Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is a modern tragedy in which the protagonist, Walter Lee Younger, is unable to find the fulfilling life he wants so badly.
What kind of story is A Raisin in the Sun?
Family Drama, Realism, African-American Literature.
Is A Raisin in the Sun relevant today?
The family in the play tries to buy a house in a white neighborhood, and they have to deal with discriminatory housing practices and the threat of racial violence. A Raisin in the Sun is relevant today because a lot of the insights it makes about racism are still debated over today.
How does A Raisin in the Sun reflect modernism?
Lorraine Hansberry’s 1950s play A Raisin in the Sun also identifies characteristics of modernism through the everyday struggles of urban and industrial housing as well as segregation.
Is A Raisin in the Sun a tragicomedy?
Though we think of the play as a tragicomedy, it is in fact a comedy surrounded, and ultimately engulfed, by tragedy.
What is the theme of the story A Raisin in the Sun?
The major themes of A Raisin in the Sun include dreams, pride, money, race, and family. Each character in the play demonstrates at least one of the themes through their interactions with other characters.
What does A Raisin in the Sun symbolize?
A Raisin in the Sun Meaning
In the poem, one response to the question of what happens to a dream deferred is to say, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” The play’s title points towards the themes of endurance and perseverance in the chase of the American Dream.
Why is family important in a raisin in the sun?
Family is important to everyone in some way because family sticks together no matter what. The play A Raisin in the Sun is about a black family named the Youngers and the hardships they face together as a family.
Who inspired the title of a raisin in the sun?
Langston Hughes
The play’s title is taken from “Harlem,” a poem by Langston Hughes, which examines the question “What happens to a dream deferred?/Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun?” This penetrating psychological study of a working-class black family on the south side of Chicago in the late 1940s reflected Hansberry’s own
What were restrictive covenants in a raisin in the sun?
Restrictive covenants were agreements signed by property owners in neighborhoods that stated that the property could not be sold or rented to African Americans. The courts upheld these agreements as legally binding. Carl Hansberry had to purchase the home through a Caucasian liaison.
How did A Raisin in the Sun impact society?
A Raisin in the Sun opened the eyes of many to the discrimination, racism, and struggles that black families faced. Everyone including white people could relate to the play because everyone has their own idea of freedom, and the dreams they wish to achieve.
What does Mama’s plant symbolize?
Mama’s Plant
Her care for her plant is similar to her care for her children, unconditional and unending despite a less-than-perfect environment for growth. The plant also symbolizes her dream to own a house and, more specifically, to have a garden and a yard.
What is the central conflict of A Raisin in the Sun?
Major conflict The Youngers, a working-class Black family, struggle against economic hardship and racial prejudice. Rising action Ruth discovers that she is pregnant; Mama makes a down payment on a house; Mama gives Walter the remaining insurance money; Walter invests the money in the liquor store venture.
What is the irony in a raisin in the sun?
Lesson Summary
Lindner from the welcoming committee visits to inform the Youngers that they are not welcome. Dramatic irony is when the audience has insight that the character does not have, like when Bobo walks in the door and everyone but Walter Lee is aware that his own investment has gone poorly.
What is Walters tragic flaw in raisin in the sun?
Walter loses the family’s money and is so distraught that he resorts to behavior that indicates self-hatred. Yet, when Walter decides on his own to regain his self-esteem in his dialogue with Lindner, not only does he maintain his own pride, but he also restores the dignity of the entire Younger family.
Is Walter Younger A round or flat character?
Walter Younger – He is a round and Dynamic character that wants to face his problems head on. His desire is to keep his pride and not let others view them as a family in need. This complex is what drives him throughout the play.
Which themes does the excerpt most clearly convey A Raisin in the Sun?
Which themes does the excerpt most clearly convey? Everyone should have a dream to reach for; it’s difficult to conform to rules that one had no part in making.
How does the raisin in the sun end?
A Raisin in the Sun ends with the Younger family leaving their longtime apartment in Chicago’s South Side neighborhood in order to move into a house they’ve purchased in the otherwise all-white neighborhood of Clybourne Park.
How old is Beneatha Younger?
Twenty years old
Beneatha Younger (“Bennie”)
Beneatha is an intellectual. Twenty years old, she attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family. Some of her personal beliefs and views have distanced her from conservative Mama.
What is the moral lesson of the story raisin in the sun?
The Importance of Family
The Youngers struggle socially and economically throughout the play but unite in the end to realize their dream of buying a house. Mama strongly believes in the importance of family, and she tries to teach this value to her family as she struggles to keep them together and functioning.
What does the egg symbolize in A Raisin in the Sun?
The eggs represent his hope, dreams, and ambitions. The egg is an idea newly forming in his mind, but it never turns out the way that he wants. Also, it symbolizes Walter’s children. He always wants the best for Travis, who is young and fragile and new, like the egg.