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Symbolism in A Raisin in the sun
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Mama’s Plant and Sunlight In Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun” Mama’s plant and sunlight are reoccurring symbols that represent growth, hope, and her pursuit of dreams through hardship. Through these symbols, Hansberry conveys the idea that just like plants need sunlight to thrive. People need a sense of hope of purpose to overcome the obstacles of life.
I also find that the characters in A Raisin in the Sun are over exaggerating the situation they are in given the archetypal standards they represent. Each character is representation of something generational, a gender or race issue, and it's a testament to Hansberry's writing that the characters don't come across as mouthpieces for the story. They are living, breathing human beings. It's not impossible at all to imagine the Younger family crowded together in their tiny roach-infested apartment on the south side of Chicago struggling, striving, and dreaming. “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor?
Living in a two-bedroom apartment in the slums of Chicago is Walter, his mother (Lena), his wife Ruth, Beneatha (his sister), and his son Travis. Walter wants to do better by them by starting a liquor business using the insurance money his father gave his mother, but Mama, who is religious says it’s not Christian and “We ain’t no business people… We just plain working folks.” Then his wife, Ruth tells him she doesn’t want to hear about a dream he never pursues, and Beneatha tells Walter he’s crazy and that the money doesn’t belong to him. Especially since none of the family seems to listen or even support his idea he becomes bitter towards them.
Once she is down the stairs she is positioned in front of a mirror and we see how she stares at her self with enjoyment. We also see how she enjoys the attention of Walter watching her as she finishes buttoning up her dress and putting on her lipstick. When viewing the two characters we see that Phyllis admires her reflection in the mirror and while ignoring Walter we see how self-centered she can be. The mirror gives alertness to the viewers because she says to Walter “I hope I’ve got my face on straight”. This remark explains that mirror shots foreshadow a two-face deception and are a cinematic technique used in film noir that can create a reflection more powerful than the women they actually mirror (Place 1980).
Lorraine Hansberry wrote the book Raisin in The Sun in 1959. It is a story of an African American family trying to surpass racism and live like a white family. During this time when the book was written whites and African Americans didn’t get along. Hansberry included important characters; however, Ruth influences the plot the most.
He also explains that even today, African Americans are treated in an unequal fashion of some sort. Walter Younger is beginning to see the same things, he explains, Walter Younger made a bad investment decision,
“Choices made, whether bad or good, follow you forever and affect everyone in their path one way or another.” J.E.B. Spredemann. The theme I chose to analyze is choices and consequences. For this type of writing assignment, I’ve decided to choose the following readings. The poem titled Harlem was written by Langston Hughes in 1951.
In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun she uses characterization on Beneatha to suggest that the media or society is hard on black women. In the play it demonstrates how a black woman's dream is diminished, her looks as more important, to always being criticized. In Act I, it indicates that Beneatha wants to be a doctor and go to medical school. It is her dream to do so, but whenever it is brought up, it is either dismissed, compared to other people, or deemed not important.
Things were completely disparate in the 1950’s from what they are now. Especially for African-American people, they had strong prejudices against them, which could make it impossible for them to do things in society. In Lorraine Hainsberry’s A Raisin in the Sun we meet the Younger family, an African American family in the 50’s, but we get to see them have dreams and attempt to follow those dreams. We get a close look at what a typical lifestyle would be for people in the same situation. The Younger family are fantastic examples of the American Dream, but they each have their own different dreams, and each dream has an outer shell plus a deeper meaning on the inside.
When Walter states the family will be moving into the house despite Lindner’s offer supports the importance of fighting against racial discrimination, which ties into the idea of the rejection of assimilation seen with Beneatha’s
Lorraine V. Hansberry Author Lorraine Hansberry, who is considered one of the Great American authors, wrote during the Modernist period. She wrote “A Raisin in the Sun” in 1959. In this work, we can see evidence of the characteristics, themes and style identified with the Modernist movement which was extant in American letters between 1850’s and after WWII. Lorraine Hansberry wrote during this time period of American literature, and such, remains one of the most identifiable and iconic writers of her time. Lorraine Hansberry was born on May 19, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois.
Walter further shows his false pride when he flaunts his newfound sense of power when Mr.Lindner, one of the Younger’s soon-to-be neighbors, offers him an unjust deal. Now that Walter has control over the family 's money, he considers himself the head of the family and decision maker; this plays an important role towards how Walter treats others now that he holds himself to a higher standard. This theme applies to Walter when the chairman of the “welcoming committee” (115) named Mr.Lindner pays a visit to the family a couple weeks before they 're supposed to move into their new home in Clybourne Park. During this visit, Mr.Lindner makes the offer of the Clybourne Park community “buy[ing] the house from [them] at a financial gain to [the] family” (118). Mr.Lindner’s offer represents the racial oppression and how the white community looks down upon and doesn’t want African american people dirtying their communities.
Regarding the Genre, the play is mainly about the life of Black family in the south side of Chicago, that is why the Genre of family ( family drama) dominates the play, the family comes from an ordinary African-American working-class. Hansberry through the play describes the daily live of the African-American in Chicago. How they live, how their houses look,and how they are treated. It regarded as a family drama, because all the action took place within the house of the family.
Simone’s music encompassed the mentality and philosophy of the Black Power movement that erupted during the 1960s. The empowerment of Black Americans, especially Black youth, became the primary goal of her music’s message. Some of the most important influences that affected her views of blackness was her personal relationships with Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, and Lorraine Hansberry (Loudermilk). Her connections with this group of people allowed for her development and discussion of black liberation. She collaborated with Langston Hughes to create “Backlash Blues” which was released in 1967.
The Younger family, is a family who are honest and who also work hard for what they want, just because they are black, does not mean that they don 't deserve to live in a better neighbourhood. However, racism also impacted the Younger family beneficially in the way Walter rejected Linders’s offer at the end of the play. The example of racism gives Walter the opportunity to become the man he always wanter to
