“The Glass Menagerie”, “Death of a Salesman”, and “A Raisin in the Sun” all reflect the human experience. The human experience in this case involves American families during the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s that are co-dependent on each other throughout the economic and social struggles of their time. The families’ struggles transcend their time periods; people empathize with them now and will continue to do so long into the future. The stories depict experiences that feel very real and that people can relate to in their own lives. Economic hardship and dreams of a better future are common themes in these plays. These themes create gripping family dynamics that are a social commentary on their respective times. The three plays present families that were all going through economic hardships.
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The family is struggling with money because their jobs don’t pay very much. Everyone works very hard just gets by living in the crowded apartment. Lena, Walter’s mother, suddenly receives a large amount of insurance money from the death of her husband. Lena and Walter had different ideas of how to spend the money. Lena wants to buy a house for the family and put Beneatha through medical school but Walter wants to open a liqueur store. This reflects the hopefulness of the new generation of African Americans during the 50’s. Just a generation before these opportunities were never available for families like the Youngers. The grandmother’s perspective was different from Walters, all she wanted was to move North and find freedom but her children wanted much more and she felt they did not respect how far they had come. This reflects the generational change in the 50’s. Beneatha was in college to become a doctor so she could be independent which also reflects the same generational change from the 30’s to the 50’s about opportunities women had in the
The family is struggling with money because their jobs don’t pay very much. Everyone works very hard just gets by living in the crowded apartment. Lena, Walter’s mother, suddenly receives a large amount of insurance money from the death of her husband. Lena and Walter had different ideas of how to spend the money. Lena wants to buy a house for the family and put Beneatha through medical school but Walter wants to open a liqueur store. This reflects the hopefulness of the new generation of African Americans during the 50’s. Just a generation before these opportunities were never available for families like the Youngers. The grandmother’s perspective was different from Walters, all she wanted was to move North and find freedom but her children wanted much more and she felt they did not respect how far they had come. This reflects the generational change in the 50’s. Beneatha was in college to become a doctor so she could be independent which also reflects the same generational change from the 30’s to the 50’s about opportunities women had in the