggles of a black family in the 1950s, at the start of the Civil Rights Movement. A Raisin in the Sun, effectively showed the impact of decisions, no matter how small, can affect a whole family. Hansberry shows the many different aspects of the road to actually achieving the American Dream. The story of each family member affects the story as they receive money, lose over half of the money, and bring themselves into a better neighborhood to increase their wellbeing.
A Raisin in the Sun, is a play that focuses on the …show more content…

Bonita's dreams were deferred because she grew up in a society where people expect women to build homes rather than have actual careers. Also money has another issue that had been holding her back from becoming a doctor and pursuing her dream. Walter said to Beneatha “ ain't many girls decide to be a doctor.”(pg 56) Walter is close minded and agrees on the views of women and their role in society Beneatha and Walter disagree on what the American dream was because they both have such different ideas on what they portrayed a better life to be. Beneatha believes that Walter's dream of buying a liquor store is a waste of money, and does not have faith that Walter has the ambition or ability to make a success of such a business. She is thankful that her mother will not agree to the plan. “Forgive me for wanting to be anything at all?” (p. 37) Beneatha's character wants to make a career for herself, so she can achieve her dream in a predominantly white time. Since Walter is looking into making an unreliable investment that he believes will be a way to bring his family out of poverty, his family is very skeptical about him since he shows no faith in anyone else. “This ain’t no fly-by-night proposition, baby. I mean we figured it out, me and Willy and Bobo.” (pg. 33) Beneatha’s character explicates a determined woman; she is different than from others and her generation because her dreams and ambitions are contrary to what is expected in the cultural

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Beneatha is a confident person and she wants to figure out and explore who she is. While arguing with Mama and Ruth about marriage and her future, Beneatha says, “I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that!” (50). During the argument Beneatha is very assertive of her beliefs and what she wants to do. She is very adamant that she wants to be a doctor

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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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600 Words | 3 Pages

Beneatha is the most educated person in the family. Her dream is to medical school and become a doctor. Beneatha almost gives up her dream of becoming a doctor when Walter lose her money but Asagai offers for her to go be a doctor in Africa. Another dream she has is to have her cultural identity and be a part of the African heritage. Much of her desire to express her African heritage comes from Asagai who says she is assimilated and acts white.

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1180 Words | 5 Pages

In A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha feels the sting of sexism when Walter comments on her dream to become a doctor. According to the text, Walter inquires about her decision quite frequently, and even remarks that there “ain’t many girls who decide … to be a doctor” (Hansberry 39). To achieve her vision for the future, Beneatha cannot afford to be discouraged by her own family. She wants to find her identity, her soul.

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667 Words | 3 Pages

A Raisin in The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a drama that relates to almost everyone because of the element of dreams and family. A Raisin in the sun shows a struggling family who gets a check from a dead member of their family to try’s and achieve their dreams. The drama touches a lot of different themes. The theme that is most important to this drama is the theme of family. Family is the most important theme in the drama because the drama is focused around the sacrifices a family makes.

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813 Words | 4 Pages

Beneatha seems to be trapped inside a home with people who are not only ignorant themselves, but also want her to be ignorant. On the other hand, Laura is also misunderstood by her family. Her mother Amanda obviously doesn’t comprehend the severity of Laura’s social anxiety. Laura’s defect also

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910 Words | 4 Pages

She puts a lot of effort and time in trying to get an education for herself and learn how to be her own person. Beneatha does not want to be with George because she feels that she will not be able to fulfill her dream of being a doctor. For example, “But if the Younger’s are sitting around waiting to see if their little Bennie is going to tie up the family with the Murchisons, they are wasting their time” (Hansberry31).Beneatha wants to be a hardworking woman and this connects to the American Dream because hard work is a big component of achieving what you want. Also, she does not want George Murchison stopping her from being a hard-working woman. She does everything by herself and puts her hard work into everything she does.

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997 Words | 4 Pages

Best put by New York Times reviewer, Brooks Atkinson “ A Raisin in the Sun has vigor as well as veracity and is likely to destroy the complacency of anyone who sees it” and this is a result of the gripping themes depicted in the play which are the most critical political issues of the times which included; assimilation v. integration into American society, socioeconomic status, and equal opportunity. Each of the complex characters that Hansberry created is representative of a

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1131 Words | 5 Pages

Walter even expresses to her how her career choice is unorthodox, “Go be a nurse like other women” (Hansberry 38). Then, he tells her to “get married and be quiet” (Hansberry 38). Walter says this projects the idea that a woman’s purpose in life is to serve a man, whether as a nurse or a house defy the gender roles of their time but submit to the subconscious sexism that bolsters gender roles. Consequently, Beneatha refuses to conform to her brother’s beliefs about her life, yet she is easily influenced by the romantic relationships in her life.

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399 Words | 2 Pages

I choice A Raisin In the Sun and decided to concentrate on the ideas of finding your strength, and discovering your roots in a world that doesn’t want you there. I feel the original play captures a feeling of hope and pride, and that as a family, you can endure anything. My concept deals with the current situation with Syrian Muslim refugees coming to the United States. I envision this play about a modern day Syrian family of Muslim faith coming to this country and initially living in an urban area in a poor run-down apartment, but dreaming of the American dream of owning a home and succeeding in business. The family has a strong Muslim faith and is not willing to give up on traditions.

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418 Words | 2 Pages

Lastly,Beneatha is a highly motivated character. She is motivated to make a difference in the world and achieve her goals to become a doctor. Beneatha was not letting anything stop her from becoming a doctor. In the text it states "I'm going to be a doctor. I'm not worried about who I'm going to marry yet—if I ever get married."

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535 Words | 3 Pages

Many people want to be rich or live in warm weather, this is what they strive for in their life. Everyone has an idea of what they will strive for, even if it's different from others. But only 8% of these people actually achieve this dream life. A Raisin in the Sun is a fictional play about the Younger family in the mid 1900s written by Lorraine Hansberry. The story takes place in Chicago's south side, where the younger family lives in an old apartment.

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748 Words | 3 Pages

For poor African-Americans who lacked education, subservient positions were the only options for work. Lena and Ruth are domestic workers and Walter Lee is a chauffeur (Characters Dreams Deferred in Raisin In The Sun). Beneatha, however, tries to avoid the box that African Americans are placed in by attending school and having aspirations of becoming a doctor. She uses Mama and Ruth as examples of what she doesn’t want to settle for and be. Beneatha’s character pulls in the issue of gender roles and feminism, two things that were big issues in the 50s.

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816 Words | 4 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun addresses major social issues such as racism and feminism which were common in the twentieth century. The author, Lorraine Hansberry, was the first playwright to produce a play that portrayed problematic social issues. Racism and gender equality are heavily addressed throughout the play. Even though we still have these issues today, in the 1950’s and 60’s the issues had a greater part in society. Racism and gender have always been an issue in society, A Raisin in the Sun is an important piece of American history during that time period.

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1502 Words | 7 Pages

Beneatha dreams to be a doctor, which is a male-dominated profession. She says, “I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that!” (Hansberry 33). This shows her feminist attitude in the play when Beneatha takes a largely optimistic stance when facing troubles of entering a male-dominated profession, implying that she is a ‘non-conformist’. Additionally, Beneatha refuses to “just get married and be quiet” (Hansberry 22), as her chauvinistic brother, Walter Lee, expects her to be.

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