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Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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Dream chaser. Hard worker. Untrustworthy. Characters with these traits will either learn to succeed in life or their bad decisions will get them nowhere. In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry shows the life of an African American man in the 1950s. Walter Younger, a hard working dream chaser who wants to provide for his family, learns a difficult lesson on his road to success. Walter is looking to Achieve the american dream. During the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry shows how one man tries to achieve the american dream. This dream for many is to make money so they can provide for their family. Throughout this play Walter tries to achieve the american dream and wants to buy a liquor store to do so. He wants to achieve it because his family, the Youngers live in a apartment with his wife Ruth, his son Travis, his sister Beneatha, and his mother Lena. This is too small for them and his son Travis has to sleep on the couch. Walters father passes away and the family learns that they will be receiving a sum of money and this will change everything throughout the play. …show more content…

At first he was concerned with money. Walter was talking about how Charlie Atkins wanted him to go into the dry-cleaning business and Ruth said no, and now he makes A hundred thousand dollars a year (32). Now Willy Harris wants him to buy a liquor store with him. Walter is angry because he doesn't have the money for that and his son has to sleep in the living room and all he has to tell him is how rich white people live. Walter also wants the money from the check so he can buy his liquor store and he gets angry and fights with his family about

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Claudia Arevalo English 1 Mr.Paul 3/22/23 In the play “Raisin in the Sun'' by Lorraine Hansberry, the author conveys the idea that people can become selfish when trying to achieve the American Dream. This is shown through multiple events throughout the play when the characters search for a better way of life. For example, when Walter made a misogynist comment and told his sister to settle on becoming a nurse like all women instead of a doctor.

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Most people who dream the American Dream, will dream of a life with a white picket fence, a happy family and a happy home. A Raisin in the Sun, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1959 tells a story of one's man's American Dream of becoming weathy, so he can be happy. A second piece entitled "Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglas" discusses how Fredrick Douglass' American Dream about how he wants to have an education. Hansberry and Fredrick Douglass discussed the similar and differences and the idea of the American Dream.

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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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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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In “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry one of the main character Walter younger had big dreams but lost way of what was really important. The play took place in the south side of Chicago during the 1950’s. When his father who was also named Walter died and their family got an insurance check for a lot of money. Walter had a dream of opening a liquor store but the family had other plans with the money. The other member of the younger family just pushed Walters dreams aside and it just seemed that they didn’t care what he wanted Walter lee Younger the only son of Lena Younger had a dream of owning a liquor store but his Christian mother was not going to have her son be in the business with liquor.

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Walter goes into immediate denial, making excuses for where Willy, their second business partner, could be with the money. He continues on until he realizes “THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF MY [HIS] FATHER’S FLESH-” (128) and he had lost it all; he felt he lost his chance of pursuing a better life now that he had even lost his father’s support. His false pride is severely injured up until he is struck with an idea which he believes could save the family. He abruptly calls Mr.Lindner, who he had originally turned away, and tells him to come by because he wants to take his offer of being paid to not move into the new house.

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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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Walter dealt with a hardship in his live as well. Walter was faced with racial discrimination. He wanted to have money to be able to to what he wants, follow his dreams. The only problem is that he didn 't have a high paying job. Your probably thinking to yourself why doesn 't he just get another job.

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In his poem, he asked the question “What happens to a dream deferred?” Raisin in the Sun is an answer to his question. In her play, Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry uses Walter, Mama, and Beneatha to show the negative consequences that occur when you put off your dream. To begin, Lorraine Hansberry uses Walter to show the negative consequences that occur with putting off your dream. Walter Younger is a racist, sexist, selfish, dissatisfied man in his thirties who lives in a small two-bedroom apartment with the rest of his family.

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“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore and then run?”That is the question Lorraine Hansberry asks the reader before A Raisin in The Sun even begins. The idea of dreams is the main theme of the play and the struggle to keep dreams alive. The dreams of Ruth ,Lena and Walter show us that, despite great obstacles the American Dream is still possible. Ruth is a character with a fierce desire to make her a dream reality.

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Published in 1959, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun handles complex themes through the development of multifaceted characters. Opening with Langston Hughes’ poem “A Dream Deferred”, we explore the concept of dreams, hopes, and plans. We’re introduced to the Youngers, a multigenerational African American family living in a tenement in Chicago “sometime between World War II and” (22) when the book was written. As the characters interact with one another, we learn about their individual dreams and delve into the ways they intersect with other complex issues, including race. While the tone is somber and the ending is fairly open, the curtain closes on a hopeful note.

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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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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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Incredulously, he accuses her of “ [butchering] up [his] dream” with little regard to how he felt; full of despair he fails to attend three days of work, claiming that no one can understand him or his vision. ( Hasnberry, 95} In juxtaposition to his wife Ruth, Walter cannot find any happiness for his mother’s investment in a new house. Walter’s desire to achieve his goals blinds him to what may help or hurt his family, only allowing him to see the monetary gain possible from investing in a liquor store. He cannot overcome his skeptic nature enough to believe that his family can acheive contentment without money

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In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Loraine Hansberry, both Walter and Mama have great dreams and encounter barriers on the path to achieving their dreams. Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and being able to better provide for his family, a dream that changes when he faces the barrier of his money being stolen by Willy Harris. Mama dreams of living in a real house with a garden and also encounters barrier of her money being stolen by Willy Harris. Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and being able to financially support his family. Walter’s dream is shown in act 1, scene 1 when he explains to Ruth how the liquor store he and his friends are buying will help their family have enough money to do more than just make ends meet (32,33).

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