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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

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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.

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In the book Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne, we learned of two stories that may not be well known in history, but they are very astonishing. One of the stories is about the Comanches, who may not have been well known but they became one of the most powerful Indian tribes in American history. We learn of the rise and fall of their tribe and how they became known for their extreme fighting abilities. The other story told in this book was the story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her son Quanah, who was a half- blood Indian. The Comanches fought with the white settlers to take control of the American west.

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She was not like other young women that would be housewives or maids at her age but instead is independent. Looking after herself and making more of a life for herself, she attends school, tries to play guitar, and looks for a love interest. This breaks the stereotype of a “normal” woman who is a housewife or maid and shows Beneatha is different. Therefore, Beneatha overcomes this criticism of her “unnatural ways”, and proceeds to make her life successful.

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Back in the 1950s, women would be a stay at home mom and take care of the house and kids. However, Beneatha does not want to fit this stereotype. She tells Ruth and Lena that "[she is] not even worried about who [she is] going to marry yet. If—[she] ever gets married" (Hansberry 75). Beneatha gets shamed for not wanting to marry before her schooling.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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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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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( Hansberry 143) Walter’s belief is that people have learned to

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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.

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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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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.

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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).

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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.

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