A Raisin In The Sun Compare And Contrast Analysis

Decent Essays
After reading A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, and after watching A Raisin in the Sun, made in 2008. A poverty stricken African American family living on the Southside of Chicago. They live in a run down two bedroom apartment trying to make ends meet in the year 1961. And they are trying to decide what to do with the life insurance check with the passing of their family patriarch.
While the two depictions have much in common, there are many comparisons and contrasts that portray a different perspective to the story. In the book and movie, A Raisin in the Sun, the main characters are the same. In both depictions, main characters such as: Mama, Walter, Ruth, and Travis are in both versions. In the book and the movie, they were both

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Raisin In The Sun was a play written in 1959 by Lorraine Hansberry. She was the first black woman to write a play that got produced on Broadway. This play was not destined for success but despite the critics it had became one of her most well known plays. The written play is different from the movie in a few ways. Some of the major parts in the written play are not in the movie and vice versa.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A Raisin in the Sun Title Controversy; Emotion v. Plot Titles are not to be taken lightly as they are what a reader keeps in mind throughout a piece. “Mother to Son” and “Harlem” are both written by Langston Hughes and portray the struggles of maintaining a dream during difficult times. “Mother to Son” uses the extended metaphor of a staircase that parallels the struggles and overall actions in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, while “Harlem” uses graphic images in order to form a well developed motif and mood of the idealistic dream, which is matched in the play. As a title is meant to add to a piece of work, and enhance a certain idea the author deems significant, Lorraine Hansberry contemplated using the title The Crystal…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the play “A Raisin in the Sun,” writer Lorraine Hansberry takes us along an epic journey with a poor, unconventional, 1950’s Black American family. The dynamics explored are that of a struggling working class unit set in the South side of Chicago. This somewhat realistic drama focuses on the quests of its individual characters and means toward the attainment of their respective ambitions. This play depicts the uphill battle they face in terms of racial prejudice and financial angst.…

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Both Trifles and A Raisin in the Sun convey a message on how life’s hardships can influence one’s path. Both of these plays act on the premise that life has many forks in the road but it is the how people react to those hardships that control one’s route. These two plays, however, have opposite theme’s regarding the daily struggles people face. Although both the Younger family in A Raisin in the Sun and Mrs. Wright in Trifles endure great hardship, the Youngers illustrate how family sustains a person, while Mrs. Wright illustrates how isolation destroys a person.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Everyone has a dream, whether they acknowledge it or not; everyone has a longing deep down to do something or be something. Throughout John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, dreams are an play a quintessential part of the character’s lives and goals. They are able to give someone a purpose, but also affect them negatively, which can be seen in both works.…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1) How was Walter portrayed differently by the two male actors (Poitier and Combs)? For this particular question I will be comparing the portrayal of Walter in both the 1962 and the 2008 movie. In the most recent version of A Raisin in the Sun, Sean Combs played Walter. However, I do not feel as though was right for the part.…

    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Raisin In The Sun Tragedy

    • 1625 Words
    • 7 Pages

    A Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted March 11, 1959. The play is written about a family that is living in Chicago in the midst of predudism and are barely holding on. From start to finish we see the characters change not by choice but because they realized they had to. The genre of the play is definitely a tragedy that ends with a turn of events to create a happy ending. The tone of the play is not consistent for the most part.…

    • 1625 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    In 1959 Lorrain Hansberry became the first Black playwright to produce a show on Broadway. A Raisin in the Sun is a quintessential civil rights drama that exposes the genuine realism of the impact of slavery and the modern aftermath of the past terrors that plagued African Americans for so many years. A Raisin in the Sun manifests an abundance of themes central to the African American cultural in 1950 including identity, education and family. Hansberry specifically highlights a familiar social injustice by examining housing discrimination and the impact on one black family. In the end Walter is faced with a difficult decision to live the white stereotype depicted in early America of what a black man will do or to adhere to the values of family proving once again how civilized black men have become.…

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    n A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry expresses her different views on the American Dream through the characters and portrays the daily struggles of a black family in the 1950. Beneatha Younger is an eclectic young woman who's a serial dreamer and dabbles in endless possibilities. She is willing to challenge the expectations of society to fulfill her dream, always striving to be true to herself and her goals instead of the ideas pushed upon her by others. By doing so she's comes off as a bit juvenile but later on we can see that she matures and becomes independent.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is considered to be one of the most important plays in American literature. Upon its debut in 1959, there was an enormous amount of controversy and influence surrounding the plot and subject matter. A Raisin in the Sun follows the Youngers, an African-American family composed of three generations in one home. The themes of the play include dreams, family, and the realities of life in America. Within the three generations of Youngers, there is significant differences in opinions about how these themes relate the their everyday lives.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A Raisin in the Sun By Lorraine Hansberry is realistic fictional drama in which the play’s title and the action of the character represent the play’s theme. The play focused on Black America 's struggles to reach the American Dream of life, liberty, and pursuing happiness during the 1950s and the 1960s. The idea of everyone having the chance to achieve a better life should exist for all. Hansberry created her title using a line from Langston Hughes’ poem “A Dream Deferred”. The original poem was written in 1951 about Harlem.…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is able to bring to light various issues occurring in Chicago’s Southside during the 1960s,the time at which the play takes place. Many of theses issues stem from racial tensions,terrible education and poor housing systems among other things for blacks at the time. Money, however is the main focus in the play because it interrelates with many of the conflicts that occur between family members in A Raisin in the Sun. The Younger family’s perception of themselves and the world around them are impacted by money because they believe money gives them power in society and their homelife, allow them to pursue or refute the American Dream, and controls their ability to be happy.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, delves into the African American psyche during the 1950’s in the way a lower class black family deals with acquiring new money and moving into a new neighborhood. All of the members of this family have their own dreams, and the different ways they handle their dreams getting seemingly crushed reveals a lot about the African American psyche during this time period. Beneatha, the daughter of Mama and sister of Walter, has a dream to become a doctor and take care of people, but due to the sexism and racism of her peers, it becomes nigh impossible for her to achieve her dream. Because of the time period she lives in, her dream is marginalized and discounted by everyone she meets, including her own family.…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To pursue the success of an American dream at any cost, can unknowingly result in the destructive nature of dreams. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, provides a remarkable depiction of the destructive nature of an American Dream. Walter Younger is the head of the family, which fights against poverty, racial, and social injustice. Walter aspires to rise above his class status to gain dignity, pride, and respect. Walter believes his dream can only be achieved by opening a liquor business with the money obtained from his mother, Lena.…

    • 1500 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, which takes place in the 1950’s, the Younger family struggles with money issues and racial prejudice. The Southside of Chicago is where most of the discrimination happens in the play, and also…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays