A Raisin In The Sun Essay

Superior Essays
The Life and Works of Lorraine Hansberry Alveda King once stated, “Racism oppresses its victims, but also binds the oppressors, who sear their consciences with more and more lies until they become prisoners of those lies. They cannot face the truth of human equality because it reveals the horror of the injustices they commit” (Brainy Quotes). In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, the Younger family lives in South Side Chicago and faces racial discrimination. The entire family experiences different hardships over the years. While reading Hansberry’s drama, the audience can better comprehend the content with the help of sociological and biological criticisms. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, racial discrimination …show more content…
They went through the same struggles that a typical black family did during this time period. Growing up the youngest of four, her parents had a lot to work for. According to this article, her father was the founder of Lake Street Bank. This bank was one of the first banks for African Americans in Chicago. He also ran a successful real estate business to help support the family. Not only that, but Hansberry’s uncle, William Leo Hansberry, was a scholar of African studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Racial discrimination played a big role in shaping Hansberry into a playwright. “Somewhat Like War” compares to Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun in many ways. The first mentioned is Hansberry’s living situation. Her family lived in an all-white neighborhood, and her family faced discrimination head on (Gordon 121). They were treated with less respect and fairness than their neighbors.They suffered many violent attacks and threats, but the managed to push through. Based off her own experiences, Hansberry introduces the Younger’s to Mr. Lindner, the chairman of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association. Mr. Linder gives the family a generous yet offensive offer. “Our association is prepared, through the collective effort of our people, to buy the house from you at a financial gain to your family” (Hansberry 1557). When trying to move into their new homes, the Hansberry family received offers such as this, as well as threats. Her personal connections to the Youngers in this situation makes this a biological

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, which takes place in the 1950’s, the Younger family struggles with money issues and racial prejudice. The Southside of Chicago is where most of the discrimination happens in the play, and also…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is able to bring to light various issues occurring in Chicago’s Southside during the 1960s,the time at which the play takes place. Many of theses issues stem from racial tensions,terrible education and poor housing systems among other things for blacks at the time. Money, however is the main focus in the play because it interrelates with many of the conflicts that occur between family members in A Raisin in the Sun. The Younger family’s perception of themselves and the world around them are impacted by money because they believe money gives them power in society and their homelife, allow them to pursue or refute the American Dream, and controls their ability to be happy.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry is a play written in the 1950’s that focuses on the idea of unfulfilled dreams yet to come true. The play "A Raisin in the Sun" is a story about an African American family facing racial problem for their color and each member in the family has hopes and dreams they hope to live up to. The play shows the struggle it is to live in the apartment and the lack of money. As they will now own a home, each individual’s family attitudes starts to change, as way back in the family, the family attitude was hopeless, restless and unhappy. Ruth, Mama, Walter Lee, Travis, and Beneatha all live in the apartment.…

    • 169 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hansberry’s play impacted greatly on character development and the plot of A Raisin in the Sun through dialogues and stage…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Acquired Fate Living with your entire family cramped up in a tight space can usually cause issues to develop between the whole household, it’s an unavoidable situation.. Although issues develop, families are strong, they’re able to pull through anything they undergo. The author Lorraine Hansberry wrote the play, A Raisin in the Sun, about a colored family from the Southside of Chicago being given a great deal of money after a family members passing. Though this family now has money, it stirs up a few complications. Little did they know they had a bond strong enough to function well together.…

    • 1587 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Occurrence of Different Dreams and Ultimate Lessons How was look like when the Lorraine Hansberry 's play, A Raisin in the Sun, is written? At that time, from the abolition of black slavery, African Americans could have freedom differently from the past. However, the liberty existed on the only surface. As the reader can find in the play, there were many cases that the African American families that are not different from other normal white families have pain in racial prejudice and discrimination. Even if they had same right on the surface of society, they still had invisible wall that separates their social position and status.…

    • 2305 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Men, for many years, have been considered as the head of the family while women were more compliant, however that changes in the 1900s as women break from their traditional roles thus causing a shift in the men’s roles. According to The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Lorraine Hansberry was “the first black woman to have a play produced on Broadway” (Gates 1768). Hansberry ’s play A Raisin in the Sun is set around 1959 in Chicago and it is about the Younger family facing situations after the death of their father.…

    • 2171 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the article Atkinson states “You might, in fact, regard A Raisin in the Sun as a negro The Cherry Orchard. Although the social scale of the characters is different, the knowledge of how character is controlled by environment is much the same, and the alternation humor and pathos is similar” It seems completely unnecessary to have the color of the actor’s skin as a subject matter in the article. Yet, as stated earlier, in those times nobody really questioned it. The only one to stand up against the color classification was the playwright herself, Lorraine Hansberry. In an article “Inventing a Fishbowl: White Supremacy and the Critical Reception of Lorraine Hansberry 's A Raisin in the Sun” by Robin Bernstein, Hansberry responds very sharply to the interviewers speculation about her so-called “Negro Play”.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A new national poll issued by the Episcopal Church has found that 98 percent off all Americans feel that there is at least some discrimination in the United States today. In addition, African-Americans are three times as likely as whites to feel there is a “great deal” of discrimination (Episcopal Church). Many blacks are discriminated for simply the color of their skin and being African American. Countless African Americans find it hard to obtain housing without being discriminated for it. Although the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry was written in 1959 and set in the 1950s, many themes and issues are still prevalent in today 's society.…

    • 1101 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun centers on an African American family’s struggles during the twentieth century. In the play, the author illustrates vital issues such as poverty and gender, and racial discrimination on colored people. However, there are many other features that contribute to the play’s success, including: its two major themes (importance of family and significance of their dreams), the main character’s personality, and the author’s standpoint in the story. One of the major themes in A Raisin in the Sun is the importance of family and values, which contributes to the play’s unraveling.…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Younger family and the money they had affected Beneatha’s schooling. The society of the 1950’s affected Ruth wanting to be treated as an equal. Not having money for a house affected Mama’s dream of owning one. As said in 'A Raisin in the Sun' Reveals Playwright Lorraine Hansberry's Black Activism, “A Raisin in the Sun is a play about an African-American family aspiring to move beyond segregation in 1950s Chicago. The work speaks universally to the desire to improve one's circumstances while disagreeing on the best way of achieving them (Robinson).…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is considered to be one of the most important plays in American literature. Upon its debut in 1959, there was an enormous amount of controversy and influence surrounding the plot and subject matter. A Raisin in the Sun follows the Youngers, an African-American family composed of three generations in one home. The themes of the play include dreams, family, and the realities of life in America. Within the three generations of Youngers, there is significant differences in opinions about how these themes relate the their everyday lives.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many things that can hold one back from their dreams. Prejudice will crush the dreams of those that cannot possess the strength to fight back, as is wont to happen in a society of judgement. This theme is shown in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The play was written in 1954 and was based on Hansberry’s own experiences. It details the story of an African American family that struggles to prevail and achieve their dreams, largely of which is purchasing a house of their own.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A Raisin in the Sun By Lorraine Hansberry is realistic fictional drama in which the play’s title and the action of the character represent the play’s theme. The play focused on Black America 's struggles to reach the American Dream of life, liberty, and pursuing happiness during the 1950s and the 1960s. The idea of everyone having the chance to achieve a better life should exist for all. Hansberry created her title using a line from Langston Hughes’ poem “A Dream Deferred”. The original poem was written in 1951 about Harlem.…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Some critics see Hansberry 's work in A Raisin in the Sun as a form of social protest while other critics see her work as a pro-integrationist manifesto. Brown believes that the title of the play has an ironic context which is crucial to an understanding of the play’s themes and design. (Brown 239) The ironic context of the title of Hansberry play is based on “an acceptance of the dream ideal-spiritual and material fulfillment in America- and, simultaneously, on a realistic recognition of those whose dreams, or hopes, have dried up.” (Brown 240) Brown does not think that Hansberry reject integration or the economic and moral promise of the American dream but Hansberry always looked at reality keeping in mind the corruption in the United States.…

    • 1794 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays