Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

“A blind man who sees is better than a seeing man who is blinded,” Proverb. Lorraine Hansberry wrote “A Raisin in the Sun,” 1959. A family named the Youngers live in a small apartment in Chicago’s South Side. The Youngers are an African American family that have a hard time going on in life with peaks and valleys throughout the play. In the end of the play, the Youngers are able to move out of the apartment and into a house, looking for a better future. Lorraine Hansberry reveals one of her themes through the character of Walter Lee.

In Act I, Walter is a man wants to be more successful in life by owning his own liquor company, but his family is losing faith that he can do it. In Act I Scene 1, page 11, Walter says to Ruth, “Man say

In Act 3, page 100, Walter states to Linder, “Well-what I mean is that we come from people who had a lot of pride. I mean- we are very proud people.” Walter thinking in his mind whether to sell the house or move in we talking to Linder. Walter finally sees that the house was a big step forward to a better life for his family and him, so he starts to tell how his family is. In Act 3, page 100, Walter states to Linder, “And we have all thought about you offer-...And we have decided to move into our house because my father-my father- he earned it for us brick by brick.” Walter decides to move into the house instead of staying in the apartment because he sees why the house is important to the whole family. The house was given to them, by the insurance money Walter’s father worked hard to make, to move forward so they could live a better life then stay in one place. Walter has given up on his idea of owning a liquor company, but he gave up for what really matters to

Walter wanted his company, yet he was never happy for what he got. Walter realized in the end though, that his family is what matters the most. Hansberry had added this theme to her play to show that nothing you want is what matters, but what you have does matter. People in the past had been blinded with what they want, while others made self sacrifices to help their families. One thing African American women would have to do was be house maids for white people. Those women would work long hours and were paid little, yet they did this to live on a life, to support their families, or to help friends who needed them. Today, people have to work hard to hard to earn money to feed their families. Some families struggle in life to get what they need, and some are blinded by what they want. People can either spend the money they earn for what they want, or to help feed their families. People can be blinded by what they want, though they must see what matters to them to be