Literary Analysis †A Raisin in the Sun Essay

In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, the Youngers are a p overty stricken, Afri base American, blanket(a) family of five living in a small apartment in Chicago during the 1950s. The m other, Lena receives a manner insurance check for her deceased conserve for ten thousand dollars and wants to use a portion of it to create a better life for her family and bargain for a home. The play covers the opposite ideas that each family member has in regards to how the m 1y should be spent and the hardships that develop from those ideas. The tether Younger women, Lena a strong volitioned older woman with tralatitious measures, compassion a middle aged hard working woman, and Beneatha a young, self-loving college student, all have unique characteristics which have been formed by the different time periods which they have lived in. Lena Younger, ( mum) is a strong, religious woman whose generation was hard put about not getting lynched and getting to the northand s till having self-respect too (1177) has recently became the head of the Younger family due to the death of her husband.Her reverie is to purchase a home for her family with the $10,000 she is receiving from her husbands life insurance. mom come from five generations of large number who was slaves and share-croppers (1204) that taught her to take pride in herself and her family. She was brocaded in a generation where the men made the decisions for his family and the wife back up whatever that decision was. Shasta Gaughen indicates that it wasnt until the late 1950s and early 1960s that women started leaving the home and taking on roles other than just a home rushr. mama grew up where religion was the backbone of the family, youth respected their elders and the index of the dollar did not consume your life, Once upon a time liberty use to be life nowadays its money (1177) She wants her watchword to step up and take over the head of household role, however his obsession wi th money and opening a liquor store gets in the way of him doing so. Mama feels the generation gap between herself and her children dont let us understand each other (1168) and continues to cause bout for the family throughout the play.She struggles with her childrens obsession of money and questions the type of adults they are becoming. The one soft side of Mama is her grandson Travis. When Ruth is trying to punish Travis, Mama steps in and makes excuses for his actions which creates tension between Mama and Ruth. Ruth Younger, Mamas daughter-in-law, is ahard working, tired woman who believes in traditional appreciates that are similar to that of Mamas. They both share the romance of purchasing a home and make a better life for the family. The stress of living in poverty has worn her d proclaim over the twelvemonths and because of this she makes rash decisions that she otherwise would never do. This is made evident when she contemplates having an stillbirth rather than bringin g another financial burden into their lives. Her husbands obsession with fiscal things is causing conflict in their marriage and she does her beat out to convey this to him Remember how we used to talkabout the way we were termination to live tumesce its all starting to slip away(p) from us (1183).Beneatha Younger, Mamas daughter, is a young sleeveless college student who is youthful and determined to become a doctor so she can make a difference in the world. She is the most educated of the women and comes from a completely different generation than the other two women. With her generation we receive to see women fighting for equal rights. On December 1, 1955, Rosa set refuses to give up her seat to a white bus rider which was a custom in the south. When she is arrested the black community boycotts the buses for a year which inspires blacks and females elsewhere (A&E Networks). Beneatha is struggling to come up her own identity in these changing propagation and is dating t wo men with different backgrounds hoping to find herself. The more education she receives, the harder it is for her to relate to her family and we begin to see the selfish and egotistical side to her. She puts herself first and sp curiositys money on careless items and thinks she is better that the other members of her family.The main social aspect we see in this play is racial discrimination. The civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s resulted in new laws that transposed more than 100 years of racial segregation. These began to put an end to inferior education, better housing and public accommodations, equality for not only African Americans, only when also women and other races that were discriminated against (Mikula and Mabunda). Mama purchases a home in an all-white neighborhood because it is cheaper and better quality then what she would receive an African American neighborhood. Mama is thinking of her families quality of life and not how her family is going to pr ofess the neighborhood. They receive a visit from a representative of the neighborhood who quips to buy them out because their family just wont fit in well with the residents.Walter refuses this offer, but by and by losing the money begins to re-think it and contacts Mr. Linder again. The family members believe that Walter is going to take the offer and that they will never be out of their poverty stricken surroundings, but in the end he does not accept it and proves we come from raft who had a lot of pride we are very proud people (1206) and that sticking by your family and not conforming to others beliefs make them stronger not only as individuals, but most importantly as a family. Upon reading this entire play, it was easy for me to compare the Youngers situation to my own as a child. Growing up, I lived with my companion and my mother. My drive had a son that died of Leukemia and after that lost all relish to live and became a severe alcoholic. My parents divorced when I w as 5 and my father did not give us any support. The next time I was to see him, I would be in my late 20s, making amends with him on his death bed.My mom worked at a dispersion warehouse for 20 years, which was very hard physical labor. We always had a roof over our heads and a hot meal, but I now know that had our Church not helped us there would have been times were we would not have had heat or electricity. In todays society, people expect handouts from the government. I am proud to say my mom didnt rely on monthly handouts and words cannot express how practically respect I have for her. My mother worked for very little and towards the end of her employment people were starting out at what she was making after working there for 20 years. This situation taught me how important family is and also the value of a dollar.I have three boys of my own and even though we are able to give them so much more than I had growing up, I am proud to say they have purchased their own vehicles an d had steady jobs throughout school while playing sports and maintaining good grades. I feel the values our youth of today will gain from these experiences will only help their future endeavors and those that have everything given to them create problems in our society as adults. Just like the Youngers, I acquire that as family, you stick together and overcome what problems there may be. The value of the love of your family will always be worth more than anything of monetary value.Works CitedGaughen, Shasta. Introduction to Womens Rights Contemporary Issues Companion.Green haven Press, 2003. Web. 23 November 2014.Mikula, Mark and Mabunda, L. Mpho. Gender Discrimination Great American Court Cases. Vol. 3. satisfactory Protection and Family Law. Detroit Gale, 1999. Web. 23 November 2014. Staff, History.com. Civil Rights Movement. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web.23 November 2014.