Essay/Term paper: A rasin in the sun

Essay, term paper, research paper:  English Composition

The above passage taken from the play A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry between Mama and her son Walter shows how the author can address many themes of the play in one scene or even just a few lines; She addresses such themes as dreams, prejudice, and family. Mama is the head of the household where she lives with her son Walter and wife Ruth with their son Travis along with Walter"s sister Beneatha or Bennie as some like to call her. The passage tells the reader that Mama went out and did something to destroy one of Walter"s dreams. Mama explains that she did what she did to save her family from falling apart which she thought it was because everyone was yelling at each other and saying how much they hated each other wishing they were dead.

One of the major themes of the play A Raisin In The Sun is dreams and dreams deferred. Each member of the Younger family had each of their own dreams when the family received ten thousand dollars in the mail. The money was from Mama"s husband who had passed away a few years before. Everyone wanted the money to be for themselves and nobody else. Walter wanted the money to help him open a Liquor Store when Beneatha wanted the money to pay for her Medical School tuition. Travis just wanted fifty cents that his teacher told him he needed for class that day, and Mama wanted to use the money to move her family out of their tiny apartment and into a nice house where they could all live happily. One morning when everyone was home and talking about what they wanted to do with the money, Mama realized that her family wasn"t happy. She says, "We was going backwards "stead of forwards". Mama couldn"t live like that anymore so she went out and put a down payment on a nice house in a nice neighborhood. When Mama returned home that day, she told Walter and the family what she had done with the money. The family was happy when they heard that they were going to be moving into a house until they heard where it was. The house was in an all white neighborhood called Clybourne Park. Mama explained that it was the only house she could find for the least amount of money in the nicest area she could find.

As well as dreams and dreams deferred, Lorraine Hansberry also talks about prejudice. The Younger family experiences prejudice when Mr. Lindner, greets them saying he is the "welcoming committee" from Clybourne Park. Mr. Lindner is there to offer the Younger family almost double the amount of money they paid for their new house so they can maintain their all white neighborhood. Of course when Walter hears this offer he wants to take it but he tells Lindner that he will think it over and will call him later or the next day. After thinking a while, Walter calls back Lindner and tells him that the Younger"s planned on moving into their new house and they will continue to do so. Lindner packed up his things and left the house.

Another major theme of A Raisin In The Sun is the strength of family. The Younger family stayed strong through the good times and the bad. When they were visited my Lindner to try and buy the house back, the family all agreed that it was now their house and nobody could take it back from them. The whole point of Mama buying the house was to keep the family together as one family and not to split everyone up. Mama couldn"t take it when the family was all fighting and yelling at each other so to bring everyone close, she bought the house so they could feel that they have everything they needed, love, shelter, and family.

Throughout the play A Raisin In The Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses many different themes as they relate to all of the characters in more ways than one. Whether it is Walter"s dream for a liquor store, Beneatha"s dream to go to Medical School, the prejudice of whites against blacks in Clybourne Park, and how a family can overcome all that"s bad for all that"s good. All in all, the Younger"s were a lucky family, They were a family and that"s what is special