a raisin in the sun critical lens essays

Critical Analysis of A Raisin in the Sun The play has a very strong view on Feminism in the 1960's. The three characters which are women; Mama, Ruth and Benetha show an influence over the men of the family. They are the main supporters of the family, because Walter is too lazy to do anything or care about his family, since all that is important to him is money. Mama is by far the dominant female in the family, since she directly gave Benetha orders to say there is still a god in my mothers house and Benetha obeyed her, so that makes Mama dominant over Her. Now Ruth, listens to Mama and respects her as the sole leader of the household, because she is the oldest and wisest. The women of Raisin in the sun all are very important because of there roles and personalities. The importance of children in this play is that of a great influence. Walter, Benetha and Travis are the only children of the play and they all play an important role. Walter displays an unselfish characteristic that is overshadowed by unwise decisions in the play In one particular scene, his son Travis asked both parents for money. Walter acts out of pride and little motivation by giving Travis his last pocket change. This symbolizes Walter's willingness to be a good father. In a different situation, Walter wouldn't display his selfish intentions. This behavior can be attributed to working in a degrading, underpaid position and not seeing results. Another reason for the importance of children in the play is that if Mama hadn't told Travis to stay in the apartment when Walter was going to sell out to Lindler, then Walter would not of stood up to Lindner, and he would of sold the house. He didnt do this because he wanted the respect of his children, and to not look like someone who could easily be persuaded into things. The symbols in A Raisin in the Sun were a very important aspect of the play. The four.
Didactic literature demonstrates or dramatically presents a thesis or doctrine in a persuasive form. Didactic works attempt to teach a lesson. The term propaganda is a sub-division of didactic literature; a work of propaganda undertakes to move the reader to take a position or to take action on a particular moral or political issue of the moment. Hansberry expresses many political and sociological views in Raisin, ideas which attack racism and prejudice; the audience is moved to either take action after having seen the drama or to change previously held bigoted beliefs. The chief character in a work is called the protagonist, or sometimes, the hero. Walter is the protagonist in Raisin, for even though he does not appear to be a hero in the traditional sense of the word, he is the person around whom the drama revolves. The drama that unfolds in Raisin changes Walter dramatically, which prompts Mama to say about him at the end, He finally come into his manhood today, didn't he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain. The most important opponent of the protagonist is called the antagonist. In Raisin, one might erroneously assume that the antagonist is Karl Lindner, but that is merely a simplistic view. Walter's real opponent is racism. Although Lindner is a representative of racist ideas, he is not the only force that is bearing down on Walter, crushing him with its weight. The relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist is always one of conflict. Walter has conflict with Lindner because of what he represents, but Walter's greatest conflict is with all the circumstances that stand between himself and the goal that he is obsessively trying to reach. Uncertainty about the outcome of the story is known as suspense. If what happens in the drama goes against the expectations of the audience, it is known as surprise. The relationship between suspense and surprise.
Only available on StudyMode Read full document → Save to my library It was Robert G. Ingersoll who once said; “The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.” In other words, he is trying to convey to us that in life, it is how we deal with our failures, and not the actions we take during our high points that matter most. This is because who we are and how we act during our lows are what define us as people. In accordance with this quote, two examples in which this idea occurs constantly are Lorraine Hansberry’s controversial play, A Raisin in the Sun, and Harper Lee’s renowned novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Let’s delve into these pieces of literature to thrust Ingersoll’s philosophy into light. A Raisin in the Sun portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the1950s. The Youngers live in a world where prejudice and racial ignorance have a grip on the masses, making their life very difficult. After the death of Mrs. Younger’s (or Mama) beloved husband, an insurance check finally comes to them for about 10,000 dollars. Confident that his plan of opening a liquor store will solve the Younger’s financial issues thus far, Walter Younger took it upon himself to invest most of his money into opening his store with two of his colleagues. In a terrible turn of events, one of his partners took off with all of the money Walter invested, leaving him with nothing. After this catastrophic mistake, Walter feels at an all time low. With temptation coming from Mr. Linder to give up their dream of moving into a permanent house for a bribe, Walter almost budges and submits, but at the last minute, he has an epiphany. He realizes that his family’s pride and honor cannot be bought, and he rejected Mr. Linder’s bribe, and the Youngers made the bold move into Clybourne Park, an all-white.
The long-standing appeal of A Raisin in the Sun lies in the fact that the family's dreams and aspirations for a better life are not confined to their race, but can be identified with by people of all backgrounds. Even though what that better life may look like is different for each character, the underlying motivation is universal. The central conflict of the play lies in Walter's notion of this American dream. Walter buys into the middle-class ideology of materialism. The notion of the self-made man who starts with nothing and achieves great wealth through hard work seems innocuous enough, but the idea can become pernicious if it evolves into an idolization of wealth and power. In the beginning, Hansberry shows how Walter envies Charlie Atkins' dry-cleaning business because it grosses 0,000 a year. He ignores Ruth's objection to his potential business partner's questionable character and dismisses his mother's moral objection to achieving his goals by running a liquor store. The liquor store is a means to an end, and Walter is desperate for his dreams to come to fruition. That same Machiavellian ethic is demonstrated when Walter plans to accept Mr. Lindner's offer. Walter is not concerned with the degrading implications of the business deal. It is simply a way to recover some of the lost money. However, Hansberry challenges Walter's crude interpretation of the American dream by forcing him to actually carry out the transaction in front of his son. Walter's inability to deal with Mr. Lindner marks a significant revision of his interpretation of the American dream, a dream that inherently prioritizes justice and equality over money. Three generations of women are represented in A Raisin in the Sun. Lena, who is in her early thirties, becomes the default head of the household upon the passing of her husband, Walter Sr. Raised in the South during an era where blacks'.