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. Mama cares for the plant by feeding, watering and checking all through the day on it to make sure it was still doing well. She also does this for the family. Mama always wants the best for them and would do anything to keep them happy and well. Mama uses the plant as her fuel to always put the family first and to remember her dreams, as well as remind her family of theirs (Shmoop Editorial Team). Throughout the play, Mama’s plant symbolizes many things to the Younger family. …show more content…
She tells the story numerous times that she never planned on residing in the apartment for a long period of time, but intended on moving to a big house with a garden in the back (Act I, Scene I, 16). Through time, her dream deferred as many other things came up and her plant is as close as she ever had to a garden. Other than her own dreams, Mama knew that dreams were important to her family as well and the plant partly symbolized the hope that their dreams will never differ as hers had. There will always be hope for the family as long as the dreams, as well as the plant, stay alive and
In the story"Everday Use" by Aliee Walker. Mama has to deside weather to give Dee whatever she wants. or let maggie have what she deserved. in the begining people look at mama as a strong independant women. She loves her kids and wants what is best for them.
This shows that Mama worries about her family because she cares about
De jure segregation in the United States started to decline with the Brown vs Board Of Education Supreme Court ruling in the 1950s, and continued to decline through the actions of Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and others who protested against the system in hopes of being heard. But even with the passing of the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s, segregation is still a prevalent force in today’s society. De facto segregation is still felt today, with riots occurring within the past ten years in Ferguson and in Baltimore, predominantly due to police brutality and income inequality. These riots, coupled with actions such as the unjustified killing of Trayvon Martin and the murder of Eric Garner while in police custody, help to show that where we are today is no better than the racist times of de facto segregation and Jim Crow. When events like these occur in today’s
She understood what it was like to be put down or pinpointed as a lower class citizen. These qualities of Mama alienated her from the other
Kelsey Wilson Ms. Taverner English 10 25 April 2016 A Raisin In The Sun Act one of A Raisin in the Sun starts in Chicago apartment. It is overcrowded and the Younger family who lives there seems unhappy. Ruth wakes her son(Travis) and husband(Walter Lee), Travis goes to shower in a shared bathroom while Ruth makes breakfast and bickers with Walter.
The world stereotypes rich people as rude, stuck up and selfish. Ever wonder why? Studies from Yale, The New York Times, TED and more have concluded, money changes everything. Whether it’s attitude, morals or values, money can affect and change all aspects of someone’s life. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, has a theme showing this claim clearly.
“A Raisin in the Sun” starts later on in Mama’s life in 1959.She lives in Southside Chicago, where she owns the house that her daughter Beneatha, son Walter, his wife Ruth and their son Travis live in. They, the Younger family, are waiting for a ten thousand dollar check from Mama’s late husband’s life insurance. All of them have different expectations for what should happen with the money, but Walter
A Raisin in the Sun Money is one of the things in the world that a person can become obsessed with. In the story “A Raisin in the sun” the author Lorraine Hansberry shows how a family is changed by the lust of money. A widow, Lena, her son Walter Younger, his wife Ruth and daughter Beneatha all lived under the same roof. Lena just lost her husband and is receiving a check for his death. With the money, Lena wants to buy a new house for the whole family to live in but everyone else in the family sees a different type of opportunity.
A Raisin in the Sun is employing the dramatic techniques of symbolism, satire, sarcasm and contrast. Hansberry applies the technique of symbolism in her play. For instance, Mama's plant is an obvious symbol in the play. The plant is not healthy and Mama takes care of it. She checks it constantly.
As the play progresses, Mama’s own belief of her personal needs rapidly come to light through the expressions of the family and her trusty plant. In the Younger house hold there is a “feeble little plant growing… on the windowsill”(499) that begins to represent Mamas happiness. The growing symbolism between her and this plant shows up throughout the play to represent the caring Mama gives to her family. Mama explicitly expresses what she believes will
In the movie there were many different settings compared to the one setting in the play. The film adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun takes the viewer to various settings such as the Younger family apartment, the Green Hat bar, Mama’s workplace, the street, the market, the hair salon, and the Younger’s new home. Each of these locations are mentioned in the play, but there were never any scenes set in those locations. In the play A Raisin in the Sun, everything happens in the living room or kitchen. “The YOUNGER living room would be a comfortable and well-ordered room if it were not for a number of indestructible contradictions to this state of being” (23 Hansberry).
She does a great job exemplifying family through Mama’s potted plant. Hansberry never fails to show the importance of Mama’s family. At the end of the play, in the very last lie, Hansberry show the importance of Mama’s plant, “The door opens and she comes back in, grabs her plant, and goes out for the last
This is seen by the actions she takes to get to her goal, statements she makes towards her family members, and how she responds to her family when they are troubled. Mama has lived in her apartment for a long time with her family and is about to get enough money to change that. An example of Mama’s motivation to achieve her goal is shown when Ruth, her daughter-in-law and Mama are talking about what Mama would do with the insurance money. Mama states, “Been thinking that we maybe could meet the notes on a little old two-story somewhere, with a yard where Travis could play in the summertime, if we use part of the insurance for a down payment and everybody kind of pitch in” (563). Mama is suggesting to Ruth of what could be a better future for her son and their family.
They must have “sunshine” to even come close to pursuing their dreams. Hope doesn't comes into the play until the money does. Especially Water sees, only way for hope is money. In the beginning they have no money as they live in poverty. The plant has not yet evolved into their big dreams as it lives in darkness.
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