I know he’s rich. He knows he’s rich, too. Class and Generational Conflict happened through-out the play repeatedly. Teens and young adults began to see life in a new light and thought in much different ways than the older generation did. They began to play around with idea of God and religion. The classes also had a large differences, the rich got to explore the world and see other cities while the poor barely had time to things other than work and taking care of the family. Beneatha Younger was the epitome of the change in generations. She would use God’s name in, what the older generation would call, vain. By simply shrugging and saying how much cleaning can a house need, for Christ’s sake, she was using God’s name the wrong way. This was a problem for Beneatha because she didn’t believe that God was the one and only. He wasn’t the one who did the work, paid the bills, etc. But Mama and Ruth got mad when she simply stated her opinion. The belief of the older gen. was that God was the representation of life and He gave every person what they have. (46, 50, 51) Beneatha was also being pressured by her family to marry the rich boy, George Murchison. Bennie felt like George was too shallow to marry and she was unsure if she wanted to marry at all. He knew he had wealth and he liked to use it. When he brought Bennie to the theater, he was bragging about how the curtain time was earlier than it was in New York and says that he goes to New York a few times a year while Bennie and her family have probably never left their home city. (50, 80 - 85) Class and Generational Conflicts is a re-occurring theme in A Raisin in the Sun. This was the time when young adults and teenagers began to branch out. They had less beliefs. The rich, the middle class, and the poor also had major differences in housing as well as many other things.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
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 -
The play Raisin in the Sun is set in Chicago during the 1960s. This play focuses in on a lower-middle class family who has recently lost the man of the house. While the family overcomes how to spend the insurance money it becomes clear that the three main female characters have major differences due to the ways they were raised in their generations. The women often butt heads on different topics like what duties women have in the house and in society. Each generation changes slowly but eventually the differences in them are very clear because of the evolution of duties of women.…
- 933 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In A Raisin in the Sun the movie directed by Kenny Leon, the tone and attitudes of the characters set apart the movie from the book, written by Lorraine Hansberry, because of how they make the scene more powerful and impactful. In comparison, the movie gives a better understanding of the real emotions of the characters; however, the book helps the reader understand the importance of every word. Both of the works start out in 1959 on the Southside of Chicago where there is racial tension and living is a struggle.…
- 464 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The play narrates the truth about a Negro family in the south side of Chicago. A Raisin in the sun, is a commentary on the failure of democracy and it is shown on the Younger’s family. They lack the access to an equal education system, they suffer from the residential segregation and bad living conditions…
- 297 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Throughout history, people have been oppressed and ruled by unfair governments. Rebellions, sparked by Enlightenment thinkers and philosophers, have caused changes in governments around the world. Several of which include the American Revolution, French Revolution, and the Latin American Revolution. However, only the American Revolution truly established a working form of government that lasted centuries.…
- 454 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
A Raisin in the Sun portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living on the South Side of…
- 904 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
2.) The biblical allusion in this play was a reference to Adam and Eve by Benetha about marrying George Murchinson. Adam and Eve are the first humans that God created. Eve was made from the rib of Adam. When Walter asks why Benetha will not marry George she make this reference. The reference is significant because God created Eve as a companion for Adam, and she cannot exist with him. They have a bond that cannot be broken, but Benetha wishes it could if it had to do with her and George.…
- 589 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
It was very similar to the racism theme in, “Native Son.” Richard Wright uses a central character, Bigger, to express his opinions on racism in society. In “ A Raisin in the Sun,” the Youngers live in a segregated neighborhood in a city that remains one of the most segregated in the U.S. Mostly every act they perform is affected by their race. Ruth is employed as a domestic servant and Walter as a chauffeur in part because they are black. They are limited to their poorly maintained apartment because they have low paying jobs. Two characters were very similar, Walter and Bigger. They both made stupid mistakes that either caused suffering for many people including themselves. Bigger couldn’t control himself and he killed Mary. Walter selfishly put Beneatha’s college money into a different fund, and ended up having it stolen. This could have effected Beneatha’s future. The racism in these two books had a big impact on the characters actions in the…
- 803 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
A Raisin in the Sun is a drama, a play, and a book that can reshape the way you think about people who are important to you. This magnificent story symbolizes how a family can go through a rough patch and at the end of the day continue to love and aid each other despite the circumstances.…
- 620 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
A Raisin in the Sun had allowed all people to view the average life of an African-American family in the 1950s. Lloyd Richards recalls in the Washington Post, “A white couple said to me, ‘I have never been in a black person’s home, and now you have permitted me to go into that home.’ It was also very important for black audiences because they could go see themselves onstage.” By viewing the struggles that the Youngers faced every day in the play, it gave an understanding to families not in the same situation. This play reveals the average life of an African-American family to all people who otherwise, would not have understood.…
- 488 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
All my life I have liked this song, it has voice; a strong one, speaking out against the hate. The book A Raisin in the Sun deals with the struggle for a black family in the late 1940’s to move out of the ghetto, buy a home, go to college, and simply give their children money for school.…
- 1474 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
First of all, emphasis is placed on the daily struggles endured on a daily basis by the middle-class. Much like George and Lennie, they worry about having enough money to survive, for shelter and for clothing. Also, there seems to be the fear of loneliness that seems to surface throughout the novel. Despite the on going quarrels between George and Lennie, the two men are afraid of being alone on their own. In addition, it seems the two main characters find themselves in positions that are beyond their control. These are the conflicts one finds in this novel.…
- 1124 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
For example, discrimination was very big in the 1930’s such as things like social classes. The Finch were the top of the ladder or the one of highest standing in the country. The family that come after the Finch’s are the Cunninghams. They are poor but only because their farmers and suffering from the Great Depression, still thought well of. However, the Ewells were “white trash” because they didn’t have money as well as never clean. They’re dad was a drunk and the kids never…
- 811 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Its stresses how privileged groups hold more power and have more advantages. It expressed that the social conditions of each group causes a struggle for power. The students in room 203 all hate each other because their gangs are rivals. The gangs are constantly fighting for the most power, that is why many of them kill one another. In the class, constant fights would break out between the students and when Erin changed up the seating plan, the whole class was disgruntled about being integrated with one another. The racism displayed towards The Freedom Writers can also be explained with the conflict theory. The students of class 203 are subjected to discrimination as the white teachers and students are strongly against the integration program. Ava and the other students hate white people because they are privileged in the aspects of money, power, and opportunities. The class disliked Erin and Ben in the beginning because of their skin color. The students feel as if the white students and teachers have more power because white students get a better education, and the white teachers do not want to give the multiracial students books or resources, and are not allowed field trips. There is a constant struggle for power between the white teachers and the students of class 203, which is why they constantly act out. They want to be treated fairly. In addition, the conflict theory explains income inequality. The movie shows that people with more money are of a higher class and they have more power and opportunities. All of the students comes from poor backgrounds and are treated unfairly. They do not have the opportunity to attend university or start new, different lives. The students financial situations lead them to bad behavior and crime, such as selling drugs. They perform illegal activities to obtain money to be able to live and gain more power. Furthermore, domestic abuse is displayed in the…
- 1307 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
Divisions exist among groups of people which are derivative of seemingly frivolous differences, such as wealth, race, religion, and gender. People are implicitly assigned a social class at birth based upon their parents’ circumstances, and this class tends to define people throughout their lives. The concept of social classes is one that reviles us, yet we are able to easily understand it in its basic form. However, the more intricate details resulting from the existence of a strict social hierarchy are not so easy to comprehend. In Wuthering Heights, author Emily Bronte explores various ideas of social class, among which are the hierarchical—yet somewhat unstable—structure of a classist system, the idea of the underdog, and how the existence…
- 1264 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays