Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

In Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” (1959), she reveals the life of the Youngers family. In doing so, there surfaces a detrimental ideology that destroys the family financially and in their overall happiness. In Act II Scene I, Walter, the father figure of the family, says, “Why? You want to know why? 'Cause we all tied up in a race of people that don 't know how to do nothing but moan, pray and have babies!” (Hansberry 532). By way of explanation, the family and much of the African-American community for the 1960’s, is built upon a loose ideology that is a brutal cycle that infects the lives of those who inhabit the area; tired of all the commotion from the Caucasians who, to them, miraculously achieve a life of ruling and

The struggles of being African American have been very evident throughout history. To present day many African Americans (commonly referred to as "black") endure injustice and inequality. As many racial protests and movies have been made to depict such hardships, so have books. The controversial topics of racism and gender roles are spread throughout A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine Hansberry lived through such a time where racial and gender discrimination was at its highest point; which she portrays in her book. As the Younger family eventually developed into a family so do the gender issues. My goal in this paper is to identify gender injustice as it has been dominantly illustrated, whether that be where the women stand or what the men should be doing as opposed to the women having higher power.

After World War II, African Americans had unequal opportunities in many aspects of their lives. A Raisin in the Sun, a play by Lorraine Hansberry, mirrors the conflicts endured by African-Americans after World War II who were hoping to better their lives, but still held back by the racism and bigotry of earlier eras. Despite the legal barriers of segregation in the 1950s, black families were still being denied access to jobs, higher education, and particularly as it relates to the play, desirable neighborhoods in which to raise their families. At this time, black families like the Youngers, had planned living arrangements from zoning issues. They were blocked from the neighborhoods because of covenants and racial steering matters. The

Money is a major struggle for some families in the 1950’s. Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin In The Sun, shows that in multiple ways. The father in the family, Walter Lee Sr. passed away, and all the family has to look forward to is the life insurance check of ten-thousand dollars. The younger family is Mama, Walter , Beneatha , and Ruth. Ruth is married to Walter and they have a son named Travis. Another thing that causes major problems is the fact that Ruth is pregnant. This causes more problems because there is barely enough room in the house to begin with.

According to a 2017 publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter, black men in America earn 80% of what white men earn (Daley, Bart, Joseph). This illuminates the wage disparity and the notion that America is racially biased in terms of compensation. Power is often determined by the amount of money one has. How power is determined by race and skin color is a central theme in both A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It is also exemplified in US history, as shown in the documentary, American Dilemma. These sources show that the power of colored people is extremely diminished by their lack of access to good jobs and therefore money.

In Lorraine Hansberry’s play “Raisin in the Sun” many of the characters struggle to achieve their dreams and often have them deferred due to race and gender. In the play, an African American family must learn how to live in a time period where racial segregation and gender inequality is normal and obvious. In the 1900s, men saw women as less superior. In Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem”, it explains how dreams are deferred when it comes to the African American population. Hughes writes: “Does it dry up, /like a raisin in the sun?”(2-3). Hughes and Hansberry want to let everyone know the hardship African Americans dealt with and that at often times, their dreams were deferred. Racism made it difficult for some African American families to make

In the novel, A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry , shows the reader how society was viewed back then in the 1950s .It was tough for african american lives. An African american family living on the southside of Chicago in the 1950s. The play opens from receiving a 10,000 thousand dollar insurance check to do whatever they want with it. Living with five people in a tiny- one bedroom apartment puts the environment pressures high. The book portrays the idea of a dream within all the African american characters shown differently and the different struggles they have to live with in a world of racism, social standards/higher expectations, and regret fullness. Walter Lee Younger, the man of the house, truly encapsulates the American

Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun is modeled after Langston Hughes 1959 poem “Dream Deferred.” Hughes asked “What happens to a dream deferred?” (l. 1). And later goes on to saying “dry up like a raisin in the sun” (l. 2-3) and “stink like rotten meat” (l. 6). The Young family all have their personal dreams and are all deferred at some point. Walter wants to achieve riches by investing the money from the insurance check into a liquor store. His sister Beneatha would rather have the insurance money to herself and pay for her medical school. Both Mama and Ruth want to leave the tiny house they are cramped in and move into a nicer home, mainly for Travis. They want Travis to have his own room, not a living room and coach, but an

Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin In The Sun, one is able to see the positive and negative effects that the American Dream has on the Younger family. Hansberry expresses her different views on the American Dream through the characters while portraying the daily struggles of a black family in the 1950’s. Within the play Hansberry is able to effectively show the large impact each member of the family has with every diminutive decision one of them makes. By portraying it through the characters in the play Hansberry is able to convey the message that the American Dream is always achievable.

Most people know racism is still around. It’s kind of like slavery all over again. We have partially learned from our past, and that is good. However recently our country has been on a downhill spiral to African-American inequality. Violence only seems to make situations worse as shown in the recent riots of Ferguson, Missouri.

During the time of the book was made their were plenty of racism going around. It would take 9 years for the civil rights movement to end. Many African-Americans would still be treated not as humans. Many black families have to put up with poverty and discrimination. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is about a small African-American family living in Chicago trying to make ends meet while the family receives a large sum of money from their father’s insurance money. The family still try invest the money in a way it could help all of them. Walter cares for profits and business ideas to begin making money like big CEO’s. Walter’s ego and selfish desire to help the Younger family disrupts the family bond they have by his bad morals on life like his view on his responsibility as a father, alcohol consumption, and poor decisions of his ideas.

A Raisin in The Sun, a drama by Lorraine Hansberry was produced on stage in 1959. The drama describes an black family, in the 1950’s on the Southside of Chicago, who have complications with each other, but pull through it successfully. The family consists of, Mama, the grandma, who’s name is Lena, Ruth, the mother, Walter Lee, the father, Beneath, the daughter of Mama, sister of Walter, and aunt of Travis; and Travis, the son of Walter Lee and Ruth Younger. Over the courses of the play, Beneatha and Mama, and Mama and Walter experience conflict, yet by the end of the play the family has been able to cross their differences and are able to support one another in a common cause, which is to pass by racial judgement.

Walter is good at what he does. He thinks of all the different ways people can commit insurance fraud so when those cases do come to him he can catch them. When he met Phyllis he went in hopes of renewing the policy not knowing the wife with her killer looks would be the one he’d meet. Phyllis began to talk to Walter asking how she could be of help and than saying the husband has been thinking of going with the competitor. Being the good at his business, Walter knew there was more to it than just the normal insurance conversation. Wanting to gain power within each other has both characters testing the waters within each other. Not only did Walter notice the conversation was going elsewhere but also the body of Phyllis that he says can “make

A Raisin in the Sun “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes greatly impacted A Raisin in the Sun. In A Raisin in the Sun an average family of African Americans try to make a life in a dump of a home. They try to use money gained from insurance wisely and end up buying a house in a white suburb. Conflicts arise as this decision was made and feelings were hurt. After all is said and done the family is content with how things turned out.

There are many characteristics and developments that help define and improve the play A Raisin In The Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. This play demonstrates the chaos within a family and the struggles that have to overcome and still go through. Throughout this play there is one character in particular that plays a strong role and is a main character without appearing much. Joseph Asagai is a strong man from Nigeria in Africa.