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Reality In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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When Dreams Meet Reality The United States was believed to be a prosperous time for all American citizens in the 1940s. However, this was a dream that could not be farther from the truth. There are two plays that are set in the 1940s that show the truth of the era. The first play is titled A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The second is the Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. Through these plays, people can live and understand the reality of what is perceived to be the American Dream. Walter Lee is one of the main characters from A Raisin in the Sun. His goal was to be able to make enough money to provide for his entire family. This includes his wife, Ruth, son, Travis, sister, Beneatha, and mother, Lena. He was a chauffeur for wealthy white men and absolutely hated it. After his father passed away, his mother received ten thousand dollars due to his life insurance policy. Walter wanted to take all of the money to start a liquor business with two other men. However, one of the men, stole all of his money. Walter’s attempt to do what he believed was best for his family left him broken and lost after it backfired on him. At left we ca see …show more content…

He did what he believed was going to make that a reality, however it just hurt the family more. Willy Loman is a character from the Death of a Salesman. He has a similar problem in life. He believes he is the best salesman in the New York area. In reality, Willy was a below average and unknown salesman. His son makes this known to the readers when he says “You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them” (Miller 98). Willy worked his entire life to provide for his family. In fact, the greatest sale he made was when he “sold” his life so that his family would receive twenty thousand dollars through his life insurance policy. Walter and Willy both had aspirations of providing for their

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421 Words | 2 Pages

Walter thought that everything was well although something had gone horribly wrong. One of his partners he was working with for the liquor store named Willy Harrison had taken the money and ran off with it. He betrayed the trust Walter Lee and Bobo had for him “What’s the matter with you, Walter! When a cat take off with your money he don’t leave you no road maps!”(Hansberry 128). When Mama finds out her son had used Beneatha’s schooling fund and lost the rest of the insurance money she becomes angry with Walter “ You mean… your sister’s school money… you used that too… Walter?”(Hansberry 129).

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252 Words | 2 Pages

The American Dream is a byproduct of pride that is shown in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, and in the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. In A Raisin in the Sun, the play follows a black family’s struggle to achieve their American Dreams to fruition. Walter Lee Jr. is the head

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465 Words | 2 Pages

Despite intending to improve his family’s financial situation, he disregards their collective desires and ends up losing money that wasn’t his in the first place. This decision highlights Walter’s flawed judgment and contributes to his attributes that make him an anti-hero because his actions bring up negative consequences despite their intentions. Later in the story, the family is planning to move into a neighborhood despite it being primarily white people. Walter and his family are told that they are not wanted in the neighborhood because they are black. A committee within the neighborhood offers them money to not move into the house, but the Youngers know that taking that money would be giving into the idea that they are inferior.

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600 Words | 3 Pages

He wants to be a businessman and own a liquor store. He wants to be able to provide for his family and give them what they have never had. Walter also wants to take his mother’s position as the head of the house and make the financial decisions for the family. Walter can be seen as selfish as instead of putting the money for him and his sister in the bank he uses it all and loses it trying to fulfill his own dreams with no regard to his sister’s dreams or the rest of the family’s.

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1414 Words | 6 Pages

Walter goes into immediate denial, making excuses for where Willy, their second business partner, could be with the money. He continues on until he realizes “THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF MY [HIS] FATHER’S FLESH-” (128) and he had lost it all; he felt he lost his chance of pursuing a better life now that he had even lost his father’s support. His false pride is severely injured up until he is struck with an idea which he believes could save the family. He abruptly calls Mr.Lindner, who he had originally turned away, and tells him to come by because he wants to take his offer of being paid to not move into the new house.

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830 Words | 4 Pages

However, Willy does not see Walter the same way, as he betrays Walter and runs off with his money. This is a prime example of Walter being kept from his American Dream, because his investment was taken away. Walter whimpers “Man … I trusted you … Man, I put my life in your hands …” (101). Walter gave all he had for this dream, Willy Harris took all Walter’s money for his own; therefore Willy Hariss took Walter's American Dream.

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1008 Words | 5 Pages

That money was the core of all the dreams in the younger family, and now it is gone. Walter Younger is the irresponsible person in the family. Walter is irresponsible because“… [He] ain’t been to work for three days! ”, according to Ruth. Walter has been skipping work and going to a bar to drink instead of following his responsibilities. Walter

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921 Words | 4 Pages

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun follows the struggles of an African American family living in a neighborhood in 1950s South Side Chicago. The play discusses several issues pertaining to African Americans of the time, such as poverty and discrimination. One of the major themes of the story is the search for a sense of belonging; whether that’s a sense of belonging to the continent of Africa, a neighborhood in Chicago, or on a personal level within the Younger family. The play explores this theme through its characters Beneatha, Mama and Walter.

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1116 Words | 5 Pages

The screenplay A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, is primarily about a working class family and their constant struggle to achieve their individual dreams. Throughout the story it becomes apparent that their individual dreams collide together. On the surface of the screenplay, it may seem that dreams are not something easily achieved, that they are not something one can just focus and devote a moment of your life on. Achieving a dream comes with years of hard work and devotion, leading to many reasons for deferring a dream which is once again shown in the story, but the most tantalizing detail about dreams that is depicted in the play is hidden under the surface of the main theme. Therefore, the theme delves deeper than dreams being

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699 Words | 3 Pages

In A Raisin in the Sun, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry, the audience was able to obtain a sense of the struggle for the American dream. We are introduced to the Youngerś a black family living in the Southside of Chicago around the 1950’s. Each member of this family has their own meaning to what is the American dream. A Raisin in the Sun teaches us that even though life might be full of conflicts, it is important to not give up on our dreams.

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

Death of a Salesman Analysis In the play by Arthur Miller, the main character Willy Loman is a man in his 60’s. He is dressed in a drab coloured, ill-fitting suit. Willy shows early signs of dementia, as he spends much of the play having flashbacks or incorporating the past into present day situations. Through this the viewer learns much about Willy and his past.

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1123 Words | 5 Pages

Dream Deferred Lorraine Hansberry was born in 1930 and grew up on the southside of Chicago. Her play, Raisin in the Sun, is based on the beginning of her life growing up in a middle-class African American family. Hansberry’s family purchased a house in a white neighborhood and the white neighbors attacked them. In result to this, the white neighbors went to court and Hansberry’s family was kicked out of the neighborhood. This play is also a reaction to Langston Hughes’s poem, Harlem.

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732 Words | 3 Pages

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

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1664 Words | 7 Pages

He feels that if he cannot achieve greatness and get his family out of the slums of Chicago, then he has failed at everything. It not only concerns his family that he sees his human worth out of money, but it worries them because they are not able to trust him to be responsible and just when making decisions. While the Younger family wants to own a house and receive a stronger income, Walter is the only one who obsesses over it and allows it to alter the ways in which he treats important people in his life. Segregation caused dreams to become deferred, and weights were put onto the families during the 1950s. Due to segregation, they could not afford what white families could, and this was because they were paid less in the workforce.

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828 Words | 4 Pages

Poems are tools used to demonstrate dissatisfaction. The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry leads by foreshadowing its theme of crushed dreams by starting with the poem A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes. The play follows an African-American family in 1950s Chicago, consisting of protagonist Walter Lee Younger, his son Travis, his wife and Travis’ mother Ruth, sister Beneatha, and mother/grandmother Lena, called simply “Mama” in the play. Walter is ambitious and wants to move out of his small and run-down home and find a better job than a chauffeur for the kind of man he wishes he could be.

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