How The Family Struggles In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

In every story each character influences the plot in some way, even if it’s something tiny. Just like the story Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansbury. The two main characters that influence the plot most through actions and dialogue are Walter and Lena Younger. Lena (also known as Mama) influences the plot in a positive way and does as much as she can to make her family happier. While Walter influences the plot in a negative way and brings the family down by pushing them away.

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry and whose title was derived from the poem Harlem by Langston Hughes, is a tragic play taking place in South Side, Chicago, where it portrays the life of an African American family known as the Youngers in the 1950s. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, reflects modern thought by reconstructing the ideals of a modern family in American society through the idea of assimilation and its cause of cultural clashes, how wealth plays a role in social status, and how racial discrimination is still pervasive today even after movements that brought such changes of better equality to light.

In the short story there were numerous actions that depicted slavery throughout the novel. Delia was a washwomen and a house wife. Particularly, monday mornings are so important to her. She is very well kept woman and consistent with her works around the house. When Sykes was looking for trouble he would soil the washed white clothes that delia hanged outside to dry. Sykes stated “You aint got no business doing it. Gawd knows it’s a sin…Ah done tole you time and again to keep them white folks’ clothes out outa dis house”. In between as opposed to slavery, slaves would always wear dirty clothes and slave master would wear attire of contrast. When Delia separated the whites from the colors clothes. She gave readers a symbolism of the racial segregation because at that timeframe of the Harlem Renaissance there was still racial oppression.

“Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” This statement is used as an inspirational message , by our coaches, to inspire the football team to work hard and give it our all. Hansberry depicts this idea of working hard in the text A Raisin In The Sun. She creates an idea that, if you don’t work hard you will not achieve great things. A Raisin In The Sun Is written by Lorraine Hansberry and is a historical fiction based on the everyday lives of African Americans, who work hard through the barriers of segregation to achieve their dreams.

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.

During the 1950s in Chicago blacks were in poverty. The city was filled with discrimination, racism and segregation. The Younger family was a black family living in a one bedroom apartment in Chicago at the time. They had big dreams but lack of money. In the play, A raisin in the sun, Lorraine Hansberry created the central idea of “feeling trapped” in the character Mama through the setting, symbolism, and figurative language.

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. Mama did unfortunately lose her husband, and the family is receiving a life insurance check for $10,000.

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun follows the struggles of an African American family living in a neighborhood in 1950s South Side Chicago. The play discusses several issues pertaining to African Americans of the time, such as poverty and discrimination. One of the major themes of the story is the search for a sense of belonging; whether that’s a sense of belonging to the continent of Africa, a neighborhood in Chicago, or on a personal level within the Younger family. The play explores this theme through its characters Beneatha, Mama and Walter.

“No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear.” the wise Greg Kincaid says. This explains resilience and that you can overcome bad situations with hard work and perseverance. In A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, this kind of resilience connects with Beneatha Younger. While her family goes through difficult times after Walter Sr. has passed away, Beneatha faces many challenges. Beneatha, a resilient young woman, must try to find herself while overcoming the ridicule of others and being treated like a child, not a mature adult in the Younger’s family.

When people are poor, they often have a lot of problems in their life. They struggle through every day, but they learn to appreciate everything that they have. However, when people are going through tough times, they often think that money will solve all of their problems. In “A Raisin In The Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, she guides the audience through a black family -- impacted by the need for money -- living on the south side of Chicago. The Younger family gets Lena Younger’s dead husband’s insurance check and buys a house in a white neighborhood, and they save the remainder of the money for Beneatha’s medical degree and for starting a liquor store. Willy Harris steals the $6,500 used to start the liquor store and for Beneatha’s college money,

“Women are supposed to cook and do house chores… Women should be responsible for raising children… Men should tell women what they should do… Men are superior than women.” Gender expectations are evident in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and the society in Korea. Due to their different culture and lifestyle, The Youngers, the African American family, in A Raisin in the Sun have gender expectations that are different from the those in Korea. Gender expectations in the Youngers and Korea and are mainly noticeable in these three categories: occupation, personality traits, and physical appearance.

How does Harper Lee vividly capture the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb county in ‘To kill a mockingbird’?

Money is one of the things in the world that a person can become obsessed with. In the story “A Raisin in the sun” the author Lorraine Hansberry shows how a family is changed by the lust of money. A widow, Lena, her son Walter Younger, his wife Ruth and daughter Beneatha all lived under the same roof. Lena just lost her husband and is receiving a check for his death. With the money, Lena wants to buy a new house for the whole family to live in but everyone else in the family sees a different type of opportunity. Being the man of the household, Walter dreams of owning a liquor store and plans on using Lena’s money to do so. Walter is always after money and believes that the only way to succeed in life is with money. For example, when Walter is talking about the check, he says, “Mama, sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool, quiet-looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking about things, turning deals worth millions of dollars, sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me” (992).This shows how Walter wanted something more out of life and not just be a poor black man.

    Being in close relations with family member definitely has its ups and downs. There is nothing easy about being in a close relationship with family, but to many family is the most important relationship in their lives. In the story “A Raisin in the Sun” there are many great examples of importance in family relationship just from the way they treat each other and the conversations they have. In the story, Lena Younger, Ruth Younger and Walter Younger all make it very obvious how important family relationships are.

The play “ A Raisin In The Sun “ wrote by Lorraine Hansberry is a inspiring play about the Younger family. A typical African American family in the late 1950’s trying to make life better for themselves. They’re a family trying to overcome the difficulties and obstacles that comes with being black in America in that time. Obstacles such as lynchings,segregation,racial discrimination and overall the difficulties that comes with being black in America. With external problems within the family the characters also internal conflicts within themselves. From seeing the family fight with one another to loving each dearly it was big character development. In my essay i will discuss how the Younger family dealt with their conflicts and discuss the resolutions they came up with.