Analysis Of Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin In The Sun

Lorraine Hansberry was an African-American female playwright born in Chicago in 1930. Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, has won awards such as the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play and is loosely based on events involving her own family. This play portrays a poor African-American family of five known as the Younger Family, living on the South side of Chicago in a run-down one-bedroom apartment, Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too many people for too many years—and they are tired (Hansberry 937). This quote describes just how worn down the furniture is within the apartment due to overuse, but was once chosen with†¦show more content†¦Poverty is clearly represented throughout the play and is the stem of most problems for the Youngers. Although the family is proud, they truly struggle economically and often find themselves barely ge tting by. Most of the family is made up of hardworking laborers, but at the end of the day they find themselves with shortcomings. In addition to that, coming from a poor black family means less opportunity, in comparison to a rich or poor white family. This morning, I was lookin’ in the mirror and thinking about it...I’m thirty-five years old; I been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in the living room and all I got to give him is stories about how rich white people live (Hansberry, 945). This quote said by Walter to Ruth shows the awareness he has about how far from his goal of getting his family out of poverty is, meanwhile he sees white people living with leisure. Furthermore, an African American family during the time period of the play, the 1960s, would often be charged up to twice the amount that a white family would be charged, for the same exact home but in an area with other African Americans. Them houses they put up for colored in them areas wa y out all seem to cost twice as much as other houses. I did the best I could (Hansberry 980). Mama tries her best to find the best home for her family, even though it is in a white community that look down upon the Youngers race an evenShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin In The Sun788 Words   |  4 Pageswork out the way you want them to. Beneatha, in A Raisin in the Sun, had many big dreams, not all easily achievable. Many of them, also never came true for her, and then some of them did. Beneatha’s character traits explain dreams, and how sometimes they dont come true. Beneathas independence, indecisiveness, and modern views of society all help describe what Lorraine Hansberry is trying to make readers think about while reading A Raisin in the Sun.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In hope that readers will think about whenRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin In The Sun1322 Words   |  6 PagesIn Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha Younger is the highly motivated, opinionated daughter of Lena Younger. As a black woman attending college with intentions of becoming a doctor, she is a trailblazer character whose goals stand out among the rest. With such independent desires and arduous goals to meet, Beneatha does not dwell on her romantic life. Her focus lies in her future, not the boys who court her. 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Considering these themes, how can we explore the presence of dreams as well as the ideology of sexism that is registered in Black America? Through Walter’s quote, Hansberry’s screenplay chal lenges gender stereotypes through Walter and Beneatha while exploring Mama s domestic narrative; theseRead MoreA Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry2035 Words   |  8 PagesLorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is a remarkable play written in 1959 by an African American author about an African American family. This time period was in the early days of the modern awakening of civil rights awareness. It was a timely play challenging the then current stereotypical view of a black family by depicting a realistic portrayal of a specific black family with aspirations, hopes, dreams, dignity, and ambition as would be expected from all families regardless of race. 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Being African American in the 1950’s made it difficult for the family to move up in class to achieve the Am erican Dream. In â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† by Lorraine Hansberry, the Younger’s cannot fully achieve the American Dream due to societal obstacles they experience