A Raisin In The Sun Act 1 Journal
A Raisin in the Sun: Act One Journal
Aaron Garfinkle
12 August 2014
English 9
In act one of Raisin in the Sun, we learn many of the dreams that the characters in the play have, that all have one thing in common, the need of money. These dreams combined with the fact that the family has recently come into possession of ten-thousand dollars provides a fantastic opportunity for author Lorraine Hansberry to foreshadow that greed will tear this family apart. Each character is vastly different from one another, and these differences cause tension and fighting between them. One example of this is the character Beneatha, who is going to medical school, and desires the money to help pay for it. Beneatha is a character who also wants independence from her overbearing, …show more content…
overprotective, and stubborn mother.
This desire of freedom leads Beneatha to eventually snap and declare to her religious mother that there is no God. Lena, the mother, unwilling to accept this idea that she sees as outlandish, forces Beneatha to unwillingly say that there is a God. This contrast created by playwright Lorraine allows the characters to have unique and realistic interactions that work much better because of the differing personalities. Another interesting thing that develops during act one is the relationship between Walter and Ruth, which we see as a stressed relationship, as we can see from when Walter gives money to his son Travis in order to spite his wife. "(Without even looking at his son, still staring at his wife) In fact, here's another fifty cents . . . Buy yourself some fruit today-or take a taxicab to school or something (31). Walter says this because he wants to have power over his wife, and show her that he is the boss of the family.
Walter is rude to his wife because he knows he can, without consequence. This also speaks to the gender roles seen in the play, where the man goes out and works, and sometimes gets drunk, while the woman cooks and cleans, and doesn't have much power. "Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs (33). This quote shows how Walter feels about society, that men have aspirations, but women are pessimistic and are content with what they already have. This happens in the family when Walter is talking about owning a liquor store, but all Ruth replies with is, eat your eggs. These gender roles that Walter and Ruth create, lead to a strain in the relationship, which causes mistrust. This mistrust leads to Ruth not even telling her husband that she's pregnant. Beneatha also learns from this marriage gone wrong, not wanting to marry George, a man who is rich, but she does not love, instead preferring Asagai, a man who while not very rich, is very sweet and kind to Beneatha. I found it very interesting that the playwright was able to seamlessly connect the subplots of each character with one another, with all of them relating to money eventually, with the two relationships in the play as a good example. I found act one of A Raisin in the Sun to be very intriguing, presenting many small themes and intertwining them with one-another by using the characters in creative ways. The playwright leaves the audience in suspense due to the sudden ending of act one, that Ruth is getting an abortion, making the audience eager to continue watching, which is just one of the many things that help to make act one so wonderful.
Aaron Garfinkle
12 August 2014
English 9
In act one of Raisin in the Sun, we learn many of the dreams that the characters in the play have, that all have one thing in common, the need of money. These dreams combined with the fact that the family has recently come into possession of ten-thousand dollars provides a fantastic opportunity for author Lorraine Hansberry to foreshadow that greed will tear this family apart. Each character is vastly different from one another, and these differences cause tension and fighting between them. One example of this is the character Beneatha, who is going to medical school, and desires the money to help pay for it. Beneatha is a character who also wants independence from her overbearing, …show more content…
overprotective, and stubborn mother.
This desire of freedom leads Beneatha to eventually snap and declare to her religious mother that there is no God. Lena, the mother, unwilling to accept this idea that she sees as outlandish, forces Beneatha to unwillingly say that there is a God. This contrast created by playwright Lorraine allows the characters to have unique and realistic interactions that work much better because of the differing personalities. Another interesting thing that develops during act one is the relationship between Walter and Ruth, which we see as a stressed relationship, as we can see from when Walter gives money to his son Travis in order to spite his wife. "(Without even looking at his son, still staring at his wife) In fact, here's another fifty cents . . . Buy yourself some fruit today-or take a taxicab to school or something (31). Walter says this because he wants to have power over his wife, and show her that he is the boss of the family.
Walter is rude to his wife because he knows he can, without consequence. This also speaks to the gender roles seen in the play, where the man goes out and works, and sometimes gets drunk, while the woman cooks and cleans, and doesn't have much power. "Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs (33). This quote shows how Walter feels about society, that men have aspirations, but women are pessimistic and are content with what they already have. This happens in the family when Walter is talking about owning a liquor store, but all Ruth replies with is, eat your eggs. These gender roles that Walter and Ruth create, lead to a strain in the relationship, which causes mistrust. This mistrust leads to Ruth not even telling her husband that she's pregnant. Beneatha also learns from this marriage gone wrong, not wanting to marry George, a man who is rich, but she does not love, instead preferring Asagai, a man who while not very rich, is very sweet and kind to Beneatha. I found it very interesting that the playwright was able to seamlessly connect the subplots of each character with one another, with all of them relating to money eventually, with the two relationships in the play as a good example. I found act one of A Raisin in the Sun to be very intriguing, presenting many small themes and intertwining them with one-another by using the characters in creative ways. The playwright leaves the audience in suspense due to the sudden ending of act one, that Ruth is getting an abortion, making the audience eager to continue watching, which is just one of the many things that help to make act one so wonderful.