Theme Of Ownership In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
Different Suns: Ownership and Dreams in A Raisin in the Sun In 1959 Lorraine Hansberry, at the age of 29, became the first African-American female playwright to have her play produced on a Broadway stage. In 1960 Lorraine Hansberry adapted her play into a screenplay, which then materialized into a 1961 film of the same name. The film was directed by Daniel Petrie and starred Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Roy Glenn, and Louis Gossett, Jr— an almost entirely black cast. The title A Raisin in the Sun, comes from a line in the 1951 Langston Hughes poem “Harlem” which questions what happens to a dream deferred. Dreams lie at the core of A Raisin in the Sun and serve to push the action of the story forward while creating tension between characters whose dreams appear to others as obstacles. The theme of ownership runs through both Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play and the 1961 film, manifesting itself primarily in the Younger family’s individual dreams and …show more content…
Ownership means different things to the characters, whether it is over a house, a business, or one’s identity; everyone is striving to have something they can call their own. The Younger’s distinct understandings of ownership are informed by their relationships to the past and their personal experiences of race and gender. By approaching the theme of ownership from multiple perspectives the characters become fully rounded and their complex motivations can be understood as a reflection of the larger societal forces at work. Lena Younger is the matriarch of the Younger family and following her husband’s death, she is left with the decision of how his 10,000 dollar life insurance check will be spent. Lena has been dreaming for a long time of owning a house with a garden that is all her own and providing her children and grandson with the
What Are The Similarities Between Hansberry And Frederick Douglass
463 Words | 2 PagesMost people who dream the American Dream, will dream of a life with a white picket fence, a happy family and a happy home. A Raisin in the Sun, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1959 tells a story of one's man's American Dream of becoming weathy, so he can be happy. A second piece entitled "Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglas" discusses how Fredrick Douglass' American Dream about how he wants to have an education. Hansberry and Fredrick Douglass discussed the similar and differences and the idea of the American Dream.
Analysis Of Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin In The Sun
1677 Words | 7 Pages“Raisin in the sun” by Lorraine Hansberry according to Dreams Deterred: A Study of Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun is the first African American novel played by Broadway (Al-Duleimy). In this novel Lorraine Hansberry write about the dreams of a colored family, and the difficulties of each member of this family to realize their dreams. “What is so interesting is that these dreams are deferred and finally deterred, because simply they are built on the wrong premises” (Al-Duleimy, 538). Each of family member based their dreams with materialism. Lorraine criticizes the discriminatory and racial climate in America in the 1950s.
Why Is A Dream Deferred In Raisin In The Sun
1123 Words | 5 PagesIn his poem, he asked the question “What happens to a dream deferred?” Raisin in the Sun is an answer to his question. In her play, Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry uses Walter, Mama, and Beneatha to show the negative consequences that occur when you put off your dream. To begin, Lorraine Hansberry uses Walter to show the negative consequences that occur with putting off your dream. Walter Younger is a racist, sexist, selfish, dissatisfied man in his thirties who lives in a small two-bedroom apartment with the rest of his family.
Compare And Contrast The Movie A Raisin In The Sun
1449 Words | 6 PagesThe play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry debuted on Broadway in 1959, and the movie was made in 2008. “A Raisin in the Sun” is about the Younger family, the fifth generation of lower-class African-Americans living in Chicago’s Southside. They are faced with problems such as racial discrimination, poverty, and conflicting dreams. As the family decides on how to spend the insurance check of $10,000 from Walter’s father’s death, these problems cause many conflicts to rise. Reading the 1959 play and the 2008 movie, I have realized certain similarities and differences in how the story plays out.
Racism In Langston Hughes's A Raisin In The Sun
791 Words | 4 PagesThe setting of the Raisin in the Sun is the ghetto of Chicago, where most black families lived and most of these black families had dreams of moving to a better neighbourhood, because of crime, but the housing industry causes segregated housing and manipulates communities with white fears of black integration. When Lorraine Hansberry was a child, her family also experienced the results of a government unconcerned with blacks leaving segregation. Lorraine used her play to tell people about her own struggle with racism, her play shows us that her problems were handled with determination. Linder speaks to the Younger family and offers them money to buy their house, because they, the white people feel that a community should share a common background and that negro families are happier when they live in their own communities. This is an example of how the Younger family has experienced racism, while it is true that people with the same background will be happier together, it is also their right to live where they feel they are progressing.
A Raisin In The Sun Film Analysis
1601 Words | 7 Pages“A Raisin in the Sun,” written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1959, was the first play ever produced on Broadway by an African-American woman and was considered ground-breaking for it’s time. Titled after Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” sometimes known as “A Dream Deferred,” the play and the subsequent film adaptations are honest examinations of race, family, poverty, discrimination, oppression and even abortion in urban Chicago after WWII. The original play was met with critical praise, including a review by Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times where he wrote, “For A Raisin in the Sun is a play about human beings who want, on the one hand, to preserve their family pride and, on the other hand, to break out of the poverty that seems to be their fate. Not having any axe to grind, Miss Hansberry has a wide range of topics to write about-some of them hilarious, some of them painful in the extreme.” The original screen adaptation released in 1961 was highly acclaimed in its own right, and was chosen in 2005 for preservation in the United States of America National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for its cultural and historical significance.
Examples Of Allusion In A Raisin In The Sun
867 Words | 4 PagesThe hidden meanings in the references that authors write about, when they write their novels or plays, change how a play or book is thought of and also commences the development of better critical thinking skills.. In the play, A Raisin In The Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses many different types of literary devices for the play to have a deeper meaning or idea than what is just read. Taking place during the 1950’s in Southside Chicago, the play is about an African American family who live through many struggles, racially and financially. When the father dies and the Younger family receives $10,000, their hopes and dreams are possible and may come true. It is until they lose their money that they realized they “aimed to high”(140), especially Mama and Walter Younger.
Langston Hughes's A Raisin In The Sun
600 Words | 3 PagesThe title of the play “A Raisin in the Sun” comes from the poem “Harlem” written by Langston Hughes. The poem is asking what happen to dreams that are not accomplished, What happens to a dream deferred?/ Does it dry up/ Like a raisin in the sun (Hughes) in the play many character have unaccomplished or deferred dreams. Mama dreams is moving her family out of their small apartment and into a house in a nice area with a yard for Travis and a garden for herself. She has had this dream for a long time but has never been able to accomplish it financially. After the death of her husband, the family receives a $10,000 life insurance check this money gives mama of the opportunity to buy the house she has always dreamed for her family.
Theme Of Greed In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
1393 Words | 6 PagesWhen 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.
Discrimination In A Raisin In The Sun
833 Words | 4 PagesThroughout the 1950s, people of color have struggled with achieving their dreams due to the lack of equality that is portrayed in that specific time era. It has been a constant battle for equality for all races and genders over the course of time. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin In the Sun the character Beneatha struggles with her racial inequality, education, and gender stereotyping. These specific struggles are the blocks she deals with trying to achieve her dream.
Historical Analysis Of A Raisin In The Sun
1427 Words | 6 PagesHistorical Analysis: A Raisin in the Sun is a play about the author’s life. The segregation life and the event of moving into a white neighborhood are events from the life of Lorraine Hansberry, the author. The events that occurred in the play along with real life events relate to the Civil Rights Movement and feminist topics. Lorraine Hansberry moved into an all white neighborhood just like the Younger family moved into Clybourne Park. The author did not modify the major events of her own life but rather added a series of complications and details to fit the play such as the event of Walter losing the investment money.
Race And Dreams In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
1138 Words | 5 PagesAs a civil rights activist, Stokely Carmichael once said, “We are told,” If you work hard, you’ll succeed”- but if that were true, black people would own the country. We are oppressed because we are black- not because we are ignorant, not because we are lazy, not because we are stupid, but because we are black!” This quote is still relevant even to this day, blacks are still considered a minority and they get treated differently simply because of the color of their skin. People continue to treat others by the color of their skin rather than their character. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the interaction between the themes of race and dreams demonstrates that your race can affect the dreams that you have and what you choose to do about it.
A Raisin In The Sun African American Dream
269 Words | 2 PagesLorraine 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.
What Is A Reader Response In A Raisin In The Sun
702 Words | 3 PagesReader 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.
Reaction Paper On A Raisin In The Sun
825 Words | 4 PagesThe Younger family purchases a house in Clybourne Park and Karl tries to pay them over ten-thousand-dollars so that they would not move there. He feels as if it would be a threat for colored people to move into white neighborhood. Walter is in conflict with Karl. When Karl comes into the Youngers family house and starts to talk about the community not wanting colored people to live there, Walter kicks Karl out of the house because he feels that Karl is talking about nonsense.
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