Preview

Who Is The Heroin In Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
375 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Who Is The Heroin In Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
It seems evident that the heroin in Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is Lena Younger. Throughout the play, she's faced with an important decision to make; how to spend the 10,000 dollars. Instead of thinking selfishly, she tries to do what's best in the interest of the whole family. Lena Younger is the leader of the Younger household as well as the mother of Walter and Beneatha. She strains her family to have self-respect and to believe in themselves in order to accomplish their dreams. As time passed, Mama's fantasy of a house dwindled away into an improbable hope. A symbol of mama's small dream was her plant. It epitomizes the fading of the fantasy as a consequence of the refusal of a life outside the apartment. Coming from an older generation,
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of Lorraine Hansburry's A Raisin In The Sun
    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Analysis Of Lorraine Hansburry's A Raisin In The Sun

    Everybody had dreams and aspirations, however those things never always go as planned. This happens to the characters in the play, A Raisin in the Sun. The play was written by Lorraine Hansburry, and it was the first Broadway play written by an African American woman. In the play, the Younger family, a family of five, live in a small two-bedroom apartment in Chicago. Mama, Lena, is about to receive an insurance check from her husband's death in the mail and has to decide what she is going to do with it. The check is seen as a beacon of hope to change their family's lives and make it much easier. Lena's son, Walter, wants to use it to leave his old job as a chauffer for a white man and invest in a liquor store, while Lena's daughter, Beneatha, wants to use it to help pay for her education to become a doctor. In the end, Mama entrusts some money to Walter and decides to buy a house in a white neighborhood to better accommodate their family because Walter's son had been sleeping on the living room couch. Walter's wife, Ruth, also goes through her own problems when she learns that she is expecting another child in a household that is already having a hard time getting by. A Raisin in the Sun is a great play that encompasses many themes of the African American working class culture in the United States. The play goes over important themes such as family, dreams, gender, race, and suffering, and A Raisin in the Sun connects all these themes to each other some way or another.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Art Of Social Criticism: Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
    • 177 Words
    • 1 Page

    Art Of Social Criticism: Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    In the article , “The art of social Criticism : Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the sun ,” the author states that this play was written for those African American families and their struggles to be able to get out of the ghetto on Chicago’s South Side. Lorraine took every chance to engage herself in her everyday life and her literary work being a writer and a student. African Americans were placed in the lower class while some other families were middle class but still placed in the lower class like Lorraine and her family. Even though Lorraine was placed in the lower class that did not affect her , her privilege still did not insulate her from the struggles and anger she was facing. Basically the the reality of the play is the realization…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How The Family In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages

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

    In the story A Raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a story about a poor family and how money has caused them to change the way the view life completely. The children of mama have all fallen far from her. she says that life is about being free and having family that cares about you. her kids think it’s all about money. The plot is the same in both. In both walter Lee Younger thinks it,s a good idea to invest the money in a liquor store. Beneatha Younger wants to invest the money in her education. Mama and rose want to buy a house. The story then tells you how each one wants to use and spends the money.…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does The Struggle In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Does The Struggle In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    Albert Einstein once said “Try not to become a man of success rather try to become a man of value.” A Raisin In the Sun was written by Lorraine Hansberry in nineteen fifty nine.The play explores the struggles of an African American family to achieve their dreams. In the play Walter Lee Younger Jr. the son of Mama(Lena) evolves throughout the trials and tribulations the family faces in the play.…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Who Is Cory In Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Who Is Cory In Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    In the story A Raisin in the Sun, written by L. Hansberry, the Younger family resides in a small, beaten down home. In this family, only one member is well educated. Miss Beneatha is attending school and plans to become a doctor. Her mother, Lena, receives a life insurance check from her husband who has passed. Lena uses part of the check as a down payment on a new house for the family. She gives the rest of the check to her son, Walter, trusting him to put a portion of the money back for Beneatha’s schooling. However, Walter is irresponsible and spends the entire check on himself (Hansberry, 1959). This situation is similar to the events of the play Fences, written by A. Wilson. In this story, a little boy named Cory is also part of a poor family. Cory dreams of becoming a professional football player. However, his father believes that because he is black, he will not be successful as a professional player (Wilson, 1987). In these stories, both Beneatha and Cory have high hopes for the future and the resources to act upon them. However, after the unforeseen circumstances in each character’s situation and the attitudes of society in the time period, Cory is…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Symbolism In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    As someone reads, it is likely that they witness symbolism. Whether they notice or not is to be determined. Symbolism may serve a greater propose then it seem and it might even foreshadow a certain feeling or event. In the play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, there are many examples of symbolism. In this play, sunshine, Mama’s “raggedy-looking” plant, and the new house represent the characters’ happiness, relationship, and hope.…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Common Themes in “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Black Like Me”
    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Common Themes in “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Black Like Me”

    “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Black Like Me” are the definitely one of the most thought-provoking films I have watched recently. The first movie, starring Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee, being a picture of the young African American man’s struggle to reach for his dreams and to provide his family with an affluent life. Watching the motion picture I sympathized with the main character’s distresses and dilemmas and hoped that everything would work out well for him in the end, however the reality proved to be quite brutal . The other film tells the story of a white American journalist who artificially darkens his skin color and travels throughout the deep south to experience what is it like to be black. The story is based on facts, which is very impressive and courageous considering the period which the story takes place in. John Horton, shows how important it is to put yourself in the shoes of another person, and try to understand them and how they feel, especially in the rough situation of the African Americans at that time. It’s clear that the writer did not mange in the end to understand how is it like to be born with dark skin, mainly because – as one of the characters pointed out to him – he can return to being white, he did not grow up having to deal with the “hate stare”. I believe the same thing can be found in A Raisin in the Sun, the creator of the play it was based on tried to present the story in such a way as to make the audience (white people) feel the pain of the main character to look at his situation from the being-black point of view.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Raisin In The Sun Rough Draft
    • 732 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Raisin In The Sun Rough Draft

    Why they all so excited about that insurance money? Since Big Walter passed, we’d all known that cheque would come someday. Ten thousand dollars…in my hands. Just a slip of paper in my own bare hands, with four zeros written on it, clear as clear can be. This money, this cheque, this one slip of paper, could rise this family up, or tear it down, into pieces, pieces and pieces. I don’t know about this money alright, it sure will change my family, but will it change us for the worse or the better?…

    • 732 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mama Archetype Essay
    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mama Archetype Essay

    The demand for Beneatha to accept the God which Mama believes in regardless of her own personal views further highlights Mama’s traditional values and her lack of willingness to change them. This allows for Hansberry to show that Mama is not a progressive character which, particularly in the context of when the play was written, was done purposefully to portray Mama as the ‘Mammy’, archetype. Mama is therefore seen as an elderly woman, stuck in old traditions and bound by her past, showing that in ‘A Raisin in the Sun’; stereotypes are fleshed out rather than…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Raisin In The Sun Quotes And Analysis
    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A Raisin In The Sun Quotes And Analysis

    When I finished A Raisin in the Sun, I sat back and reflected on the primary thematic messages the author had shown. One of the themes I came across was the strength of a dream. Throughout the play, you are reminded of every dream each character has. Beneatha yearns to have a medical degree and become a doctor while Mama’s dream is for her children to be humble and grateful in a new home. Walter’s dream is to open up a liquor store and make money for his family to have a “better” life. Early on in the story, readers find out that Mama has a large check coming from her late husband’s life insurance. This excitement starts to create a large uproar of arguments in the family. The arguments ranged from Walter and Ruth to Mama and Walter to…

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Walter Lee Younger: Selfish to Selfless - Essay
    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Walter Lee Younger: Selfish to Selfless - Essay

    Lorraine Hansberry portrays the revolution of black’s consciousness through the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by introducing the Younger family to readers. This play takes place in a poor black neighborhood in Chicago’s Southside in the 1950s where the Younger family struggles with racial discrimination and finding their true dreams and goals. Like most literature, this play has a clear protagonist, but Hansberry also uses an anti-hero, a flawed character who lacks heroic qualities, but with whom the reader still sympathizes and who eventually redeems himself through a heroic act or decision. With the weight of his deferred dreams upon his shoulders, Walter Lee Younger digs himself into a massive pit of troubles but slowly redeems himself by realizing the wrongs of his actions, making him the anti-hero of this play.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Raisin In The Sun Divisive Essay
    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A Raisin In The Sun Divisive Essay

    Race might be the most divisive thing, mankind experiences during their lifetime. Race being divisive is not all bad, because without race the world would be a very dull place indeed. However, some people think that because they are part of one race, they are better than another race. Racism stems from the fact that one believes that their race is superior to other races. Every person will have to deal with the effects of racial differences during their life. For example, the narrator in The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Walter in A Raisin in the Sun will have to face the effects of their race. Some people are proud of their race and some are ashamed of their race and want to be a part of the other race. The narrator is of a mixed background and can pass for a black or white person, ultimately he will have to decide which race to be a part of.…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Raisin In The Sun
    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Raisin In The Sun

    Lorraine Hansberry uses the play, A Raisin in the Sun, as a way to reveal the struggles…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Awertf
    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Awertf

    The speaker continues into the poem with more questions that use symbolism to dig deeper into the mind of the audience. The lines continue with, "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" With this, a tie to Tennessee William's play, "A Raisin in the Sun," is made. Envisioning a raisin in the sun provokes thought of sweltering heat overcoming a plump grape and turning it to a darker, tougher, less viable fruit, but also makes us think of the family in William's play (Harlem: Analysis).…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Women In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Women In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

    While reading acts one and two in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry the reader was able to determine the difference in the mindsets of the three generations of women in the Younger’s household. The three women in this story were Mama, (Beneatha and Walter’s mother) Ruth, (Walter’s wife and mother to Travis) and Beneatha (who was single and had no children). These women were all at different stages in their lives as well as being from different generations. Therefore these women completed tasks in different ways based on the generation they were born into. It is clear to many that each generation differs in mindsets, but these three women all had the same sense in what it took to carry out a task or goal and differ in the sense…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics