Motifs In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, follows the Younger family through a short time period and addresses their dreams and hardships. The play is ripe with themes and motifs, a few major ones include poverty, race, and the power of dreams. As the setting of the play, the Younger family apartment holds many of these motifs within itself and carries its own symbolism as well. The small apartment began as Mama and her late husband’s, Big Walter, starter home. Mama tells Ruth in the play that she never planned on staying in the apartment for more than a year. She had her next home picked out and was saving up for it. She was even planning her garden. However, that dream never came true. Mama says that the house she had picked out, “Looks …show more content…
This is quite a stretch for the home, as rooms such as the living room have been converted to also work as bedrooms. The home in itself is not small, it was just not built for a family, and neither was the furniture, “...they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too many people for too many years-and they are tired” (11). The changing of Mama’s apartment mirrors the changing of her dreams. Her plans of the new house were pushed back and eventually just given up, and so her apartment followed by accommodating her family members. Her dream was never given a chance to grow, and so i stayed small and confined. The more the years passed, the wearier it grew, until there was no hiding the wear and tear, like the apartment. Despite trying to keep the dream alive, or making the small space work, the dream will always seem impossible and the home will always be too …show more content…
Mama has evidently been caring for this plant for a while, and says, “If this little odd plant don’t get more than it’s been getting it ain’t never going to see spring again” (28). The plant is a symbol for Mama’s family. Despite the money and opportunity, symbolized by the sun, Mama’s love has kept the family together. Mama’s tenderness towards the plant represents her insistence that her family stays together and loves each other. She may not be able to give her small plant everything it needs, like space and sun, but she can give it love, and she will love with all she has. Her plant is also a connection to the dream she had of having a garden. At the end of the play, she is gifted with a gardening hat, finally bringing her dream to