Similarly, although Joseph Asagai encourages Beneatha to feel proud of her racial identity, he discourages her from feeling proud of her intellectual abilities because he believes professional achievements are irrelevant to a proper woman. Also, in the end, out of guilt and disappointment for losing the insurance money, Walter Lee calls Mr. Linder to advise him that the family would like to take the assignment service offer. Based on the song “I Don’t Feel No Way Tired” which Ruth sang in the end of Act 1, Scene 2 exemplifies the family’s restoration as they leave their old house. Ife Basim has now set her sights on that of a Playwright, and the dramatic readings of her play “Storms Weathered” is quickly capturing the interest of many. This intriguing production features fictional, intimate discussions between 4 of the most renowned women in jazz and blues history – Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith. The brutally honest discourse between these four dynamic women reveals how each found the courage to persevere in their careers and personal lives despite the obstacles they each encountered.

a raisin in the sun theme essay

Closely related to the theme of race and racism is the theme of prejudice and tolerance. Karl Lindner and his neighbors are clearly prejudiced against Black people. Yet other forms of prejudice and intolerance also surface in the play. Walter responds to George Murchison aggressively because George is wealthy and educated; educated men seem to Walter somehow less masculine.

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Through the dreams of Walter, Beneatha, and the rest of the family members, A Raisin in the Sun is able to communicate the vital nature of dreams in a person’s life. Additionally, the play reveals Walter’s conflicts between freedom and money. In Act I, Mama continuously tries to tell his son that freedom of living is more important than money. But Walter believes that money is the only thing that could give people more comfortable and carefree lives. To Walter, money is the real freedom which could free him from his cruel job and life. She isn’t trying to assert dominance or compete with him, but she’s trying to show him what he doesn’t see.

This means that the “white community” that they are moving to doesn’t want them there and that they will do almost anything to not have them move into their neighborhood. This is when mama thinks people should love each other the most too, because they have to go through a hard time like this. In her autobiography, she says that her mother would visit these guys stay up at night and guard her house from the racist people. In her autobiography she says, “And I also remember my desperate and courageous mother, patrolling our house all night with a loaded German Luger”. The theme of both her life and writing is to know when the right time to love is.

a raisin in the sun theme essay

The Legacy of StressorsThe Legacy of Stressors The movie version of the play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, communicates the lifelong struggle of maintaining the legacies of family morals and values. The movie recounts the life of a black familys struggle to honor their individual dreams. It displays the difficulties of maintaining homeostasis and bringing their dreams to fruition, simultaneously.

A Raisin In The Sun: What Happens To A Dream Deferred

When he returns, his hopelessness convinces Lena that she has helped the United States strip her son of his manhood and kill his dreams. So she gives him the $6,500 left after the down payment, instructing him to put $3,000 in a savings account for Beneatha’s medical school education and the rest in a checking account under his name. “I’m telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be,” she says. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the characters Walter Younger and Beneatha Younger come from a poor community and both have dreams. This can lead to success and wealth that will give them an escape from their current way of living.

  • This conflict lends to its continued popularity because it reflects ordinary people’s desire for money and the confrontations that obtaining money often leads to in real life.
  • English PaintingEnglish Painting INTRODUCTION Britain had one century of painting.
  • For the Younger family in a Raisin in the Sun, dreams provide each character a motivation and desire.
  • Her aspirations through this program are to expand and reach comprehensive services for the greater community and become nationally recognized through efforts that deal with community issues and problems.
  • Although money seems to be so important to the characters, by the end of the play Lorraine Hansberry shows us that money isn’t everything.

At the start of the play, he is optimistic then depressed in the middle, and in the end, he is prideful.…… A Raisin in the Sun depicts the life of an African-American family of Youngers living in Southern Chicago during 1950s. The play opens with Youngers preparing to receive $ 10,000 for insurance, from Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. As a result, all adult members of the family have budgeted for the money with each individual having varying opinions on how to spend the cash. Mama, the head of the family plans to buy a house and fulfill her lifetime dream which she shared with her late husband . The play depicts a poor family living in a small apartment in Chicago.

Great Expectations Rhetorical Analysis

Dreams and aspirations differ depending on the person – one might aspire to become a dancer; another might want to own his or her own business one day. These dreams act as goals for us to reach for and to work towards, but they are… A Raisin in the Sun is a play about an African American family that is going to receive an inheritance because of a death in the family. In this play their is sexism, racism, and many other cultural differences that we might not have been… The 19th century was a difficult time for a lot of people, especially colored people.