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Racial Discrimination In The Great Gatsby And A Raisin In The Sun

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Bernie Sanders once said, “For many the American dream has become a nightmare.” The American dream has been fantasized by many throughout history. In the stories Kindred, The Great Gatsby, and A Raisin in the Sun the American dream is what the characters strive for. The American dream is a vision of success for individuals in the US. The American dream isn’t achievable for all people, because of racial discrimination, money isn’t the only happiness, and the difficult process of obtaining wealth. In the story, Kindred, racial discrimination prevents Dana from the American dream. Dana, the main character, constantly faces racism and when she is brought into the past there is nothing she can do to disallow it. Dana quotes, “I’m not sure it’s …show more content…

The context of the quote is Dana explaining to Kevin about what it was like in the past. Dana states that she doesn’t feel safe while being there. Kevin then hands Dana a switchblade to use for self protection. Later Nigel quotes, “That’s better than saying you’re his wife. Nobody would believe that.” (Butler 65). Nigel is saying this to Dana and Franklin when they are discussing how they will be together while in the past. Dana and Franklin are saying that they can be married but Nigel tells them that it isn’t believable for them to say that. They finally agree on saying that Dana is Franklin’s slave. The racial discrimination in the past was a different experience for Dana and Franklin. It changed their relationship because of the way they had to act while at the Weylin house. The inequity of the past is unlike the racism Dana and Franklin may have faced while at home since slavery didn't end yet. Nigel also quotes, “Why you try to talk like white folks?” (Butler 74). Nigel questions the way Dana speaks because of how uneducated he is. Dana tells him that is how she talks and it is because she is educated. Nigel and Luke not being able to have an education …show more content…

In the process ten thousand dollars is lost and trust between family members. Walter states, “I want so many things that they are driving me crazy… Mama–look at me.” (Hansberry 73). Walter is telling his mother that his dream of money is breaking him down and that he is going crazy. The journey of gaining wealth can become a personal fight within oneself. The American dream isn’t achievable if one is constantly battling mental health whilst struggling to obtain wealth. Ruth quotes, “Mama, something is happening between Walter and me. I don’t know what it is–but he needs something–something I can’t give him anymore. He needs this chance, Lena.” (Hansberry 42). Ruth and Mama are discussing what to do with the money. Walter had been talking with Ruth about his plan to invest into a liquor store prior to the conversation Ruth is having with Mama. Ruth is devaluing what she can provide for Walter so the idea of the liquor store is on her mind. Ruth wants to make Walter happy so she is pushing the topic to Mama. Mama questions Ruth for supporting Walter’s idea but Ruth argues that business people have to do business to become successful. Ruth and Mama finish the conversation with the idea of selling liquor. Mama states that she doesn’t care if someone drinks but she doesn’t want to be the vendor to drinkers. Ruth wants Walter to feel as if he is supported so he can strive

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In Walter’s mind, good use of that money was to buy the liquor store and help his family escape their economic status. However, since the money is gone, so are Walter’s hopes and

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Walter was a greedy character in the story ,but at the end he did what he thought was best for the future of his family. He noticed that he could not raise his family out of poverty alone, so he wanted to stay committed with his family. It seemed that all the family's dreams came true. Especially after all the hate,discrimination, and arguments there was finally a

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Mama made a decision that put Walter in charge of the remaining money, however she did not know that this decision might not have been the best for the Younger family. Walter was hesitant in taking the money, but Mama reassures Walter by saying, "I ain't ever stop trusting you" (Hansberry 546). This line from Mama foreshadows the possibility that Walter will not obey her and do something foolish with the money. Walter proves this foreshadowing as he is talking to Travis and says, "... your daddy's gonna make a transaction... a business transaction that's going to change our lives" (Hansberry 547).

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On the other hand, his sister's dream to go to medical school is supported by Mama. Walter is pleading with his mother, explaining how he wants “so many things…” (73). He thinks his goal of investing in a liquor store is not understood by Mama and insists that it will be the jackpot for them. Mama beseeches Walter to not engulf himself in money and that his negligence of his family is a disgrace to Big Walter’s legacy.

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When Walter's father died, his family was going to receive a check from a life insurance policy. Walter planned to use the insurance money to open a liquor store and financially prosper. His mother though, would not let him do this though because it was unholy and an immoral way to make money. Walter, who was already bitter because he was a chauffeur, felt deprived. He saw an opportunity to make money and grew increasingly resentful because his family would not allow him to pursue those avenues, instead his family wanted to buy a home they could call their own.

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When Dana first arrived in the 1820s, she felt this sense of fear. She didn’t know exactly what it was, until she was settled in at the plantation. The other slaves like Nigel was always curious as to how Dana could be a slave yet tried to talk like a white person 's (74). Dana never understood that her skin color was defining who she was when brought to the past, and the color of her skin was a characteristic of herself. Until one of the other slaves, Carrie, tried to prove to Dana their skin color was forever and couldn’t be hidden, “ She came over to me and my face with her fingers- wiped hard.

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In Octavia E. Butler’s novel Kindred, Dana battles an external conflict of time traveling to the past, and experiencing what it was like to be a slave. Dana ultimately resolves this conflict by killing her ancestor named Rufus to return to her present time; however, this choice also illustrates her true character as both scared but brave. Dana’s decision to kill Rufus because she did not want to live in a time where slavery and racism occurred also reveals the universal theme that racism was very common in the past, and it still occurs till this day. When traveling to the past Dana struggles with an external conflict of racism and slavery.

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Butler used this to set the tone for the past travels as well as the present. In the past, clearly blacks are not respected. On her first trip back, Dana had just saved Rufus from drowning and was not only referred to as a nigger by Rufus’s mother, Margaret Weylin, but even had had a rifle pointed at her by his father, Tom Weylin. Dana is not used to being called by racial slurs, and surely does not understand why she would have her life threatened for saving Rufus, in her time she is not judged on her skin color. These scenes helped me to feel how frustrating it must have been and is today for blacks to experience racism, they don't even see them selfs as anything different from anyone else, but some people seem to view them as evil animals with

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Throughout the plot, he struggles with acceptance of his social status and economical situations, but ends up achieving true fulfillment in simply being proud of who he and his family are as people with aspirations. Walter’s evolution

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At one point in the story, Mama decides to give Walter the money to support his business because she felt as if she owed Walter. But, she

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This could be for a variety of reason such as the way walter acted once mama received the money. He was always upset about not being the complete “breadwinner” and he technically wasn't the head of the house because mama was. Walter tries to make more money by investing in the liquor store. He loses the money because the man runs off with and mama warned him before so of course she becomes disappointed. “THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF MY FATHER’S FLESH!”

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Firstly, when Ruth finds out she is pregnant, it causes conflict in the family because a child is not an affordable option. Also, when Walter receives a large cheque from Mama, he makes a risky investment as he is desperate to make more money. Furthermore, Mama finds herself in a difficult situation when she is forced to put a down payment on a house in a white neighbourhood, which causes the family to stand up against discrimination. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry illustrates how poverty influences

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I’ll strap my baby on my back if I have to and scrub all the floors in America and wash all the sheets in America if I have to—but we got to move…. We got to get out of here….” (609). Ruth is begging for Mama not to change her mind on moving saying she will do anything. Her family needs this chance to live a better life.

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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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“It’s just that he got his heart set on that store-” (41), it is clear that Ruth is still keeping in mind Walter’s dream even though it still might not get through the “stench of reality”. In the poem, Brooks says, “Even if we were willing to let it in,/Had time to warm it, keep it very clean,/Anticipate a message, let it begin?” (Brooks, Stanza 3). When you translate this to modern English, it says, Even if you gave the dream time to grow, time to nurture it, would it even survive?

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