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What Is Hansberry's Purpose Of A Raisin In The Sun

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Lorraine Hansberry Was born on may 19, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. As the granddaughter of a freed slave, life was getting better for blacks. Although there was still strong stitches of racism and segregation. The Hansberry family dealt with this issue first hand. The Hansberry 's were a black family who wanted to move into a predominantly caucasian neighborhood. When word got out they moved in the neighbors didn 't like this. Damages and harm had been done to the Hansberry home as a warning to leave. Not long after the court case had been taken to the supreme court, laws prevented this from legally happening to anyone again. Lorraine drifted away from family tradition by not attending a Historically Black College. The purpose was to break …show more content…

Conflict is any trial or tribulation that faces something or someone. There were so many acts of conflicts that appeared in “ A raisin in the sun”. Beneatha has an altercation about god with Mama. “ I’m just tired of hearing about God all the time. What has He got to do with anything? Does He pay tuition” (739)? Shortly after mama slaps Beneatha you say after me, in my mother’s house there is still God. (There is a long pause and Beneatha stares at the floor wordlessly. Mama repeats the phrase with precision and cool emotion) “In my mother’s house, there is still God “(740) . This important to know that Mama is very religious and no matter how old her children are , she will not tolerate disrespect. This quote conveys a layer of tough love in the …show more content…

Symbolism is important through this text. The reason being is the symbols act as visual concepts that convey a deeper meaning than what is presented. Mama shows symbolism with a plant sitting near a window. The plant is dying because it lacks the resources it needs to survive. Even though this issue is at hand Mama works hard every day to water it and care for it so one day it will flourish. This plant is the metaphor representing the Younger family. Sunlight is another symbol in the stage play. The sunlight represents how little sunlight they have in their small cramped apartment Ruth asks if the new house will have more windows for the sun. this light represent life and a new hope. The Liquor store for Walter Lee represented wealth and ownership he wanted this for his family so bad that he tried to do whatever to make it happen he felt this was important Beneatha thought otherwise. Education symbolized a Fresh start and new life for Beneatha she wanted better than what she knew and pursuing to be a doctor was a symbol of acceptance in society as an educated black female. The same hope is equal to Ruth having a new child and wanting to have space to be able to comfortably raise the kid. The symbols are all different but all represent one common goal and that is to

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On the contrary, Hansberry’s character Walter within Raisin in the Sun has different dreams than depicted in King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. From the beginning of the play, Walter dreams of being affluent and using Mama’s insurance check for personal gain. For instance, Walter, in scene one, said, “Yeah. You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figure the initial investment to be ‘bout thirty thousand, see.

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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.

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On May 19, 1930, on the Southside of Chicago, Illinois, Lorraine Hansberry was born to parents Nannie Hansberry and Carl Hansberry, she was the youngest of 4 children. She was born into a middle class family and her parents were very well educated. Her father founded Lake Street Bank, which was one of the first bancks for African Americans in Chicago, and he also ran a successful real estate business. Her uncle was William Hansberry, a scholar of African Studies at Howard University in Washington D.C. Her parents were very involved in politics and growing up her parents had fought actively for black rights and against discrimination and racism.

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I won 't ever do it again”( Esquivel 12), is what Tita said when she got scolded. Mami was considered more polite than saying mama according to Mama Elena and if they didn 't, they would get slapped. However towards the middle of the book, Tita couldn 't cope with her anymore. Near the end, Tita announced her hatred for her mom by exclaiming,” I know who I am! A person who has a perfect right to live her life as she pleases.

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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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Hardships of the Youngers In Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the characters of Mama, Walter ,and Beneatha are faced with hardships associated with their dreams being destroyed by discriminatory housing,racial inequality and lack of support from her family towards her education. In the play all the characters have some kind of dream. Mama wants to get a house for the family, Walter wants to have money to provide for his family and plans to do that with a liquor store, and Beneatha wants to become a doctor. Beneatha is going to school and at the same time she’s trying to discover herself,but her family is not supportive of this.

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Hansberry’s drama draws on her own experiences growing up in segregated Chicago, for example, redlining was often used in Chicago to discriminate against [colored people] who were moving into new neighborhoods. “Redlining is the practice of denying key services (like home loans and insurance) or increasing their costs for residents in a defined geographical area... It was almost exclusively a tool to force blacks (and other minorities) into particular geographic areas. ”(Jamelle Bouie, How We Built the Ghettos, page 1). This ties to Hansberry’s play, a Raisin in the Sun, by the Younger family lived in a very cramped and poor area.

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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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One of the most important symbols of this story is Harrison; he symbolizes the revolution that everyone wants ad needs, he also symbolizes independence and doing what you think is right. We know this because he is the only one in the story who at least tries to gain independence and freedom. Another important symbol are the handicaps; which symbolize the oppression, conformity and the false equality. The handicaps show this because they are the tools the government uses to oppress people and stop them from being themselves. Symbolism shows the tone of foreboding because every symbol relates to something that could happen like the handicaps are like chains that hold us back and Harrison is like the revolutionist with a new idea or

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