A Raisin in the Sun
Summary:
A Raison in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a story about an African American family that is going through hard times living in the ghetto. The father in the family passed away, but when he passed he left ten thousand dollars in his wife’s name. The entire family had a different opinion on how to spend the money, but it was ultimately the mother’s decision. Walter wanted the money to e put into his dream of owning a liquor store. He was very adamant that the store would bring money into the family and that they wouldn’t be poor, but the mother wanted to move out of the ghetto and get an affordable house. The entire family had dreams of their own, very “out of this world” kind of dreams, dreams that cost a lot of money. One of the younger daughters, (Benetha), wanted to become a doctor. The mother, after buying her house had money left over, so she gave it to her son, Walter. He was supposed to put three thousand of the money into his dream, and the other three thousand into Benetha’s educational fund. Walter did no such thing as he was told though. He didn’t listen to what his mother said, and instead of splitting the money up evenly, he put all of the money into his dream. Unexpectedly, the partner that Walter was working with took all of his money and fled away with it. This left the family with nothing except the house that their mother had bought and their will to survive the viscous world.
Character Analysis:
Walter: The character of Walter in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a very selfish character right from the very start of the book. Walter has expected his dreams to fall into his lap. His character likes to avoid the original problem and drink his problems away instead. He has a wife (Ruth) who becomes pregnant. He fears that he will not be able to afford a child and be able to support it; he thinks that there won’t be enough money for their family anymore. This is another way of showing that Walter is selfish. This character puts his own wants and need before the wants and necessities of others. He doesn’t see the importance of anyone else’s dreams accept his own. Walter doesn’t have a job, because the only thing he wants to do with his life is to make a liquor store. He is a lazy character that wants opportunities to be handed to him instead of working for them, in general, this character is lazy and self-destructive.
Benetha: Benetha is a younger girl in this book and she’s in her teenage years. She has large dreams in a family that doesn’t have much wealth, they are poor but she has a positive outlook on her life. When she grows up she wants to become a doctor. She later on fears that this will not be possible for her because of her race and her color. She also worries that her family won’t be able to send her through school because they don’t have enough money. She has a boy that she likes but she later finds out that she doesn’t like him and she calls him a fool. She is a very independent young woman and she knows how to handle very adult like situations at a young age. Her overall character analysis is positive and happy, in the end when she realizes that her money for her education is all gone, she still is positive and keeps her head held high.
Setting: The setting in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is in a very ghetto part of Chicago. The family, (the Youngers), are very poor and their house is under kept. The setting is introduced to the reader in a very sad tone, all of the characters, even the not so important ones, seem very glum. The reason for the characters being glum and sad is because they don’t have a lot of money. The setting reflects this element in their life. The southern side of Chicago isn’t a very wealthy spot, another reason that the family is sad is because their father just died. The reader is left with suspicious feelings about the father’s death because of the setting that they are in. Maybe the father was shot, or killed in a gang fight, or maybe even mugged. The death of the father may have been sketchy, because of the setting. There isn’t a lot of grass on the southern side of Chicago, because it’s full of apartments. The mother has a small plant that she keeps right outside of the kitchen window because her dream has always been to live in an actual house wither her family. The setting changes towards the end of the novel, when they move into the new house that the mother has bought. There is grass and the whole mood of the story is looking brighter for the reader and the family. The family has a few more rough spots along the way, but in the end, the mother has her dream come true and her family is happy.
Conflict:
The conflict in the novel A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is man v. society.
The reason this book is man v society is because when the Younger family moves they are racially discriminated against in the new all white neighborhood.
Themes:
Theme 1: Money- Money is a theme in this book, because in order to make every ones dreams come true there was a certain amount of money that was needed. The money that they obtained from the father’s death could have made all of their dreams come true, but because of greed, money wasn’t enough to fix their problems.
Theme 2: Race- The race of the family was a very important theme in this book. They were racially discriminated when they moved into the new neighborhood.
Theme 3: Dreams- The dreams in the family’s lives were all very important to them. Because of the dreams they had for their future it shaped them into what they became, or were to become.
Symbols:
Symbol 1: The mothers potted plant is a symbol because her dream was to have a house with real grass and a real lawn, the plant symbolized her dream to attain what she couldn’t have because of her lack of money.
Symbol 2: The African clothes Benetha received from her boyfriend symbolized her culture. She was supposed to be proud of her race and who she was inside. She wouldn’t let anything get her down, and the clothes were a symbol of this.
Symbol 3: The Liquor store symbolized Walters fear commitment to the family, by creating an alternate place that he could go to relax and be away from his troubles, it would have been like drinking his problems away.
Image:
http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2008/02/sepinwall_on_tv_a_raisin_in_th.html
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iLhfZTPL3c
(A Raisin in the Sun clip from the TV show in the 60’s)
WORK CITED PAGE:
Video: A Raisin in the Sun (1961) Pt. 6 Clip. 1961. YouTube. YouTube, 19 Apr. 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
Image: A Raisin in the Sun. N.d. Photograph. Blog.nj.com. NJ.com. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
A Raisin in the Sun." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
Summary:
A Raison in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a story about an African American family that is going through hard times living in the ghetto. The father in the family passed away, but when he passed he left ten thousand dollars in his wife’s name. The entire family had a different opinion on how to spend the money, but it was ultimately the mother’s decision. Walter wanted the money to e put into his dream of owning a liquor store. He was very adamant that the store would bring money into the family and that they wouldn’t be poor, but the mother wanted to move out of the ghetto and get an affordable house. The entire family had dreams of their own, very “out of this world” kind of dreams, dreams that cost a lot of money. One of the younger daughters, (Benetha), wanted to become a doctor. The mother, after buying her house had money left over, so she gave it to her son, Walter. He was supposed to put three thousand of the money into his dream, and the other three thousand into Benetha’s educational fund. Walter did no such thing as he was told though. He didn’t listen to what his mother said, and instead of splitting the money up evenly, he put all of the money into his dream. Unexpectedly, the partner that Walter was working with took all of his money and fled away with it. This left the family with nothing except the house that their mother had bought and their will to survive the viscous world.
Character Analysis:
Walter: The character of Walter in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a very selfish character right from the very start of the book. Walter has expected his dreams to fall into his lap. His character likes to avoid the original problem and drink his problems away instead. He has a wife (Ruth) who becomes pregnant. He fears that he will not be able to afford a child and be able to support it; he thinks that there won’t be enough money for their family anymore. This is another way of showing that Walter is selfish. This character puts his own wants and need before the wants and necessities of others. He doesn’t see the importance of anyone else’s dreams accept his own. Walter doesn’t have a job, because the only thing he wants to do with his life is to make a liquor store. He is a lazy character that wants opportunities to be handed to him instead of working for them, in general, this character is lazy and self-destructive.
Benetha: Benetha is a younger girl in this book and she’s in her teenage years. She has large dreams in a family that doesn’t have much wealth, they are poor but she has a positive outlook on her life. When she grows up she wants to become a doctor. She later on fears that this will not be possible for her because of her race and her color. She also worries that her family won’t be able to send her through school because they don’t have enough money. She has a boy that she likes but she later finds out that she doesn’t like him and she calls him a fool. She is a very independent young woman and she knows how to handle very adult like situations at a young age. Her overall character analysis is positive and happy, in the end when she realizes that her money for her education is all gone, she still is positive and keeps her head held high.
Setting: The setting in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is in a very ghetto part of Chicago. The family, (the Youngers), are very poor and their house is under kept. The setting is introduced to the reader in a very sad tone, all of the characters, even the not so important ones, seem very glum. The reason for the characters being glum and sad is because they don’t have a lot of money. The setting reflects this element in their life. The southern side of Chicago isn’t a very wealthy spot, another reason that the family is sad is because their father just died. The reader is left with suspicious feelings about the father’s death because of the setting that they are in. Maybe the father was shot, or killed in a gang fight, or maybe even mugged. The death of the father may have been sketchy, because of the setting. There isn’t a lot of grass on the southern side of Chicago, because it’s full of apartments. The mother has a small plant that she keeps right outside of the kitchen window because her dream has always been to live in an actual house wither her family. The setting changes towards the end of the novel, when they move into the new house that the mother has bought. There is grass and the whole mood of the story is looking brighter for the reader and the family. The family has a few more rough spots along the way, but in the end, the mother has her dream come true and her family is happy.
Conflict:
The conflict in the novel A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is man v. society.
The reason this book is man v society is because when the Younger family moves they are racially discriminated against in the new all white neighborhood.
Themes:
Theme 1: Money- Money is a theme in this book, because in order to make every ones dreams come true there was a certain amount of money that was needed. The money that they obtained from the father’s death could have made all of their dreams come true, but because of greed, money wasn’t enough to fix their problems.
Theme 2: Race- The race of the family was a very important theme in this book. They were racially discriminated when they moved into the new neighborhood.
Theme 3: Dreams- The dreams in the family’s lives were all very important to them. Because of the dreams they had for their future it shaped them into what they became, or were to become.
Symbols:
Symbol 1: The mothers potted plant is a symbol because her dream was to have a house with real grass and a real lawn, the plant symbolized her dream to attain what she couldn’t have because of her lack of money.
Symbol 2: The African clothes Benetha received from her boyfriend symbolized her culture. She was supposed to be proud of her race and who she was inside. She wouldn’t let anything get her down, and the clothes were a symbol of this.
Symbol 3: The Liquor store symbolized Walters fear commitment to the family, by creating an alternate place that he could go to relax and be away from his troubles, it would have been like drinking his problems away.
Image:
http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2008/02/sepinwall_on_tv_a_raisin_in_th.html
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iLhfZTPL3c
(A Raisin in the Sun clip from the TV show in the 60’s)
WORK CITED PAGE:
Video: A Raisin in the Sun (1961) Pt. 6 Clip. 1961. YouTube. YouTube, 19 Apr. 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
Image: A Raisin in the Sun. N.d. Photograph. Blog.nj.com. NJ.com. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
A Raisin in the Sun." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.