Issues Addressed in A Raisin in The Sun Essay - 1369 Words

Black and White In the words of Jim Cocola and Ross Douthat, Hansberry wrote the play A Raisin in the Sun to mimic how she grew up in the 1930s. Her purpose was to tell how life was for a black family living during the pre-civil rights era when segregation was still legal (spark notes). Hansberry introduces us to the Youngers’, a black family living in Chicago’s Southside during the 1950s pre-civil rights movement. The Younger family consists of Mama, who is the head of the household, Walter and Beneatha, who are Mama’s children, Ruth, who is Walter’s wife, and Travis, who is Walter and Ruth’s son. Throughout the play the Youngers’ address poverty, discrimination, marital problems, and abortion. Mama is waiting on a check from the†¦show more content†¦Mr. Lindner is sent by his community to convince the family not to move into the neighborhood. He even goes as far as to offer to buy back the house at twice the cost. Mr. Lindner refers to the Young ers’ as â€Å"you people† several times and mentions â€Å"some of the instances that have happened in various parts of the city when colored people have moved into certain areas† (1984-1986). Beneatha claims that Mr. Lindner is talking â€Å"Brother Hood† and saying â€Å"how everybody ought to learn how to sit down and hate each other with good Christian fellowship† (1987). If a white family had bought the house and were meeting with Mr. Lindner for the first time, his choice of words and the tone of the evening would have been very different because blacks were not socially accepted by society during this era. Mr. Lindner tells Walter specifically that he is not being racist when he says â€Å"I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply does not enter into it† and â€Å"That our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities†, which sounds very racist (1986). Some would say that the way the character is talking is just the way that people talked in the 1950s, and others might say that Mr. Lindner is making racial comments. Some people also believe that the play is racial because of when it took place during the pre-civil rights era, when the white race still did not consider the blacks of equal value. When Mama suggests to Ruth to stay home andShow MoreRelatedEssay on Who Am I?: Racial Identity in A Raisin in the Sun1596 Words   |  7 Pagesrationale for justifying segregation (Pilgrim â€Å"Mammy†; â€Å"Tom†). So when Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun (1959), confronted the issue of segregation through the lens of an African American family living in Chicago’s Southside, Caucasian audiences’ widespread acceptance of the Youngers, a family who was â€Å"just like any other,† appears ironic (Nemiroff 9). Contrary to public perception, Raisin sought to convey â€Å"the essence of black people’s striving and the will to defeat segregation, discriminationRead MoreLorraine Hansberry s Life As A Whole1461 Words   |  6 PagesNemiroff, her h usband, still continued to collect and write her interviews in To Be Young, Gifted and Black, which set off Broadway reviews and ran for eight months straight. One of Hansberry’s major works that was considered on Broadway was A Raisin in the Sun. Hansberry received an award for this play in 1959, a couple years before her death. She received the New York Critics Circle Award, which is considered to be one her best. Lorraine Hansberry was the first African American Author to be honoredRead MoreExamples Of Feminism In A Raisin In The Sun966 Words   |  4 PagesA Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Loraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959 (Sparknotes.com, 2017). This play addresses issues that were common but never directly addressed in the fifties because they had yet to be dealt with head-on. Although A Raisin in the Sun suggests a central theme of controversies, there is another underlying theme throughout the play. Hansberry may have addressed feminism, racis m, and greed, but these topics scream one thing: the ever-present struggle of humanityRead MoreAn Analysis of Dreams Deferred by Langston Hughes685 Words   |  3 Pagesit dry up/ Like a raisin in the sun? Raisin is a nutritious dry fruit and is delicious. But what happens if it is left in the sun to dry up? It loses its nutrients, becomes hard, having its value sucked out. Hughes also asks, Does it stink like rotten meat? Meat is also delicious and full of nutrients but if it is left rotten, it becomes inedible. Now, think about human beings who have important dreams. Think about Escobar, Ramos, and Solis. Their dreams are like fresh raisin and meat. But if theirRead MoreAnalysis Of Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin In The Sun1092 Words   |  5 PagesLorraine 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 isRead MoreMontage Of A Dream Deferred By Langston Hughes946 Words   |  4 Pagesof Education (1954), the supreme court had unanimously decided that the racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Although the acknowledgement of this case, the issue still wasn’t fully addressed. It was still very rare for whites and blacks to be mixed in schools especially elite colleges. As the speaker starts listing things he likes, he comes to a conclusion that the color of his skin doesn’t mean he can’t relate and likesRead MoreA Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry987 Words   |  4 PagesA Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansber ry A Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry, which debuted on broad way in 1959. They play takes place sometime in the 1950’s, a time period wrought with social issues which were ignored by the general public. The play concentrates on the Younger family; Ruth, Travis, Walter Lee, Beneatha, and Lena, the family head. The events of the play take place over the course of only a few weeks, where-in the Younger family is to receive a largeRead MoreAnalysis Of Bruce Norris s Poem, And Then You Go For A Steak992 Words   |  4 Pagesout of the audience, they feel they are being addressed.† Bruce Norris creates this environment through Clybourne Park. Clybourne Park addresses tough, but relevant, social issues with which readers can relate; he points out that the more it changes, the more it stays the same. Clybourne Park is about a white, middle class couple, Russ and Bev, who is moving out of their neighborhood. The author, Bruce Norris, writes a spin-off of A Raisin in the Sun, but with the perspective of the white communityRead MoreA Raisin Of The Sun? S Portrayal Of Twentieth Century Racism2141 Words   |  9 Pages A Raisin in the Sun?s Portrayal of Twentieth Century Racism Compared to Racism Today Rebecca Duffy Period E Grade 11 Mr. Joseph Matte April 15, 2016 OUTLINE Thesis: Though the kind of inequality addressed in Hansberry?s A Raisin in the Sun, especially the separation in housing, everyday life, and violent attacks, have largely been eradicated, more verbal forms of racism exist today that differ from the racism in the Twentieth century that was reflected in the play. Introduction TimeRead MoreAfrican American Poems : The Poetry Of Langston Hughes934 Words   |  4 PagesAfrican Americans, who embraced and uplift his own culture during the Harlem Renaissance (New Negro Movement). As an African American female, Hughes is my favorite poet because his poems talk about what was happening then. They were issues that needed to be addressed and not hidden. I decided to visualize myself as Langston Hughes, and asked if I was him, what reason would I have to write these poems? What am I trying to tell my audience? The reason is simple. My answer is, â€Å"I am American too. I