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Analysis of Langston Hughes poems
Analysis of Langston Hughes poems
A raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry essay
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During the 1950s in Chicago blacks were in poverty. The city was filled with discrimination, racism and segregation. The Younger family was a black family living in a one bedroom apartment in Chicago at the time. They had big dreams but lack of money. In the play, A raisin in the sun, Lorraine Hansberry created the central idea of “feeling trapped” in the character Mama through the setting, symbolism, and figurative language.
It shows this because Walter diminishes his sisters Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor by making a misogynist comment in which insinuates on her settling on being a nurse due to a doctor clearly being an often male dominant profession. Furthermore, Walter is deluded by greed on opening a liquor store which causes him to have no regard for the feelings or desires of others. Clearly, the central idea of the text is that in trying to achieve a dream it can bring out a person selfish tendency because people tend to disparage others dreams in order to attain theirs. The author 's use of conflict is important to the developing the central idea that oneself can become selfish when trying to obtain the American dream because it creates tension.
Walter Lee knows that he has been given the opportunity to right all the wrongs by investing in the liquor store. The chance for the Younger family to finally come out of poverty was at their
In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry and the speech, “I have a Dream”, by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have many similarities to having many dreams, a urge for power, and a want to make a change in the world for the many years to come. In Lorraine’s play, Lena Younger, is a mother who has two children and a step daughter with a kid all living in a two bedroom apartment. Lena wants nothing more than to give her family a better life. In Dr. Martin Luther King speech he wants nothing more than to give the world a better life.
Walter has issues with his family, and his unintentional selfishness causes Mama to react in an exemplary way: “What you ain’t never understood is that I ain't got nothing, don’t own nothing, ain't never really wanted anything that wasn't for you. There ain't nothing as precious to me... there ain't nothing worth holding on to, money, dreams, nothing else if it means- if it means I'm going to destroy my boy” (Hansberry 106). Since Walter is hyper-fixated on his dreams, such as owning a liquor store, he forgets the basic parts of the family. Mama displays her worry and demonstrates her selflessness in an attempt to bring Walter to the realization that his mindset has impacted the family.
One character that possesses a powerful dream is Walter Lee. Walter lees dream is to open up a successful liquor store with three of his friends. Walter believes that the store will help him become a man that can provide for his family. Walter gets upset when mama acts like the head of the family and it makes Walter inferior. In the book Walter quotes to “Mama every time we need a new pair of curtains and I have to watch you go out and work in somebody’s kitchen.”
His dream is to open up a liquor store with his friends. Walter wants this liquor store to have more money for his family. It isn’t easy for him because he doesn’t have enough money to start. He is left with disappointment because when he was saving up money for the liquor store the money was stolen by his friend and was left betrayed. To begin with, Walter has a dream of owning a liquor store with his friends.
Walter thinks he can use the money from his father’s death to pay his amount for the store. Mama doesn’t agree and tells him no. As Walter is trying to provide for his family he is getting torn down by his family because his decisions are not the best. This is an obstacle he has to overcome and work through to try to find a better way that everyone agrees with. Eventually, the money goes to a new home for the family and Walter has more challenges to come.
“What happens to a dream deferred?” asks Langston Hughes during the Harlem Renaissance. A question a dreamer might ask before it becomes a reality. This quote is from the first line of a poem titled “Harlem” written by poet Langston Hughes, published in 1951. This poem lays the inspiration for A Raisin in the Sun, published in 1959, written by Lorraine Hansberry, a female African-American playwright. The main characters, the Younger family, a working-class African-American family residing on the South side of Chicago, all have various dreams for their desires and to escape generational poverty.
All Walter wanted was to have money and open his own liquor store but it was not possible. Walter’s dream was unfortle not able to come true
Family is important to everyone in some way because family sticks together no matter what. The play A Raisin in the Sun is about a black family named the Youngers and the hardships they face together as a family. In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Ruth Younger is motivated by her family. This is shown by Ruth wanting to make her family happy, her working even though she is tired, and later when Ruth finds out there is going to be another mouth to feed. Ruth Younger is constantly worrying about her family’s well being and happiness for them.
The American Dream: A Raisin in the Sun The American Dream is defined as the ideal that every U.S. citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination and initiative. However, in 1950s to the 1960s when the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry was written the American Dream was defined slightly different. Post World War II the idea of the American Dream was owning a home -in a decent neighborhood, starting your own business- becoming an entrepreneur, a good paying job- with longevity, and family planning-
In Susan Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the themes identified are dreams and faith that each character signifies throughout their struggles in their daily lives. The theme dreams refer to how each of the main five characters: Ruth Younger, Walter Lee Younger, Travis Younger, Beneatha Younger, and Lena Younger dealt with different oppression situations that took part in their lives that put the dreams on hold. Furthermore, the theme also connects towards the faith that each main character had to pursue to keep their family together after the death of a love one. The characters’ in A Raisin in the Sun tries to chase after a separate dream, unfortunately their dreams are utterly pushed away to realize the importance of their family
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a play based off a poem by Langston Hughes called A Dream Deferred. Many of the characters actions show similarities with the imagery of the poem. One correlation however stands out from the rest. A character named Willy Harris ran away with $6,500 of Walter Younger’s money which they had planned to invest in a liquor store. The line in the poem “...or fester like a sore and then run” reflects the actions of Willy Harris in the play.
Despite the fact that dreaming of a liquor store is shallow, Walter’s motivation to be able to support his family helps reconcile his somewhat immoral hopes. Later, Walter shows the idiocy of his plan to own a liquor store when he gets drunk. In act 2, scene 2, Walter borrows Willy Harris’s car and drives around Chicago for two days, then “just walked”, and finally “went to the Green Hat” (2.2 105). Through his actions, Walter shows that he is immature and cares more about pretending to be rich than his job that would allow him to provide for his family.
