For example, one way she is paying for the house is with Big Walter’s insurance money, but she only makes a down payment. She feels as if the house will help her family because she sees how they are beginning to fall apart. In addition, Ruth helps Mama when she encourages her to buy a house because there will be more space. She feels jubilant because there will be space for the baby, which means she no longer has to have an abortion. Another way Ruth expresses triumphant is when she says, “HALLELUJAH! AND GOODBYE MISERY…” (Hansberry 93). This shows how much she appreciates Mama’s decision, so they can finally leave this “rat-trap” of a house. As a result, the Younger family do end up moving to Clybourne Park after a crisis that almost stops them from doing so. Walter does the right thing by telling Linder, “My father- he earned it for us brick by brick” (Hansberry 148), which means they will move because his father works himself to death just so they can get this house. At the end, Mama thinks moving once again became a good idea when Walter finally came to his senses and appreciates the house. To conclude, Mama achieves a dream that impacts the rest of the Younger…
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.…
Kristin L. Matthews. "The Politics of “Home” in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun." Modern Drama 51.4 (2008): 556-578. Project MUSE. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. .…
The central idea of family importance is a relevant central idea which expresses itself for the duration of the play; which contributes to the hero development of Walter. The concept of family is extremely important to the Youngers, which is Walter’s family. One of the first times this central idea sprouts is when Mama, Walter and Ruth are discussing the abortion; Hansberry states, “When the world gets ugly enough a woman will do anything for her family. The part that’s already living.” (Act I, Scene II, Page 74). This quote shows the importance of family…
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…
Now the movie on the other hand focuses more on the emotions and attitudes of the characters, so that it intrigues viewers. The scene that usually makes a person warm inside is when Mama buys the family a house. "PRAISE GOD" and "I have always wanted a house" are quotes said by Ruth and Travis to help the viewers understand how joyful and excited these characters are. Many times Beneatha gets down on herself and she starts to blame things on other people. "That is the mistake" because she never deals with her own problems, said wisely by Asagai. Asagai's quote helps…
In the poem “Momma” by Chrystal Meeker, the narrator shows the reader what the true meaning of being a mother is. It shows that it is not about what a mom can give to their child or what they buy for them, but what they will give up for their children. In this poem, a mother looks back on her own childhood and realizes what her mother was willing to sacrifice for her children. The poem expresses a mother struggling to raise her children amongst difficulties and the true meaning of motherhood.…
Mama dream is to have a house because she has been waiting to own a house for thirty-five years. They weren’t able to save money because her husband and she were doing labor work.…
They strive for more than they have because they know they deserve it and have earned it. They do not settle for less. To prove that she still can take care of her husband, Ruth uses food, offering him coffee and milk. In contrast, Walter Lee refuses her offers in order to show his independence and strength. Just like in the poem’s line describing a dream that “Like a heavy load,” Mama Younger feels that she has fallen short in taking care of her family (especially Walter Lee) and this weighs on her. She sags under the pain, wishing she could have done more for them all.…
Lena Younger always believed and hoped for a brighter future for her family. She desires to own a lovely house with a garden and a yard for her grandson, Travis, to play in. This will support and provide for her family better than their current situation. That way they can live comfortably for a change. To Lena, money is only a way to an end meaning that her dreams are far more important to her than wealth of the world. However, in order to make her dreams a reality, the money she gets from her late husband’s insurance is used to buy a fine house in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighborhood. Despite the fact that the house is in a white neighborhood, Lena still believes that her family will have a better life, “ It’s just a plain little old house-but it’s made good and solid- and it will be ours…it makes a difference in a man when he can walk on floors that belong to him.” (536). By owning a house, she hopes it will help make Walter a better man which will definitely stabilize the rest of the family.…
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.…
3. We do not simply live for ourselves, but for those who came before & will come after us.--Mama believes that she must honor her husband's memory and make her children's dreams come true.…
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.…
Lorraine Hansberry was a forward thinker for her time in the 1950’s, which was evident in her writing. “It is believed that hidden behind her work was Hansberry’s own personal struggle with gender” (Wiener 10-11). After many years of marriage and eventually divorce, it was discovered that she was a closet homosexual (Wiener 11). Male and female gender roles are heated topics that have been debated for generations. Women in the United States are still regarded as taking care of and nurturing children as well as the responsibility for taking care of the home. The majority of women in America have a career outside the home, yet still assume the majority of domestic responsibility. Women have struggled to find balance between career and family for years. During World War II there was a rise in feminism because women had to begin working in military factories because the men were at war. It became evident that women were just as effective and hard working as men. These gender roles were more pronounced in the play A Raisin in the Sun, especially with regard to its female characters. The story of the Younger family accurately portrays the strength of family, specifically relating to the three female characters. Mrs. Lena Younger, Mama, is a strong woman in her sixties who has overcome many obstacles in her life with many yet to come. Ruth Younger, Lena’s daughter-in-law, is in her early thirties, and when the play opens the disappointments in her life are evident by her exhaustion. Beneatha Younger is a smart, liberated woman in her twenties with aspirations of her own. Lorraine Hannsberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun expresses the dreams and apprehensions of the three strong female characters in atypical gender roles through different generations.…
Self-fulfillment and dreams are a big part of this book. Everyone in the book has a dream. Mama has a dream that she wants to have her own garden, but she cannot have her own garden because they live in a small apartment in the south side of Chicago. So, therefore, she has a little plant that she keeps outside on the window sill. This plant is a symbol of the whole families dreams. She tries her best to keep this plant alive. Whenever it starts to die she brings it back alive. “Well I always wanted a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home. This plant is close as I ever got to having one (She looks out the window as she places the plant)” (53). This quote shows that Mama wants to have a garden very badly, but a plant was as close as she could get to having a garden. When it says she was looking out the window as she replaced the plant, it is showing that maybe she is remembering all the other houses that can…