ipl-logo

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

933 Words4 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun takes place in Southside Chicago and is about an underprivileged family living in a small apartment. In the apartment lives Mama, Ruth, Beneatha, Lena, and Travis. This family is poor and is waiting for a 10,000 dollar check from mama’s dead husband. With this check comes conflict on what should be done with the money. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses settings like Southside Chicago and themes like family and money as techniques to present to readers her characters and the dynamic between them.
A Raisin in the Sun is primarily set in a Southside Chicago apartment. The apartment is small and worn out. Hansberry says “And here a table or a chair has been moved to disguise the worn places …show more content…

She is different from Mama and Ruth. Beneatha wants to become a doctor which is a very different aspiration for a woman in her time. She also cuts her hair off which is symbolic because natural hair was not appreciated during her time so she now has natural hair. Additionally, a major disagreement between Mama and Beneatha is that Beneatha lacks the faith in God that Mama holds so dear. Beneatha expresses her disbelief in the divine when she says “Mama, you don’t understand. It’s all a matter of ideas, and God is just one idea I don’t accept. It’s not important”. Hansberry may have chosen to have Mama be in conflict with her two children to emphasize that, to Mama, her children are still her children even though they are adults. Her relationship with them, as described by Hansberry, gives her an heir of matriarchy over her household and family dynamic. Money is a concept seen throughout the play and is a cause of great conflict for the family. The family is constantly disagreeing on money because everyone has their own hope for what the $10,000 check will allow for. However, everyone except Walter is respecting that this money is Mama’s and she has the final decision of what happens with it. Walter thinks that the money should be given to him, so when Mama explains that she put it towards a down payment he is extremely upset. Hansberry uses the theme of money to, once again, show that Mama is the head of the house and that it is her money-not her

Show More
Related

Dynamic Characters In A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry

629 Words | 3 Pages

A Raisin In the Sun takes place in southside Chicago during the 1950s when segregation was prevalent. The Youngers, a black family, have gone through a recent death of a relative named Big Walter. Mama received $10,000 from his life insurance. Each family member hopes to achieve their dream with this money. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the author uses brief characters to develop dynamic characters and their actions by showing internal and external racism and how cash alters people.

Read More

Compare And Contrast A Raisin In The Sun Book And Book

885 Words | 4 Pages

In the movie there were many different settings compared to the one setting in the play. The film adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun takes the viewer to various settings such as the Younger family apartment, the Green Hat bar, Mama’s workplace, the street, the market, the hair salon, and the Younger’s new home. Each of these locations are mentioned in the play, but there were never any scenes set in those locations. In the play A Raisin in the Sun, everything happens in the living room or kitchen. “The YOUNGER living room would be a comfortable and well-ordered room if it were not for a number of indestructible contradictions to this state of being” (23 Hansberry).

Read More

Resilience In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

645 Words | 3 Pages

In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun, One theme is that a mother will do anything to teach her children money isn’t everything, to never give up on their dreams, and to make her family happy. For Mama’s whole life, she has been trying to teach her family that money isn’t everything, but it seems that ever since they knew that they were getting an insurance check that seems to be all they talk about. Right, when Walter woke up he started to ask about the insurance check and when it was coming, so when Mama wakes up she says "Somebody would have thought my children done starved to death the way they talk about money here late...”(330). This quote is important because it shows that the family is talking about money like they are starving and don't have food, but in reality they are so worried about what mama is going to do with the money because they all want it used a different way to benefit themselves or their dream, but some of the family disagree and want to leave it to Mama to choose what happens to it because it's her money and it's not right for them to ask for it or use it how they want to.

Read More

A Raisin In The Sun Beneatha Character Analysis

614 Words | 3 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun is a play that addresses gender inequality through Beneatha and her experiences. Throughout what we see about her life, she thinks all men and women should be treated equal. These experiences that Beneatha goes through effects her life and her

Read More

Historical Analysis Of A Raisin In The Sun

1427 Words | 6 Pages

Historical Analysis: A Raisin in the Sun is a play about the author’s life. The segregation life and the event of moving into a white neighborhood are events from the life of Lorraine Hansberry, the author. The events that occurred in the play along with real life events relate to the Civil Rights Movement and feminist topics. Lorraine Hansberry moved into an all white neighborhood just like the Younger family moved into Clybourne Park. The author did not modify the major events of her own life but rather added a series of complications and details to fit the play such as the event of Walter losing the investment money.

Read More

What Does The Plant Symbolize In A Raisin In The Sun

1105 Words | 5 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun is a play, which consists of three acts for a total of six scenes. From the very beginning, the plot line begins with the Younger family waking up, going about their morning as they normally do. The family living in the small apartment consists of Mama, Beneatha, her daughter, Walter, her son, Ruth, Walter’s wife, and Travis, Walter and Ruth’s son. The apartment that accommodates this family consists of a small kitchen, containing one small window, a living room, which also serves as Travis’ room, and two bedrooms, one for Walter and Ruth, the other shared by Mama and Beneatha. In the kitchen window lays a potted plant, second to only family in Mama’s most prized possessions.

Read More

Langston Hughes And Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

1974 Words | 8 Pages

As well as using words that have meaning beyond their name. A summary of the story, A raisin in the Sun, is a story written about a family known as the Youngers. This family of five lives in a small apartment on the south side of Chicago. In the story, its described as “a

Read More

Raisin In The Sun Character Analysis

1500 Words | 6 Pages

In the play Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry takes place on the southside of Chicago where Walter and his family are racially profiled and show us how the survive throughout their struggles. The central struggles for the younger family in their search for the American dream is mostly poverty and being racially profiled against for their actions. Hansberry challenges the traditional gender roles and issues of dominance throughout the play when Mama gives Walter lee the rest of the money at the end of the play. He becomes all excited and was supposed to save some for himself and put the rest of the money to Beneatha 's education. Instead, he gave all that money to Willy another character in the play which later on that he stole from him.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

What Is A Reader Response In A Raisin In The Sun

702 Words | 3 Pages

Reader Response: 3 “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, is a play about a black families experience in 1950s South Side Chicago. The story revolves around what happens to the family when Lena Younger, the matriarch of the family, receives a ten thousand dollar life insurance check upon the death of her husband. Everyone from the family has different plans for what they want to do with the money. Lena Younger serves as the head of the family. She is Walter and Beneatha’s caring mother so they and Ruth call her Mama.

Read More

A Raisin In The Sun Analysis

809 Words | 4 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun Money is one of the things in the world that a person can become obsessed with. In the story “A Raisin in the sun” the author Lorraine Hansberry shows how a family is changed by the lust of money. A widow, Lena, her son Walter Younger, his wife Ruth and daughter Beneatha all lived under the same roof. Lena just lost her husband and is receiving a check for his death. With the money, Lena wants to buy a new house for the whole family to live in but everyone else in the family sees a different type of opportunity.

Read More

Compare And Contrast Grizzly And Polar Bears

238 Words | 1 Pages

I will be comparing and contrasting grizzly bears and polar bears. They are both very different but they also have some similarities. They both are very popular bears and well know across the world. They are known for their adorable faces and fluffy fur, but don’t get too close, they are dangerous to be around, especially when they have their cubs with them. Polar bears and grizzly bears both are part of the bear family.

Read More

Reaction Paper On A Raisin In The Sun

825 Words | 4 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun "Education has spoiled many a good plow hand" (Hansberry 103). This quote is significant because it is applying that education is better than being a hard-worker. A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, is taken place in South Side, Chicago between World War II and the present. The main focus of this play is about a poor African-American family who has a chance to escape this lifestyle with a ten-thousand-dollar life insurance check, but is not desired to live in a "white" neighborhood.

Read More

More about Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Related Topics

Open Document