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Theme Of Religion In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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Religion is a central theme that comes to mind when discussing A Raisin in the Sun. Lena Younger is the head of the household and makes it her job to implement religion and God into the daily lives of her family. She finds herself getting heated and agitated over her youngest daughter’s lack of belief in God. Beneatha Younger is the youngest and is an aspiring doctor. She gets into a discussion with Mama Lena over the presence of God, which leads her to being slapped and having to apologize to her mother. In class, we discussed the idea of who needed God more, Beneatha or Mama Lena? Religion is obviously a key and core part of the Younger family household, thanks to Lena, with that being said, I believe Lena needs God more because she needs something to believe in, to keep herself going and dreaming, and that’s how she was raised. …show more content…
Beneatha has dreamed of being a doctor since she was a little girl, nothing has hindered or prevented her from attempting to follow her heart and reach for her goals. Beneatha has never needed to search for salvation from a source outside of her family; she points this out quite blatantly when she says, “I mean it! I’m just tired of hearing about God all the time. What has He got to do with anything? Does he pay tuition?” (Hansberry 507). In Beneatha’s eyes, her mother and father worked hard, on their own, to earn the money they put up for her aspirations; as far as she can see God didn’t do anything, her parents did. Since Beneatha hasn’t had to work or struggle so bad that she wanted to fall on her knees and just pray that God’s plan for her is to be a doctor, she doesn’t think religion is

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