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Racism In Langston Hughes's A Raisin In The Sun

791 Words4 Pages

Racism is a major issue that has effected many people since its discovery. Racism is the hatred by a person of one race pointed at a person of another race. A Raisin in the Sun deals with the impact of racism on the life of the younger family. According to Nicole King (2002), "Race is a word and a category that can simultaneously denote a "person 's color, caste, culture, and capacities, oftentimes depending on what historical, political, or social forces are at work" (p.214). What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? The title of the play; A Raisin in the Sun, comes from a line in Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem”. The poem is about a dream deferred, in which the persona makes use of striking imagery to …show more content…

The setting of the Raisin in the Sun is the ghetto of Chicago, where most black families lived and most of these black families had dreams of moving to a better neighbourhood, because of crime, but the housing industry causes segregated housing and manipulates communities with white fears of black integration. When Lorraine Hansberry was a child, her family also experienced the results of a government unconcerned with blacks leaving segregation. Lorraine used her play to tell people about her own struggle with racism, her play shows us that her problems were handled with determination. Linder speaks to the Younger family and offers them money to buy their house, because they, the white people feel that a community should share a common background and that negro families are happier when they live in their own communities. This is an example of how the Younger family has experienced racism, while it is true that people with the same background will be happier together, it is also their right to live where they feel they are progressing. The Younger family, is a family who are honest and who also work hard for what they want, just because they are black, does not mean that they don 't deserve to live in a better neighbourhood. However, racism also impacted the Younger family beneficially in the way Walter rejected Linders’s offer at the end of the play. The example of racism gives Walter the opportunity to become the man he always wanter to

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The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry debuted on Broadway in 1959, and the movie was made in 2008. “A Raisin in the Sun” is about the Younger family, the fifth generation of lower-class African-Americans living in Chicago’s Southside. They are faced with problems such as racial discrimination, poverty, and conflicting dreams. As the family decides on how to spend the insurance check of $10,000 from Walter’s father’s death, these problems cause many conflicts to rise. Reading the 1959 play and the 2008 movie, I have realized certain similarities and differences in how the story plays out.

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In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry starts off with Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” to show what can happen to dreams that get caught in the middle of life. In Hansberry’s play a family of five African Americans live in a small crouched apartment on the south side of Chicago. Hughes’ poem relates to Hansberry’s characters because each one of them has a separate dream, however, not everyone’s comes true and “stink like rotten meat” (Harlem 6). The dream deferred can refer to anyone in the play. Ruth Younger, the wife of an abominable Walter Lee Younger, has dreams of moving out of the ratty old apartment and joining her family together for good.

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Walter’s temporary break with reality serves as a reference for his all-time low, and as a springboard for the internal revelation that follows. Once again, the Younger’s, exhausted from financial and emotional drudgery, fall back on Mama’s ability to turn the tables. Her unbreakable will to keep Travis present for events Walter has set in motion prevents further shame to himself or the Younger name, but also guides Walter and the rest of his family to a renaissance of self-identity. Walter denies Linder’s proposal at the last moment “We have decided to move into our house because my father – my father – he earned it for us brick by brick” (1051; 3.1). This simple action changes the way his family views

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Then, Hansberry crafts a moment that foreshadows the recurring conflict that will emerge between the Youngers, and the white people of that community, and remind the audience of the racism that was in the United States during this time. Mama wants to move into that house, and the audience knows that they will move into the new house: “Walter pushes the door with stinging hatred, and stands looking at it. Ruth just sits and Beneatha just stands. They say nothing” (119). The Youngers have came to realize they are unwanted in CLybourne Park, even that their their lives may be threatened by moving in that community.

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Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s, A Raisin the Sun, there is a positive message about the quest for the American dream. She was able to express her different views through the play through her characters as she depicts the daily struggles of a black family in the 1950s, at the start of the Civil Rights Movement. A Raisin in the Sun, effectively showed the impact of decisions, no matter how small, can affect a whole family. Hansberry shows the many different aspects of the road to actually achieving the American Dream. The story of each family member affects the story as they receive money, lose over half of the money, and bring themselves into a better neighborhood to increase their wellbeing.

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In the play “A Raisin in the Sun”, the author portrays an impoverished African-American family living in Chicago during the 1950’s. Struggling to make financial problems stable, and pursuing the American dream, the author also shows how the Younger family desires are affected by race, discrimination, and

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In Langston Hughes “Harlem” is a poem about what happens to a lost dream, which fits the theme of A Raisin in the Sun. In the poem he says, “Does it dry up/ Like a raisin in the sun?” This quote relates to Beneatha and her dream of becoming a doctor. Beneatha has overcome an incredible challenge.

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1244 Words | 5 Pages

During the time period when “A Raisin in the Sun”, written by Lorraine Hansberry, was taken place, there was a great deal of social issues and problems with civil rights. There was segregation everywhere; in churches, schools, neighborhoods, public facilities, restaurants, anywhere one could think of there was segregation. Blacks, even though they were free, still had to endure conditions that they did not agree with. There was definitely a lot of racism in this play and one can see that from the blacks’ working for the whites, such as Walter Younger being a chauffeur, the whites trying to buy back the house the Younger family bought in their neighborhood, and everyone questioning Beneatha becoming a doctor because she is colored. The social

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A Raisin In The Sun Family Dynamic Essay

2215 Words | 9 Pages

Mr.Linder offered Walter money to encourage the family to reconsider their decision. Although the family knew they would not be welcomed in the new neighborhood, Mama stuck up for Walter and supported his wish to relocate. “There are no mentioned contact between younger family, a black family, and white members of society except for their work and a visit from Mr. Lindner. Mr. Lindner, representative of white community, arrives to the Youngers' apartment to demand them not to move. He only cares about the feeling and comfort of whites without any sympathy for and thought of black people” (Nowrouzi).

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A Raisin In The Sun Research Paper

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The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry successfully demonstrates the struggles of black Americans in the 1950s with poverty, discrimination, and restrictions. The main characters, The Youngers, are forced to grapple with the reality of racism and the many tough decisions that need to be made to live a peaceful life. Throughout the play, the Youngers are faced with several challenges that can change the course of their lives or leave it the same. One of the decisions is whether they should or should not move to a white neighborhood after spending various years in the Black Belt. After several debates, the Youngers later moved to Clybourne Park.

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1417 Words | 6 Pages

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676 Words | 3 Pages

The Younger family believed they had to undergo discrimination since they were a black family that faced it every day. This play dealt extensively with African American culture and the experience of discrimination. Although most were right, because the family was black they automatically assumed this family was poor. As George had said “Let’s face it, baby, your heritage is nothing but a bunch of raggedy-assed spirituals and some grass huts!”(Hansberry 83). Here, George discusses how everything seems to cost twice as much and how black families have harsher housing and living conditions than other families.

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604 Words | 3 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun by Hansberry is a play that accurately demonstrates the race relations in America during the 1950’s due to her representation of topics related to education, housing, and community across all three acts in her play. Hansberry demonstrates an important reality for African Americans based on her representation of education within the first act of the play. While indicating how she feels about becoming a doctor, Beneatha declares, “But first I’m going to be a doctor, and George, for one, still thinks thats pretty funny. I couldn’t be bothered with that. I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that!”

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