Every individual symbol has its own unique and distinct traits that have its resemblance to different aspects of life. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin In The Sun, many symbols and themes were introduced which held a significant meaning and value to the play. One key symbol that was significant in this play was Beneatha’s hair, which represented many aspects of the Youngers day to day life, especially of Beneatha’s whose character trait and personality developed alongside this symbol throughout the play. One way Beneatha’s hair represents Beneatha in this play is how it contains aspects such as assimilation and change, which correspond to Beneatha’s personality in the beginning of the book very well. The scene that represents this begins with the Youngers cleaning their apartment and doing
Now even though Walter’s dream was mostly shattered because of the money he lost Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor might come true if she moves to Nigeria with Asagai, and Mama’s dream of having a house for her grandson and her children to live was really the most important dream to have been accomplished. Sometimes we feel like giving up on our dreams because of the obstacles that show up but that doesn't mean we should stop pursuing them because dreams are very valuable, andt as Hansberry showed on the play at the end all that matters is that happiness is present no matter the
Her dreams were unconventional because no female wanted to become a doctor and get a nob , females in that time period where just housewives. In all A Raisin In the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a realistic fictional drama that explores not only the tension between white and black society but the story is often reffered a sa turning point because it adressess so many important issues un the United States in the 1950s-1960s. Not only that but Hansberry touches on topics such as dreams being deferred. Dreams are important to everyone because they are neccesary for surviving and
In A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry uses foreshadowing to help uncover the theme of staying grounded to one’s convictions during tough trials. The narrator’s descriptions and characters names at the beginning contain examples of foreshadowing. The Younger family apartment and
A Raisin in the Sun is a play, which consists of three acts for a total of six scenes. From the very beginning, the plot line begins with the Younger family waking up, going about their morning as they normally do. The family living in the small apartment consists of Mama, Beneatha, her daughter, Walter, her son, Ruth, Walter’s wife, and Travis, Walter and Ruth’s son. The apartment that accommodates this family consists of a small kitchen, containing one small window, a living room, which also serves as Travis’ room, and two bedrooms, one for Walter and Ruth, the other shared by Mama and Beneatha. In the kitchen window lays a potted plant, second to only family in Mama’s most prized possessions.
She is an exceptionally religious lady who believes God has a plan for their lives. While encouraging Beneatha she declares, “Course you going to be a doctor, honey, God willing” (Hansberry 50). Mama realizes that God is the one who actually controls their lives, and in the end it comes down to whether he wants Beneatha to be a doctor or not. When Beneatha replies that God has no control over it and He simply does not need to be recognized in her choice, Mama becomes heated.
First thing first, in the poem Hughes, when unraveling the deferred dream, he wonders whether the dream dries up like a raisin exposed to the sun (Poetry Foundation n.p.). Similarly, and as Gale (n.p.) unveils, Lorraine Hansberry’s play had its title named a Raisin in the Sun. It is worth pointing out that is similar to the words that Hughes uses in his poem. In fact, the Plays and Playwrights (1540) highlights that this particular play was the first that Lorraine completed after starting her full-time writings of plays having being married by Robert Nemiroff, a playwright, in 1953. Similarly, the use of the term deferred dreams in the poem by Hughes (Poetry Foundation n.p.) seemed to resonate with the conditions of the family in the play as depicted in the play by Lorraine.
Mama developed her own dream but had to postpone for her children and reality, “Well, I always wanted me a garden… This plant is close as I ever got to having me one” (Hansberry 35). Big Walter always put his children first even if it meant working himself to death by working day and night to make ends meet. Ruth was looking out for the family which deciding what to do with the baby as her character develops with reason, sacrifice, and financial awareness.
Bountiful possibilities can come out of a dream deferred. But what happens physically to a dream once it is abandoned? Is it forgotten? In Walter’s case, the dream is not forgotten, but there is no longer hope for it. Additionally, all of the Younger family except for Walter, gives up on the dream for it can no longer thrive as a dream after Mama turned the idea down.
Mama wants Walter to own his own business and she wants Beneatha to finish college and be a doctor. Mam a doesn't want her kids to be chauffeur, maids or slaves. She wants the best for them and wants her family to be happy and successful. “I seen him grow thin and old before he was forty . . . working and working and working like somebody's old horse .. .killing himself. . .
She takes pride in her kids like she plants far from perfect, but still there’s hope for them. Ruth dream is similar to Momma’s. Walter’s dream was to provide for his family like the rich people he drive work for do. Benetha was to become a doctor to save her race. All their dream are related because they all wanting to provide for one another.
Reader Response: 3 “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, is a play about a black families experience in 1950s South Side Chicago. The story revolves around what happens to the family when Lena Younger, the matriarch of the family, receives a ten thousand dollar life insurance check upon the death of her husband. Everyone from the family has different plans for what they want to do with the money. Lena Younger serves as the head of the family. She is Walter and Beneatha’s caring mother so they and Ruth call her Mama.
A Raisin in the Sun addresses major social issues such as racism and feminism which were common in the twentieth century. The author, Lorraine Hansberry, was the first playwright to produce a play that portrayed problematic social issues. Racism and gender equality are heavily addressed throughout the play. Even though we still have these issues today, in the 1950’s and 60’s the issues had a greater part in society. Racism and gender have always been an issue in society, A Raisin in the Sun is an important piece of American history during that time period.
In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Loraine Hansberry, both Walter and Mama have great dreams and encounter barriers on the path to achieving their dreams. Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and being able to better provide for his family, a dream that changes when he faces the barrier of his money being stolen by Willy Harris. Mama dreams of living in a real house with a garden and also encounters barrier of her money being stolen by Willy Harris. Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and being able to financially support his family. Walter’s dream is shown in act 1, scene 1 when he explains to Ruth how the liquor store he and his friends are buying will help their family have enough money to do more than just make ends meet (32,33).
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun presents the rise of feminism in America in the 1960s. Beneatha Younger, Lena Younger (Mama) and Ruth Younger are the three primary characters displaying evidences of feminism in the play. Moreover, Hansberry creates male characters who demonstrate oppressive attitudes towards women yet enhance the feministic ideology in the play. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, with the feminist notions displayed in the play, women can fulfil their individual dreams that are not in sync with traditional conventions of that time.
