A Dream inside a Fruit Lorraine Hansberry was an African-American playwright and writer. Hansberry was the first black female author to have a play performed on Broadway. She grew up on the southside of Chicago and Is the author of Raisin in The Sun. Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, and novelis. Hansberry met Hughes as a child, His poem Harlem (A dream deferred) influenced Hansberry to write her play in response to the topic question “What Happens To a dream deferred”?. The main idea of the story was to answer the topic question and it did just that by using symbolism. There were 3 characters who were used to symbolise what happens to a dream deferred. In her play, Raisin in the sun, Hansberry uses Lena Younger, Beneatha Younger, and Walter Younger to show the negative consequences that occur when you put off your dream. To begin, Hansberry uses Lena Younger(Mama) as one of the characters who had a negative effect from her dream being deferred or put off. Mama is the mother of Beneatha and Walter Younger and widow to Walter Sr. Her dream was she wanted to build a happy family and believes one step toward this goal is to own a bigger and better place to live. But is put off when her husband dies and he leaves behind a 10,000$ check behind of his life earnings. Upon learning that her husband was the key to her dream and when he dies so does her dream Mama first realizes that her dream had died. Asagai say’s "in a house - in a world - where all dreams,
Mama developed her own dream but had to postpone for her children and reality, “Well, I always wanted me a garden… This plant is close as I ever got to having me one” (Hansberry 35). Big Walter always put his children first even if it meant working himself to death by working day and night to make ends meet. Ruth was looking out for the family which deciding what to do with the baby as her character develops with reason, sacrifice, and financial awareness.
She takes pride in her kids like she plants far from perfect, but still there’s hope for them. Ruth dream is similar to Momma’s. Walter’s dream was to provide for his family like the rich people he drive work for do. Benetha was to become a doctor to save her race. All their dream are related because they all wanting to provide for one another.
In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Loraine Hansberry, both Walter and Mama have great dreams and encounter barriers on the path to achieving their dreams. Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and being able to better provide for his family, a dream that changes when he faces the barrier of his money being stolen by Willy Harris. Mama dreams of living in a real house with a garden and also encounters barrier of her money being stolen by Willy Harris. Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and being able to financially support his family. Walter’s dream is shown in act 1, scene 1 when he explains to Ruth how the liquor store he and his friends are buying will help their family have enough money to do more than just make ends meet (32,33).
Now even though Walter’s dream was mostly shattered because of the money he lost Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor might come true if she moves to Nigeria with Asagai, and Mama’s dream of having a house for her grandson and her children to live was really the most important dream to have been accomplished. Sometimes we feel like giving up on our dreams because of the obstacles that show up but that doesn't mean we should stop pursuing them because dreams are very valuable, andt as Hansberry showed on the play at the end all that matters is that happiness is present no matter the
Every individual symbol has its own unique and distinct traits that have its resemblance to different aspects of life. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin In The Sun, many symbols and themes were introduced which held a significant meaning and value to the play. One key symbol that was significant in this play was Beneatha’s hair, which represented many aspects of the Youngers day to day life, especially of Beneatha’s whose character trait and personality developed alongside this symbol throughout the play. One way Beneatha’s hair represents Beneatha in this play is how it contains aspects such as assimilation and change, which correspond to Beneatha’s personality in the beginning of the book very well. The scene that represents this begins with the Youngers cleaning their apartment and doing
Mama wants Walter to own his own business and she wants Beneatha to finish college and be a doctor. Mam a doesn't want her kids to be chauffeur, maids or slaves. She wants the best for them and wants her family to be happy and successful. “I seen him grow thin and old before he was forty . . . working and working and working like somebody's old horse .. .killing himself. . .
Her dreams were unconventional because no female wanted to become a doctor and get a nob , females in that time period where just housewives. In all A Raisin In the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a realistic fictional drama that explores not only the tension between white and black society but the story is often reffered a sa turning point because it adressess so many important issues un the United States in the 1950s-1960s. Not only that but Hansberry touches on topics such as dreams being deferred. Dreams are important to everyone because they are neccesary for surviving and
She is angry at him, and she ridicules him in front of his wife, mother, and worst of all, his son. This reaction hurts Walter’s integrity as a man more than Beneatha realizes. Until now, she has believed that she could better herself by receiving an education and pursuing a career. But, through this incident Beneatha realizes that the situation is out of her control and her dream may be hindered by it. Beneatha has to decide what her next move should be in the pursuit of her goal, and she results to staying with her family for support and guidance.
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun presents the rise of feminism in America in the 1960s. Beneatha Younger, Lena Younger (Mama) and Ruth Younger are the three primary characters displaying evidences of feminism in the play. Moreover, Hansberry creates male characters who demonstrate oppressive attitudes towards women yet enhance the feministic ideology in the play. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, with the feminist notions displayed in the play, women can fulfil their individual dreams that are not in sync with traditional conventions of that time.
She tells the story numerous times that she never planned on residing in the apartment for a long period of time, but intended on moving to a big house with a garden in the back (Act I, Scene I, 16). Through time, her dream deferred as many other things came up and her plant is as close as she ever had to a garden. Other than her own dreams, Mama knew that dreams were important to her family as well and the plant partly symbolized the hope that their dreams will never differ as hers had. There will always be hope for the family as long as the dreams, as well as the plant, stay alive and
Withered Dreams Envision living your whole life striving for a dream but never being able to achieve that dream. Instead you watch it wither up and die. In A Raisin in the Sun, several characters are living a life full of withered dreams. Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun and the Motown music of the Civil Rights era demonstrate the struggles African Americans faced during segregation. Both of these works explore ideas of perseverance, searching for freedom, and the longing for respect that they encountered.
Hardships of the Youngers In Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the characters of Mama, Walter ,and Beneatha are faced with hardships associated with their dreams being destroyed by discriminatory housing,racial inequality and lack of support from her family towards her education. In the play all the characters have some kind of dream. Mama wants to get a house for the family, Walter wants to have money to provide for his family and plans to do that with a liquor store, and Beneatha wants to become a doctor. Beneatha is going to school and at the same time she’s trying to discover herself,but her family is not supportive of this.
A Raisin in the Sun addresses major social issues such as racism and feminism which were common in the twentieth century. The author, Lorraine Hansberry, was the first playwright to produce a play that portrayed problematic social issues. Racism and gender equality are heavily addressed throughout the play. Even though we still have these issues today, in the 1950’s and 60’s the issues had a greater part in society. Racism and gender have always been an issue in society, A Raisin in the Sun is an important piece of American history during that time period.
Lorraine Hansberry to show the struggles and dreams of African American family. Which talks about dream deferred, the title of the play has a connection between the poem and the play’s characters and their dreams. Each member of the family had their own dream, in order to realize their dreams, Mama, Walter Lee, Ruth, and Beneatha all depended on the money from their father’s insurance check. This shows how much she firmly believes in working together as a family Lorraine Hansberry wrote her play A Raisin in the Sun based on some of her life experiences. She wrote the play so that readers can have an understanding of her life without her literally explaining that is what occurred in her life.
Reader Response: 3 “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, is a play about a black families experience in 1950s South Side Chicago. The story revolves around what happens to the family when Lena Younger, the matriarch of the family, receives a ten thousand dollar life insurance check upon the death of her husband. Everyone from the family has different plans for what they want to do with the money. Lena Younger serves as the head of the family. She is Walter and Beneatha’s caring mother so they and Ruth call her Mama.