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Symbolism In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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Symbolism plays a major role in a variety of ways. From a person’s death to a life of hope. The Younger family lives in poverty and each character relies on certain items. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry expresses symbolism through the characters using a single plant and money. Throughout the play, Hansberry makes many references to plants, mainly revolving around Mama and how it is symbolic to her and the Younger family. In Act 1, Mama says “They spirited all right my children… Like this old plant that ain't never had enough sunshine or nothing - and look at it” (Hansberry 22). In the Younger household, there was only one window in which the plant was placed. This caused the plant to have a bit of sunshine to grow and survive. …show more content…

Mama’s outlook on money is “... to buy freedom…” (Cheney). She sees it as an opportunity to escape poverty. When she receives the check, she goes out to buy a house for herself and her family. She does it knowing it is located in a white neighborhood. She wants to be able to break down the racial barriers that have divided everyone up. Knowing there will still be limits, she is willing to work through the challenges to provide a better life for her family. On the other hand, Walter wants what money can bring him “… as a means of acquiring education, decent housing, human dignity…” (Cheney). Walter is a chauffeur for a rich white man. He envies him because he sees how much joy, opportunities, and success money can bring someone. Wanting to open his liquor store, hoping it could bring him the same thing. He also sees it as an opportunity for his son Travis to be in a better school and have more opportunities than he had. After Mama gave him money, Walter and Travis started talking about how his life will be better and how he should not be worried about his future. He believes money can buy happiness but does not see how it can tear it down as well. Walter also wants the social position, “I want to hang some real pearls ‘round my wife's neck… Somebody tell me - tell me, who decides which women are supposed to wear pearls in the world” (Hansberry 87). He wants to give his wife pearls,

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In the beginning of the play when the plant makes its debut, it is described as “a feeble little plant growing doggedly” (Hansberry 23). It is not a beautiful plant, but it could win a prize for its tenacity. Its appearance may not match Mama’s, but its will to survive most definitely does. Mama is “full-bodied and strong” (23) with an air similar to that of “the noble bearing of the women of the Hereros of Southwest Africa” (23), which does not parallel the appearance her beloved plant.

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I also find that the characters in A Raisin in the Sun are over exaggerating the situation they are in given the archetypal standards they represent. Each character is representation of something generational, a gender or race issue, and it's a testament to Hansberry's writing that the characters don't come across as mouthpieces for the story. They are living, breathing human beings. It's not impossible at all to imagine the Younger family crowded together in their tiny roach-infested apartment on the south side of Chicago struggling, striving, and dreaming. “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor?

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Mama said, "so money is life, once upon a time freedom used to be life not it's money"(Hansberry). Walter view that money is more important than freedom which bring pleasure in their life. He desire to buy liquor store and he refuse to do small, want bigger the what he have now.

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Noah Marshall Dr. Ted Shear PHIL 2490 May 09, 2023 Response To “Slurring Words” In The article “Slurring Words” Luvell Anderson and Ernie Lepore challenge several content-based accounts of slurs that have been proposed in recent years. They argue that slurs are best understood as prohibited words that are offensive to those whom the prohibition matters. In defense of their position, I will try to explain why it provides a compelling explanation of the phenomenon of slurring in modern language. Before delving into the details of Anderson and Lepore’s argument, it’s necessary to define what we mean by “slurs.”

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When people are poor, they often have a lot of problems in their life. They struggle through every day, but they learn to appreciate everything that they have. However, when people are going through tough times, they often think that money will solve all of their problems. In “A Raisin In The Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, she guides the audience through a black family -- impacted by the need for money -- living on the south side of Chicago. The Younger family gets Lena Younger’s dead husband’s insurance check and buys a house in a white neighborhood, and they save the remainder of the money for Beneatha’s medical degree and for starting a liquor store.

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Walter feels his job is more than unsatisfying, and can not make Mama understand, since her simplistic views are just like Ruths. In spite of his personal inadequacies with his job fulfillment, Walter shines in the end of the story with understanding and growth of his own fathers not so wonderful job. Walter seems to be reflecting on his own status as a

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Mama’s potted plant symbolizes many things, but the most prevalent is family. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raison in the Sun, Hansberry uses a plant to represent family. Just like any living thing, a plant needs to grow, to be watered, to be cultivated, and to be nurtured. Here are some examples of how Hansberry symbolizes family with a plant. To properly care for a plant you must watch over it as it grows and water it daily.

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Walter is upset and is trying to cope and make mama understand that him receiving the money from the white man to not to move in will of regain. “Men are expected to be breadwinners, yet providing for one’s family with little or no help has negative repercussions,” said lead author Christin Munsch. Mama was upset that he didn’t listen and that he lived up to the vision of how the whites seen them, Careless and destructive. This is why mama thought it to be all in her hands because Walter as man was distraught and she felt it was a women's jobs because they do everything else. This showed feminism by mama wanting to stay in control and Walter being a man wanting/feeling like he had to be the “breadwinner” because its a mans

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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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Walter believes that buying the liquor store is the most important thing that his family can invest in because to him the liquor store is their ticket to becoming more successful. Buying and owning a store as a low-income family is next to impossible because, at that point in time, Walter does not have the kind of money to invest in a liquor store. Walter wants to achieve his dream so badly that when he finds out that mama got money from the insurance company he planned to use Ruth to convince her to give him the money so that he can invest it in his own dream, “you just sip your coffee, see, and say easy like that you been thinking ’bout that deal

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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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The character purchased a house for her family to enrich and grow in life, regardless of the challenges they face just like the plant with little sunlight to survive. The family soon held together once they moved into their new house which also meant a new beginning. Susan Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, themes identified are dreams and faith that each character signifies throughout the entire play. The family was slowly falling apart from the challenges that they faced that pushed their dreams away and faith was slowly leaving as well. Through these trials, Lena Younger did what she felt was the right and new beginning for her

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In the drama, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry the plant symbolizes the Younger’s dream as it evolves throughout the play. Meanwhile in southside Chicago dreams are either being crushed or pursued. The Youngers family are always facing society as they live in poverty. A family with such big dreams believes the only way for these dreams to come true is money. Mama received her husband's life insurance which was 10,000 dollars.

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Walter’s statement tries to tell the women that he didn’t try to make the world the way it is now. Yes, he wants luxurious items for him and his wife. However, even though he seriously messed up, he’s still the man in the family and will continue to make the decisions for the

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