Essay On Dreams In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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All of the characters in A Raisin in the Sun face many challenges throughout the play. The dreams of the characters are torn down by each other and the outsiders in the book. The hopes and dreams the characters have are brought down by both the prejudices seen in the play and also the dreams of the other characters. The dreams of others in the book can often tear down another character’s dreams. Education, gender discrimination, and housing was greatly affected by growing up and living in the Southside of Chicago in the 1950’s and impacts the dreams of Beneatha, Ruth, and Mama in Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun. Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor is greatly limited by multiple factors in A Raisin in the Sun. By Beneatha being …show more content…
In A Raisin in the Sun, Ruth is greatly limited when it comes to her ideas and actions because of her gender. In the play, Travis wants to carry groceries in the evenings to earn extra money. Ruth replies with, “It’s getting too cold in the evenings” (Hansberry 30). Then, Walter overrides her statement by saying, “Let him go” (Hansberry 30). Just by this it shows that Walter has more authority when speaking to Travis. Whenever Ruth has an idea, even if it is a good one, Walter can usually override her suggestion. Walter is just trying to show Travis that he is the superior parent in the relationship and he should ultimately listen to Walter. Another example is when Walter was talking about speeding up the process for a liquor licence and Ruth asks, “a graft?” (Hansberry 33). and Walter replies with, “Don't call it that. See there, that just goes to show you what women understand about the world. Baby, don't nothing happen for you in this world 'less you pay somebody off!” (Hansberry 33). These quotes from the book go to show what Walter thinks about women. Just because he is a man he believes that he has much more of an understanding on life than Ruth does. Ruth just dreams of being treated as an equal and that her opinions matter to …show more content…
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). The Younger family had many dreams, but only some of them could be

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