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Raisin In The Sun Racism

968 Words4 Pages

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, “A Raisin in the Sun,” perfectly captures the problems of an African-American family during the 1950s. Most of the conflicts portrayed by the characters are still very relevant to this day and the over looming issues of racism and stereotypes are still existent to society today also. These problems don’t just affect one group or race of people nowadays; they affect almost everybody in our society no matter what race or gender you are. In the play, personal conflicts such as Beneatha’s internal struggle to genuinely be herself can be seen in the present society. Racial profiling is also portrayed effectively in this play, and can also be seen in our present society. Through these, the characters seem to be very relatable …show more content…

Lindner constantly refers to Walter and his family as “you people,” (Hansberry 1207) which implies a superiority of Lindner over Walter. Racism today isn’t as blatant as Lindner’s, but it still exists in various ways. Social media is rampant with stories of racism and riots, and even the news is often flooded with racial strife or prejudice towards one or multiple races. In the play, Hansberry makes great efforts to effectively showcase the over looming racism that existed during the 1950s, and with this, we can see the similarities and differences of our society and Walter’s. Even though the affected parties have drastically changed, we can still see that these issues are still prevalent in our society. Lindner’s personality is just one of the many ways prejudice and racism can exist through, and Hansberry effectively shows just how hard it was back …show more content…

Hansberry effectively portrays the difficulties of her time in such a way that they still are very relatable and relevant to us today. From Beneatha’s struggles to find an identity she can fit, to Walter’s deferred and redone dreams, Hansberry portrays relatable conflicts and situations with great accuracy, even to this day. It’s hard to believe that this play was written during the 1950s when it is still relevant to our society almost 60 years ago. Every character in this play has something to offer that we can relate to, and that also makes this play much more interesting; every character’s personality and dreams can be easily represented by anyone in today’s society, and that truly is

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In some plays the experience of an important character changes him or her; this can be said about Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. A perfect example of a changed character from this play is Walter Lee Younger. Through the trials and tribulations that him and his family are made to face he becomes a better man.

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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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“A Raisin in the Sun,” written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1959, was the first play ever produced on Broadway by an African-American woman and was considered ground-breaking for it’s time. Titled after Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” sometimes known as “A Dream Deferred,” the play and the subsequent film adaptations are honest examinations of race, family, poverty, discrimination, oppression and even abortion in urban Chicago after WWII. The original play was met with critical praise, including a review by Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times where he wrote, “For A Raisin in the Sun is a play about human beings who want, on the one hand, to preserve their family pride and, on the other hand, to break out of the poverty that seems to be their fate. Not having any axe to grind, Miss Hansberry has a wide range of topics to write about-some of them hilarious, some of them painful in the extreme.” The original screen adaptation released in 1961 was highly acclaimed in its own right, and was chosen in 2005 for preservation in the United States of America National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for its cultural and historical significance.

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In the play version of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Act one scene two introduces the viewer to Karl Lindner. He is the chairman of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He makes a proposition to the Youngers, to make them move out of their white community. Many of the residents don’t feel safe around colored people (Act 2 Scene 2). Furthermore, throughout this scene in the book, the readers can acknowledge Mr. Lindner trying to get his point across to the Youngers.

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1487 Words | 6 Pages

Walter further shows his false pride when he flaunts his newfound sense of power when Mr.Lindner, one of the Younger’s soon-to-be neighbors, offers him an unjust deal. Now that Walter has control over the family 's money, he considers himself the head of the family and decision maker; this plays an important role towards how Walter treats others now that he holds himself to a higher standard. This theme applies to Walter when the chairman of the “welcoming committee” (115) named Mr.Lindner pays a visit to the family a couple weeks before they 're supposed to move into their new home in Clybourne Park. During this visit, Mr.Lindner makes the offer of the Clybourne Park community “buy[ing] the house from [them] at a financial gain to [the] family” (118). Mr.Lindner’s offer represents the racial oppression and how the white community looks down upon and doesn’t want African american people dirtying their communities.

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539 Words | 3 Pages

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873 Words | 4 Pages

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816 Words | 4 Pages

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1499 Words | 6 Pages

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