Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Improved Essays
A Raisin in the Sun is a play based on an African American household, living in the era of the Harlem Renaissance. We grasp on the fact that the family is having economic difficulties. Though this all changes when Mr. Younger (the father) departures (dies), leaving an insurance check. Now that finances are involved, the character’s posses different opinions on how they can use this new money. The main character’s that plan to use the money are mama, Walter, and Beneath. Mama is the mother of Walter and Beneath, she is a stern Christian women, who is very neat and polished. She is sturdy considering that she sticks up for what she believes in along with taking advice from those wiser (older) than her. Walter is the only son to mama, he has a

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    A Raisin In The Sun is a book by Lorraine Hansberry that tells a story about a african american family of five living in poverty in Chicago in the 40s. They all have a dream of getting out of the small kitchenette space and working for their dream job. Then they receive an insurance check for $10,000 for the death of big Walter. Because of how successful Lorraine Hansberry’s book was there were many movies and plays based of of the book. Two of the most popular movies were one starring Sean Combs made in the 2000s.…

    • 125 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Youngers are fragile too, and Mama is always the one who “fixes” what goes on in the family. She stands as the nurturer, and she cares for the plant as she cares for her…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American Dream in this century controls how everyone acts and lives day to day. This dream may be different for many people, yet at the end of the day, it is all the same concept. In The play, A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, everyone has different ideas on how to spend the money that came from the insurance. Mama wants to buy a house, Walter wants to invest the money, and all the other characters have their own ideas on what the money should be used for. In “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry the characters use rhetorical/literary devices to talk about how each individual has their own dream and what to do in order to achieve their dream.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If you had to choose between a secure income of money and your family’s respect, which would you choose? In the book,”A Raisin in the Sun”, there is an ongoing theme of “Money and Morality” between Walter and Mama. This theme of Money and Morality is developed throughout the story as Mama gains the $10,000 and Walters desire to invest in the Liquor comes closer and closer to deadline that Willy Harris has set for him. With this said, other things occur because of this, for the great or good, such as Walter getting frustrated at his family, Mamma disappointed about how times have been changing, and Mamma dissapointed about Walter’s views contrast to hers.…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American Dream is a concept that is constantly analyzed literature. From classics like John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, this question is always posed: who, if anyone, and under is the American Dream possible for, and under what circumstances? This question is explored in Lorraine Hansberry's 1958 play, A Raisin in the Sun. A Raisin in the Sun follows an African-American family living in Chicago’s South side after they receive a large sum of money in the form of a life insurance check. The Younger family debates what to do with the money, and eventually end up wasting a large portion of it by investing the money in what turns out to be a scam.…

    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jamal Elsaghir Eng-132 Joseph Doherty April 21, 2015 Born in Chicago, Illinois on May 19, 1930, Lorraine Hansberry wrote “A raisin in the sun” which was a play about a struggling black family. Lorraine Hansberry was very involved in civil rights and was the first black playwright; unfortunately she died at the young age of 34 from pancreatic cancer. Hansberry was the youngest of four children. Inspiration for writing the play could have been drawn from when Hansberry’s family moved to a white neighborhood and was very violently attacked. Refusing to move, the court ordered the Hansberry’s to move out and eventually the case would make it to Supreme Court and be known as Hansberry vs. Lee .…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Raisin in the Sun is about a small family that receives notice that they will be getting a check from the insurance company to the family. And…

    • 1411 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry. In this essay I’m going to talked about their characters and their American dreams. Do their dreams coming true? This play about the younger, a poor African American family living in south side of Chicago.…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Firstly, A Raisin in the Sun depends greatly on the presence of the Younger family’s dreams; each family member has distinct dreams and intend for them to come true. For instance, Walter is determined to be self-sufficient and run the liquor store, resulting in the ability to supply for his family. This is seen in Walter’s monologue about what will…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A dream means to indulge in daydreams or fantasies, typically about something greatly desired. Everyone has had a dream at some point in their life. People will often tell the dreamers that it will never happen, that they’re stupid and should give up, but real dreamers never do. For dreamers the sky’s the limit, you could wish to be a liquor store owner or doctor like Walter and Beneatha in A Raisin In The Sun, you could wish to be a clown or to meet a mystery person like Dill and Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird, or you could wish for a better future like the black community in American Denial. Many people dismiss dreamers for being foolish, will they ever understand dreamers aspirations?…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry introduces characters that perfectly reflect the negative scenarios of the poem, “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes. These scenarios are caused by dreams that are unattainable, but not forgotten. The poem and the lives of several characters of the play portray discouragement, helplessness, anger and even violence. These deferred dreams effect the characters negatively as their dreams seem unattainable with the passing of time. However, the play goes one step further than the poems and introduces hope over despair.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Younger family and the money they had affected Beneatha’s schooling. The society of the 1950’s affected Ruth wanting to be treated as an equal. Not having money for a house affected Mama’s dream of owning one. As said in 'A Raisin in the Sun' Reveals Playwright Lorraine Hansberry's Black Activism, “A Raisin in the Sun is a play about an African-American family aspiring to move beyond segregation in 1950s Chicago. The work speaks universally to the desire to improve one's circumstances while disagreeing on the best way of achieving them (Robinson).…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Raisin in the Sun is a play written by a lady named Lorraine Hansberry, who wrote the play to mimic how she grew up in the 1930s. Her purpose for the play was to expose how life was for a segregated black family during the pre-civil rights era. Hansberry introduces us to a family, called the Youngers, which includes Mama, Walter, Beneatha, Ruth, and Travis. The play takes us through the struggles of the family, which includes many social issues. The social issues that Hansberry exposed in A Raisin in the Sun are discrimination, poverty, and abortion.…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is set in Chicago’s Southside between World War 2 and the 1950s. During this time period there was many segregation issues for black people. This play has many characters but there is only two that influenced the plot the most, these characters are Walter and Mama. Mama is the mother of Walter and Beneatha, the grandmother of Travis, and the mother-in-law of Ruth.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 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