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A Raisin In The Sun Summary

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Play Reading Report
Date: 10/6/17 Student Name: Lauren Harless
Title: A Raisin in the Sun Author: Loraine Hansberry
Major Characters:
• Walter Younger: A humble chauffer living in a dreary house who dreams of a better future
• Ruth Younger: Walter’s wife, newly pregnant, and is constantly burdened by the family’s money issue
• Beneatha Younger: Sister of Walter; Aspiring to be a doctor and explores ways to express herself
• Mama (Lena) Younger, “Mama”: The “bastion” set in her ways, but also takes every opportunity to love on her children and her beloved plant by the window sill
• Joseph Asagai: Beneatha’s lover from Nigeria, egging to take her Nigeria with him
Plot Synopsis: The play opens with many signs of tiredness in the furniture, …show more content…

At first, they respond with pride, unwilling to find another house to live in. Then, Walter’s friend Bobo informs him that the money he gave to his thought-to-be partner, Willy, ended up running with the money, putting Walter’s dream of fame and fortune and ultimately the family’s financial situation as well as Beneatha’s aspiration of being a doctor in jeopardy. Finally, Walter, calls back the representative thinking that he will accept the offer and give the money to the family, but instead tells him that they will move into the house instead of getting paid to move elsewhere. The family then joyfully moves out of their tight, dingy, and oppressive and into their new house with hopes of a fresh start and new …show more content…

There are numerous comical parts in the play, allowing the audience to connect more with the characters.
Description of the world of the play: The stage directions are unconventionally detailed and long and are spread throughout the script. This allows the reader to have a clearer idea of what the characters are doing instead of only knowing their words, entrances and exits.
Evaluation: I appreciated the descriptive stage directions since it enriched the play and allowed me to envision the play as I read. The script had one overarching theme while also highlighting issues and situations that likely represent many families in the area. The attitudes of the characters Beneatha and Mama were simply amusing, but some of the tough situations that they were in made me think about life outside my

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The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry debuted on Broadway in 1959, and the movie was made in 2008. “A Raisin in the Sun” is about the Younger family, the fifth generation of lower-class African-Americans living in Chicago’s Southside. They are faced with problems such as racial discrimination, poverty, and conflicting dreams. As the family decides on how to spend the insurance check of $10,000 from Walter’s father’s death, these problems cause many conflicts to rise. Reading the 1959 play and the 2008 movie, I have realized certain similarities and differences in how the story plays out.

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She was not like other young women that would be housewives or maids at her age but instead is independent. Looking after herself and making more of a life for herself, she attends school, tries to play guitar, and looks for a love interest. This breaks the stereotype of a “normal” woman who is a housewife or maid and shows Beneatha is different. Therefore, Beneatha overcomes this criticism of her “unnatural ways”, and proceeds to make her life successful.

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, But are consistently being differed. Lena Younger, otherwise known as, “Mama” is Walter and Beneatha’s mother and the head of the household. With her deceased husbands ten thousand dollar insurance check Lena bought a three thousand-dollar house with a garden where her family would be happy and hopes to save the rest of the money for Beneatha’s medical school. Lena’s dream, “ Festers like a sore” and is the only dream that somewhat comes true.

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There is no way to know if a decision that was made is the right or the wrong decision. Making decisions is apparent in "A Raisin in the Sun", among all characters. Some decisions made by the characters work out in the end and other decisions, causes anger towards the family members. Throughout the play, Mama makes several life-changing decisions. Some of the decisions are very controversial to the readers.

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The title of the play “A Raisin in the Sun” comes from the poem “Harlem” written by Langston Hughes. The poem is asking what happen to dreams that are not accomplished, What happens to a dream deferred?/ Does it dry up/ Like a raisin in the sun (Hughes) in the play many character have unaccomplished or deferred dreams. Mama dreams is moving her family out of their small apartment and into a house in a nice area with a yard for Travis and a garden for herself. She has had this dream for a long time but has never been able to accomplish it financially. After the death of her husband, the family receives a $10,000 life insurance check this money gives mama of the opportunity to buy the house she has always dreamed for her family.

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Beneatha wants to study to become a doctor, but instead Walter Lee wants to spend his family’s insurance money so he can open a liquor store with Willy and Bobo his friends and be a man. Since Walter Lee and his family were in a bad position and were very poor it was Walter Younger’s responsibility to keep the family together and he saw this a very big responsibility. He frequently complained about being a chauffeur and ridding rich people, every day when he woke up in the morning. He would always fight with his wife Ruth, Mama and his sister Beneatha. For instance (Hansberry 32-34) he says to Ruth his wife “You tired, ain’t you?

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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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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.

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The main characters of this play are Travis, Ruth, Beneatha, Walter and Lena. Travis is the son of Walter and Ruth is the wife of Walter. Beneatha is Walter’s sister and Lena is Walter’s mother. Walter Lee Younger is the protagonist because he is the man of the house and

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The family starts to tear apart as Walter decides to sell the house to Mr. Lindner and take the check. Mama and Beneatha try to explain to Walter that their family, through generations, would have never thought about taking money in hard times. Beneatha then begins saying that their dream of moving to a new house is now dead, which Walter replies, “What’s the matter with you all! I didn’t make this world. It was give to me this way!

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In Act 1, Beneatha’s quest to find her personal identity is seen in the way she expresses herself, her ambitions, her roots and the way she deviates from what is acceptable in her family. She tries to find ways to express herself such as trying different hobbies. In the past, Beneatha has been a part of a play-acting group, horseback-riding club, and in Act 1 starts guitar lessons (47). She also has the ambition to become a doctor which is looked down upon by her brother, Walter Lee (38). Additionally, her African roots are important to her search for identity.

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Just within the recent decades, men and women started to fight against the gender stereotypes and started to challenge their roles in a family and in the society. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, portrays the lives of African–Americans during the 1950s. Lorraine Hansberry, a writer and a social activist, reinforced the traditional gender roles, especially female’s, by depicting how the Youngers interact and how they act in an economical struggle. Throughout the play, A Raisin in the Sun, she uses Walter Lee Younger, Ruth Younger and Lena Younger to reinforce the traditional role of fathers, wives and mothers within a family.

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