Decisions In A Raisin In The Sun

Believe it or not, many people are involved in racial and class division conflicts. Lately, both have become a problem in everyday life. Whether it's who has the most money, best job, better skin color, or even who clothes look the best, it's all labeled as “division.” A Raisin in the Sun is a prime proposition of class division between the races of American society in the nineteen-fifties.

Greed. Betrayal. Mistrust. Slimy. Selfish. These are all traits that would describe Walter Lee and his actions. Walter Lee is a character from the play A Raisin in the Sun in which a black family tries to get out of poverty and go against stereotypes by trying to start over with their Grandpa’s life insurance money. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry explores the concept that greed leads to being blinded by money and forgetting about one’s loved ones as shown by the climax of the play, the character of Walter Lee, and the effect that his actions have on the rest of his family.

Family is important to everyone in some way because family sticks together no matter what. The play A Raisin in the Sun is about a black family named the Youngers and the hardships they face together as a family. In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Ruth Younger is motivated by her family. This is shown by Ruth wanting to make her family happy, her working even though she is tired, and later when Ruth finds out there is going to be another mouth to feed.

Lorraine Hansberry created the sense of feeling trapped in the character Mama. Mama feels trapped because she and her husband were never able to live out their dream. “I remember just as well the day me and Big Walter moved in here. Hadn’t been married but two weeks wasn’t planning on living here no more than a year” (Hansberry, 19). They planned to live in the little apartment just for a year to save up. “We were going to set away little by little, don’t you know, and buy a little place out in Morgan Park” (Hansberry, 19). Mama and Big Walter wanted to buy a house in a nice neighborhood after living the apartment for a while. The fact that they couldn’t move out and had to stay at the little apartment made mama feels trapped.

At its core, “The Black Walnut Tree” is a conflict between the sentimental and what practically needs to be done. Throughout the poem, the author utilizes a very matter-of-fact and almost dismissive tone as the daughter and her mother debate whether or not to sell the tree and finish paying off a loan that they owe. As the poem progresses, this matter-of-fact tone transitions into figurative language as the black walnut tree takes on a more symbolic view. Mary Oliver shows in “The Black Walnut Tree” that the tree symbolizes the family’s heritage and all that their father has sought to accomplish, and, while the mortgage weighs down the family, cutting down and selling the tree would, in a sense, betray the family and what it stands for.

During the play, A Raisin in the Sun, the Younger family struggled to become better. Each family member views the world differently and had their own dreams. The son of the Youngers, Walter Lee, was unwilling to sacrifice his dreams for his family at first. Most of his actions hurt the family. Walter did not care and treated his family poorly. It took him awhile to realize the true meaning of family, but he made a change. During the last scene, Walter seems like a hero to his family, although he did not make the right decision with the father’s insurance money.

Life is an intricate maze of problems and unique pathways to overcome hardship. Some face simple issues while others face convoluted issues. Prior to applying the new historical lens to A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, it is vital that the reader understands that the play was written in 1959, the same time period as several African American Rights movements. With this in mind, Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, emphasizes the importance of establishing an unique American Dream with probable goals for African Americans by providing examples of Mama’s success in moving into a larger house to fulfill family unity, and Walter’s failure in opening a liquor store to achieve prosperity, despite

Through the use of symbolism and connotative language in A Raisin in the Sun, in the scene where Mama is giving the money to Walter, Lorraine Hansberry develops the theme that during rough times, most women will sacrifice anything for their family. Using symbolism, the time when Mama transfers ownership and responsibility of her money to Walter illustrates the theme at hand. In the apartment, the blues are playing in the background and Mama, “...turns off the radio...She takes an envelope out of her handbag and puts it in front of him…)” (106). Mama is giving the remaining money to Walter and Beneatha in order for them both to fulfill their dreams, however, before Mama gives this good news she turns off the radio. Whenever Walter walks into

In the play, The Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the Younger family struggles with happiness and joy. They do not know how to fix the problems in their lives. Amit Ray says, “Joy is found when you focus your energy on improving human dignity, human capacity, and human values.” Walter Younger and mama argue over what life is. Mama says life used to be freedom, but now it is money. Walter says, “No, it was always money, mama. We just didn’t know it.” By the end of the play, Walter’s view of what life is, changes. Walter realizes human dignity is more important than money; human dignity is life now.

One simple act of betrayal can break bonds between two people once one dishonors the other. In the play A Raisin in the Sun written by the playwright Lorraine Hansberry the reader witnesses various acts of betrayal from family members and friends throughout the selection based on a black family living in the South Side of Chicago during the 1950s.

Walter Younger is a very complicated character in the play A Raisin in the Sun. He has a dream of opening up a liquor store, but doesn’t have the financial support. Luckily for him, due to the recent death of his father, a check in Walter’s father’s name is given to his mother, Lena “Mama” Younger. This check contains ten thousand dollars, which is more than enough money for Walter to open up his store and follow his dreams. Unfortunately, when he finds out that his mother had spent part of the money, he is devastated, so to make him feel better, Mama gives Walter 6,500 dollars to use for his own discretion. This decision, in turn, drastically changes Walter’s mood from negative, drunk, and rude to more positive, sober, and believing that his dream could actually become a reality.

Beneatha Younger struggles to find her real identity throughout the whole play, “A Raisin in the Sun.” She strives to become a doctor despite being a women. Throughout the whole play she tries out a handful of hobbies that she takes up during the play. She tries out horse riding and then she wants to learn to play the guitar. Beneatha talks about how she is experimenting with many hobbies to find her identity. Ruth and her are having a conversation about how she bought a 50 dollar horse-riding club habit that she has yet to use. Beneatha says, “ I experiment with different forms of expression!” (Hansberry 48). Mama and Ruth support her, but she is being held back by money, race, and education. Beneatha doesn’t have to money to go out and try

The American Dream is the pursuit of happiness and the ambition to be successful. We can see the pursuit of the American dream in the play, A Raisin in the Sun. The Younger family is full of dreams. I agree with theatre manager, Ali Leskowitz by saying that this play charts the quests for success and happiness to achieve the American Dream. They are striving for their happiness and have an ambition to better their economic situation.

To be prideful is human nature, even when it hasn't been earned. Being proud of who you are and what you have accomplished is an important part of everyone's life, but sometimes we are prideful without something to be proud of. This kind of pride is shown in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry through the character Walter Younger. He enters the play with a false sense of pride in being a man, despite the fact that he is a chauffeur who is struggling to support his family. Throughout the plot, he struggles with acceptance of his social status and economical situations, but ends up achieving true fulfillment in simply being proud of who he and his family are as people with aspirations. Walter’s evolution

Mama watches over her family every day. In the play, when Ruth finds out that she is pregnant, Mama helps her. Mama doesn’t make Ruth panic, Mama just cares for her. In Act I, Travis needs 50 cents for school. Ruth tells him no, but Walter gives it to him along with another 50 cents for school. Later, Walter realizes that he needs the 50 cents. Walter gave up his money for his son. In order for the family to be nurturing, they must be understanding and be willing to step up for one another.