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What Is A Dream In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

844 Words4 Pages

Life can be full of false hope and promises, but what we decide to make of the situation is the defining factor. As children we dreamed of becoming doctors, lawyers, or business owners with the idea that our goal would be achieved. As we grow older and the time has come for our goals to be met we sometimes fall short or give up on our lifelong dream. Life can get in the way and things do not always turn out the way we intend it to. Our dreams do not seem as easy to obtain as they did when we were a child with a big imagination. In her play, A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry portrays characters who appear to be strong, determined, and hopeful when it comes to living out their daily lives and following their dreams. Early in the play we …show more content…

It is clear that he is unrelenting towards his family. When his father’s ten thousand dollar insurance check comes in the mail, he practically assumes that the money is his “Old Willy Harris put everything on paper” (1, p. 948). Walter has a dream to open a liquor business and does not have enough money to do so. He wants to take the insurance check in order to open the business, but his family does not agree and doubts him. He tries to show his family, his credibility by explaining to them that he has the liquor business all planned out. He begs his family to listen to him and tries to convince them that they will no longer have to live in poverty as long as he gets the money. Later, after being discouraged, Walter’s mother Lena has a change of heart and after receiving the money Walter becomes foolish and leaves the money in the wrong hands. Walter 's dream is destroyed when his friend comes to tell him “...when I got to the train station yesterday morning—eight o’clock like we planned… Man—Willy didn 't never show up” (2, p. 979). This shows that Walter’s ambitions, passion, and stubbornness to live out his dream have backfired and have caused his family

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A Raisin In The Sun Pride Analysis

1414 Words | 6 Pages

Walter goes into immediate denial, making excuses for where Willy, their second business partner, could be with the money. He continues on until he realizes “THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF MY [HIS] FATHER’S FLESH-” (128) and he had lost it all; he felt he lost his chance of pursuing a better life now that he had even lost his father’s support. His false pride is severely injured up until he is struck with an idea which he believes could save the family. He abruptly calls Mr.Lindner, who he had originally turned away, and tells him to come by because he wants to take his offer of being paid to not move into the new house.

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Raisin In The Sun Motivation

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In the book, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, the Youngers, a working-class black family struggle against economic hardship and racial prejudice. As the book advances, the Youngers clash over their competing hopes for the family. Payments become taken advantage of, and people begin to give up on eachother, but not Mama, when she counts on hope to help. Hope is almost like a feeling of trust, and the Younger Family tries to sustain a strong family by looking for hope and fulfill their separate dreams. Hope is the last thing the Youngers have left to get to where they want to be, and hope gives them a reason to believe their dreams are able to be attained.

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Materialism In A Raisin In The Sun

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Langston Hughes once wrote, “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?” In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, it opens with a family of five living in an apartment in Chicago’s Southside during the 19050s and struggles socially and economically as they dream of a better life (486). The recurring theme that family is more important than materialism is shown as Walter proves his masculinity by helping his family to move out of the apartment. Throughout the play, Walter grows from a greedy and selfish person to a responsible family member like his father.

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Raisin In The Sun Quote Analysis

452 Words | 2 Pages

It’s all gone . . . (page 102)” This quote perfectly explains why Walter is rude to his family because when he got the money he was suppose to give some to beneatha and put some in the bank. Instead he gave all the money to Willy Harris. Then Willy took the money and bought the liquor store without asking or even telling Walter, Now you have a more reasons to show why Walter is very very rude and ignorant to his family.

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A Dream Deterred In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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What happens to a dream deferred? What exactly would have to happen, for it to become a dream deferred? To understand theses questions; we would first have to look at  factors that would influence the differing. We would have to look at factors such as: race, social class, personal income, and, finally, one 's identity. In Lorraine Hansberry 's play, A Raisin in the Sun; we watch the character, Beneatha, struggle with what society expects out of her, and what she expects out of her life.

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A Raisin In The Sun Dreams Essay

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It is often said that dreams become reality when intentions become actions. In the Broadway play A Raisin in The Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry, Mama portrays just how much dreams define one’s character and affect the actions that follow. The play set in the 1950s revolves around Mama and her family: her daughter Beneatha, her son Walter, and her daughter in law Ruth, and the steps they take to achieve their different dreams. Throughout the play, it is apparent that Mama, also known as Lena, is on two different levels on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid. She consistently exhibits the characteristics of a person on stage 5, while still not feeling protected, for she is African American, thereby violating stage 3.

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Despite the fact that dreaming of a liquor store is shallow, Walter’s motivation to be able to support his family helps reconcile his somewhat immoral hopes. Later, Walter shows the idiocy of his plan to own a liquor store when he gets drunk. In act 2, scene 2, Walter borrows Willy Harris’s car and drives around Chicago for two days, then “just walked”, and finally “went to the Green Hat” (2.2 105). Through his actions, Walter shows that he is immature and cares more about pretending to be rich than his job that would allow him to provide for his family.

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Lorraine Hansberry Symbolism In A Raisin In The Younger

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Lorraine Hansberry's “A Raisin in the Sun” is a remarkable example of literary exemplar written form on one of the well known American conflicts in society that African Americans confront during the Civil Rights era. Lorraine Hansberry's “A Raisin in the Sun” use the Younger family as a emblem in order to portray the diverse mindsets of African American families through the Civil Rights era. Hansberry's incredible incorporation of differing personalities and different age ranges was essential to the staging of the symbolic use of the Younger family, to illustrate other African American families. In “A Raisin in the Sun” Hansberry uses Walter Lee Younger in a impressive exclusive way to represent the ambitious but, knowledgeable African American

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A Raisin In The Sun Quote Analysis Essay

550 Words | 3 Pages

This is a huge point in the plot and progresses this story along. Now that Walter is forced to accept that the money is gone, The reader can see what his reaction will be. This money was one of the main parts of the play and was what motivated Walter. Since it is gone, it will affect him, and the other characters, because it would have allowed them to prosper. Walter then begins to call out and yell out Willy as if he was in the room.

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Wealth In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

642 Words | 3 Pages

Walter realizes that in order for him to be wealthy, he must succeed at a business first. Walter believes that a liquor store will provide him both wealth and success, and will change his family’s lives. Furthermore, Walter’s dreams of a new life are inspired by the despair he experiences throughout the play. Walter allows himself to indulge in these dreams since that is all he has left of himself. Walter concludes that if he can create a successful business; it will provide him with the opportunity to share his dream with the entire Younger family, something he has hoped so badly

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Loss Of Hope In A Raisin In The Sun

705 Words | 3 Pages

(114-115) By giving up the money, Walter is shown to be spontaneous and quick to trust. He made a quick decision about giving Willy the money, without even thinking about the consequences, which shows his spontaneity and trust issues. He also didn’t even think to put any money away for Beneatha and he just trusted Willy to get the license before actually getting to know him. The play A Raisin in the Sun, shows how Walter settles on a brisk choice to give his Mamas insurance money to the character Willy Harris so he could purchase an alcohol store. Thus, his choice accounts Willy Harris to steal the cash which causes an apathetic temperament in the story and makes lost expectation in the family.

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Character Analysis: A Raisin In The Sun

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Living in a two-bedroom apartment in the slums of Chicago is Walter, his mother (Lena), his wife Ruth, Beneatha (his sister), and his son Travis. Walter wants to do better by them by starting a liquor business using the insurance money his father gave his mother, but Mama, who is religious says it’s not Christian and “We ain’t no business people… We just plain working folks.” Then his wife, Ruth tells him she doesn’t want to hear about a dream he never pursues, and Beneatha tells Walter he’s crazy and that the money doesn’t belong to him. Especially since none of the family seems to listen or even support his idea he becomes bitter towards them.

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683 Words | 3 Pages

Walter has worked most of his life as a chauffeur and struggles with this unfulfilling job. His main conflict in the story begins when his mother, Lena, receives a life insurance check for ten thousand dollars following the death of her husband and rejects giving him the money to open his liquor store. This destroys him emotionally even to the point of losing his dignity by accepting money from a white man trying to get rid of his family and using the money behind his family 's back. However, at his lowest point he realizes that his dignity is more valuable than any sum of money and corrects his mistakes. As he tells Lindner, “We are a very proud people” (Hansberry 164).

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732 Words | 3 Pages

In Susan Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the themes identified are dreams and faith that each character signifies throughout their struggles in their daily lives. The theme dreams refer to how each of the main five characters: Ruth Younger, Walter Lee Younger, Travis Younger, Beneatha Younger, and Lena Younger dealt with different oppression situations that took part in their lives that put the dreams on hold. Furthermore, the theme also connects towards the faith that each main character had to pursue to keep their family together after the death of a love one. The characters’ in A Raisin in the Sun tries to chase after a separate dream, unfortunately their dreams are utterly pushed away to realize the importance of their family

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1019 Words | 5 Pages

Unfortunately his dream and his reality do not reconcile. Walter vents his anger on money and lack of opportunities in life. The reader can see this when he tells his wife that “I got me a dream” (33) and she replies “Your eggs are getting cold!” (33). This shows his family don’t recognise his own personal goals and needs which is a major struggle for him as he feels he is being

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