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“A Raisin In the Sun” By Lorraine Hansberry

“A Raisin in the Sun,” by Lorraine Hansberry highlights the idea of the American Dream and how it gave each individual family a goal to achieve. The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of their background, can live in a situation of financial stability, comfortability and success. “A Rasin in the Sun” tells the story of an African American family in Chicago in the 1950’s which was a time when attaining the American Dream was more of a challenge for African American families. During this time period of segregation, African American families were more prone to poverty and financial struggles due to society being built on oppressing them and making the goal of the American dream immensely harder to reach. This idea of striving for the American dream is portrayed through the Younger family. The American Dream had always come across as something people are entitled to although, for many it was almost impossible. The 10,000 dollar check the family was going to receive gave them a glimmer of hope and was seen as a gateway to opportunity and felt like a step closer to attaining the American Dream. Each family member had their own individual hopes, dreams and thoughts about how the check could possibly help them enter a new environment.  

Everyone in the family is limited to opportunity due to living under societal confinements. Every character has felt the wrath of being held back from the American dream, even the youngest family member, 10-year-old Travis, is worrisome about having enough money just for grade school. Travis anticipating the check to come in the mail, to me, shows just how significant money is to this family. The book shows how some of the characters are very driven by money. Walter is an example of one who believes that this check could be it for him and his family. He believes with this check he has the power to kickstart a business and he believes starting a business will help him and his family achieve the American Dream although it is a big risk and would require the check in entirety. In the book Walter is described as “erratic.” This description most definitely suits Walter considering his ideas, and moods are unpredictable and spontaneous. Walter has attempted to put his plans into action but was continuously let down. The fact that Ruth is so hesitant about Walter going forward with opening his business shows a lot. It shows that she would feel more comfortable staying in their current situation because she has been shown that most of the time the end goal cannot be met. Ruth tries to shut down any talk of acting on Walter’s dreams to start something new. Ruth being a woman also plays a role as to why she is so persistent on not acting on the opportunity. During their time period, being an African American woman meant it was even harder to do things you hoped to do. Women were looked upon as inferior and incapable. During this time period they were not allowed to do something so simple as to own a credit card. Considering the circumstances, it is reasonable for Ruth to be so hesitant. As much as the family is not exactly living the American Dream currently, their loyalty, and love to one another seems to give them purpose, and hold them together. Mama seems to act as the glue that holds everyone together. Walters father also seemed to see his family as his purpose and muse. This idea is demonstrated in a quote from him in Act 1. “Seem like God didn’t see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams- but he did give us children to make them dreams seem worthwhile.” (Hanberry page 46) During the 1950’s, the time period of segregation prohibited opportunity for people of the black community. The family being held back from their full potential of living out their dreams is a burden in all aspects of their lives. So much so that Ruth, Walter’s wife receiving news that she is pregnant, feels more of a hardship than something to be celebrated. Travis is already experiencing all of the hardships at such a young age and Benetha (Walter’s younger sister) believes it is unfair to bring another child into their situation of poverty. Based on their circumstances, and the time period, having another child seemed impossible right alongside their aspiration to achieve the American dream. 

This time period tremendously impacted those including the Younger family and people living under similar circumstances. Lorraine Hansberry wrote this play according to the time period so readers could put into perspective the struggles that people facing oppression endured. This play encapsulates how it feels firsthand from this fictional family to be living in the 1950’s and trying chase your dreams. 

Question 1) Who do you think Lorraine Hansberry’s intended audience was, or who was she possibly trying to reach with this play? Why would she try to reach this audience? 

Question 2) Do you believe the American Dream has gotten more attainable? Or has history repeated itself in your eyes? 

POSTS

POSTED ONFEBRUARY 5, 2023EDIT”OLIVIA’S BLOG POST”

Olivia’s blog post

“A Raisin In the Sun” By Lorraine Hansberry

“A Raisin in the Sun,” by Lorraine Hansberry highlights the idea of the American Dream and how it gave each individual family a goal to achieve. The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of their background, can live in a situation of financial stability, comfortability and success. “A Rasin in the Sun” tells the story of an African American family in Chicago in the 1950’s which was a time when attaining the American Dream was more of a challenge for African American families. During this time period of segregation, African American families were more prone to poverty and financial struggles due to society being built on oppressing them and making the goal of the American dream immensely harder to reach. This idea of striving for the American dream is portrayed through the Younger family. The American Dream had always come across as something people are entitled to although, for many it was almost impossible. The 10,000 dollar check the family was going to receive gave them a glimmer of hope and was seen as a gateway to opportunity and felt like a step closer to attaining the American Dream. Each family member had their own individual hopes, dreams and thoughts about how the check could possibly help them enter a new environment.  

Everyone in the family is limited to opportunity due to living under societal confinements. Every character has felt the wrath of being held back from the American dream, even the youngest family member, 10-year-old Travis, is worrisome about having enough money just for grade school. Travis anticipating the check to come in the mail, to me, shows just how significant money is to this family. The book shows how some of the characters are very driven by money. Walter is an example of one who believes that this check could be it for him and his family. He believes with this check he has the power to kickstart a business and he believes starting a business will help him and his family achieve the American Dream although it is a big risk and would require the check in entirety. In the book Walter is described as “erratic.” This description most definitely suits Walter considering his ideas, and moods are unpredictable and spontaneous. Walter has attempted to put his plans into action but was continuously let down. The fact that Ruth is so hesitant about Walter going forward with opening his business shows a lot. It shows that she would feel more comfortable staying in their current situation because she has been shown that most of the time the end goal cannot be met. Ruth tries to shut down any talk of acting on Walter’s dreams to start something new. Ruth being a woman also plays a role as to why she is so persistent on not acting on the opportunity. During their time period, being an African American woman meant it was even harder to do things you hoped to do. Women were looked upon as inferior and incapable. During this time period they were not allowed to do something so simple as to own a credit card. Considering the circumstances, it is reasonable for Ruth to be so hesitant. As much as the family is not exactly living the American Dream currently, their loyalty, and love to one another seems to give them purpose, and hold them together. Mama seems to act as the glue that holds everyone together. Walters father also seemed to see his family as his purpose and muse. This idea is demonstrated in a quote from him in Act 1. “Seem like God didn’t see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams- but he did give us children to make them dreams seem worthwhile.” (Hanberry page 46) During the 1950’s, the time period of segregation prohibited opportunity for people of the black community. The family being held back from their full potential of living out their dreams is a burden in all aspects of their lives. So much so that Ruth, Walter’s wife receiving news that she is pregnant, feels more of a hardship than something to be celebrated. Travis is already experiencing all of the hardships at such a young age and Benetha (Walter’s younger sister) believes it is unfair to bring another child into their situation of poverty. Based on their circumstances, and the time period, having another child seemed impossible right alongside their aspiration to achieve the American dream. 

This time period tremendously impacted those including the Younger family and people living under similar circumstances. Lorraine Hansberry wrote this play according to the time period so readers could put into perspective the struggles that people facing oppression endured. This play encapsulates how it feels firsthand from this fictional family to be living in the 1950’s and trying chase your dreams. 

Question 1) Who do you think Lorraine Hansberry’s intended audience was, or who was she possibly trying to reach with this play? Why would she try to reach this audience? 

Question 2) Do you believe the American Dream has gotten more attainable? Or has history repeated itself in your eyes? 

Work cited

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Modern Library, 1995

The play/novel A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry is a very important piece of literature that represents African American people living through a life of social and economic inequalities. This book is meant to be taken place in a time after WW2, to present day. Hansberry’s writing conveys many messages hidden within the novel that not everyone may realize. For example, the role of money on the Younger family is of great importance being that they come from a life of poverty, and the role that money has on the characters varies for all the characters that were introduced to us in the first scene. In the first few pages of the novel, we are introduced to the role of money by ten-year-old Travis, when he says “Mama, this is Friday. (gleefully) Check coming tomorrow, huh” (Hansberry, pg 28). The fact that this young boy is aware of a check coming in the mail is a indication that money is scarce. In households, ten year olds generally don’t have a grasp on the importance of money, yet that is one of the first statements that Travis says. He then asks his mother, Ruth, for fifty cents for school, in which Ruth replied saying I don’t have any fifty cents to give you. Travis then goes on again to about the fifty cents wondering if he should ask his grandmother, Mama, for money, which Ruth shot down immediately, and then his father, Walter, which again she shut down. Fifty cents doesn’t seem to be a lot of money for most people, but the Youngers aren’t most people. They live in a small, crowded house where all the furniture is very worn. After Travis is done asking for the money for school he asks Ruth if he can go work at the grocery store after school, and Ruth shuts this idea down too. Again, keep in mind that Travis is a ten year old boy, which in my books is a very young age to be working, and it is clear that he has been doing it for some time now, so who really knows when he started working. Walter comes out of the bathroom and hears about what Travis wants to do and says that Ruth should let him go. Travis tells Walter that he needs to because Ruth won’t give him the fifty cents because she doesn’t have it. Walter says “What you tell the boy things like that for” and proceeds to give him the fifty cents and then an extra fifty cents to splurge on himself by either taking a taxi to school or buy some fruit (Hansberry, pg 31). In this scene we maybe get the feel that money isn’t as scarce as its being played off to be, but this isn’t the case because when Walter goes to leave for work, he realizes that he doesn’t have enough money and has to ask Ruth for fifty cents. In the novel Walter is shown to be very driven by money, it seems to be almost all he cares about. Before Walter had left to go to work, he an Ruth talked about an idea of Walters to open a liquor store with two of his other friends and needs to produce a downpayment of ten-thousand dollars, and he wants Ruth to talk to Mama about it, because that check that Travis had previously mentioned is actually belonging to Mama. Walter knows Mama wont listen to him as well as she would to Ruth. After their conversation the character Beneatha, Walters sister, is introduced. Beneatha is a strange character, because the whole novel seems to show how poor the family is, but Beneatha seems to be the one of only one who isn’t driven by money. Again the check is brought up when Walter tells Beneatha that the check is coming tomorrow, and Beneatha says that its Mamas money and she can do whatever she wants with it. Beneatha reassures herself as someone to be carefree of money, which I find this ironic because she seems to be spending the most of it. She is in college, and wants to go to medical school to be a doctor which means around eight years of school, and that type of schooling isn’t cheap. We then find out that she wants to take guitar lessons, in which Mama and Ruth question her because the year before she was taking acting lessons, and then before that she was taking horseback riding lessons, in which she apparently lost interest in all. These lessons most likely cost money and the family is clearly not well off enough for someone to be changing their mind about their hobbies. We also learn that Beneatha has been getting to know a man called George, and he is said to be a very wealthy man. Ruth believes that she should marry this man because of this fact and thinks that Beneatha is weird for not wanting to be with him for the money, reassuring that Beneatha isn’t money driven. Beneatha makes herself out to not have a care in the world about money, but she seems to be spending the most. Finally when Mama is introduced, we learn the amount the check is for, ten-thousand dollars, and why she’s getting this check, life insurance on her husband. Remember that Walter needs ten-thousand just for his deposit on the liquor store, and we don’t know if Walter has any money saved, so we would assume that Walter would need all the money. Mama states that she intends to lay out some money for Beneatha’s schooling, showing again that Beneatha is spending money, and that she wants no part in the idea of owning a liquor store and that Walter is no businessman. Ruth explains to Mama that no one is until they have a business, but then goes on to tell Mama that she should spend the money on herself and she should go see the world. So, we are shown that Ruth is also not entirely money driven and has the interests of everybody in her mind. Mama then throws the idea of her picking up some days to work, and it is not stated how old she is, but she is old enough to have a son in his mid-thirties, so I’d have to assume she is up there, and for her to go back to work just shows again how scarce money is for the family. Money is always going to have an important role in households, and especially for households that don’t have much. Money has a role on the family, but also has a role on the characters individually.

What character do you think is most directly influenced by the role of money?

Why do you think Beneatha’s character is not as influenced by money as the others, or if you think she is influenced by money, how?

Work cited

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Modern Library, 1995.

The award winning play/novel “a Raisin in the Sun ” written by Lorraine Hansberry is undoubtobly a classic, inspiring generations of readers to truly inform themselves on the social and economic issues affecting african americans. Hansberry starts us in a worn down apartment that, in her words, “the furnishings of this room were actually selected with care and love and even hope—and brought to this apartment and arranged with taste and pride.” (page 24) In other words, at one point in time the apartment and its furniture was picked out with genuine love and hope, but, as like many of the dreams these characters had, it passed them by and in the current day it’s ragged and clearly overused. I find the relationship between Walter and Ruth, as well as both of their relationships with Mama to truly show the extent of sadness that hangs over the house due to defferred dreams. We see through the dialogue Hansberry writes for Ruth that, while she is putting up a brave face in the first scene for those around her, she is clearly unhappy with where she is in life and how her and her family have turned out. Whether that is anyones fault or not isnt necessarily the point in this instance, it’s just to point out how crushed her spirit seems to be when we first meet her. Despite the description of her telling us that in her youth she was a vibrant beautiful woman, it seems life has passed her by, or at least she thinks it has. Between pages 28-30, I believe we see a perfect example of my point with how she awakens her son and husband. It’s almost robotic for her at this point. “Come on now, boy, it’s seven thirty! (Her son sits up at last, in a stupor of sleepiness) I say hurry up, Travis! You ain’t the only person in the world got to use a bathroom!” (Pages 28-29) This is followed by a constant barrage of yells at her husband to awake, despite the bathroom not even being open yet, showing us just how used to Walters rough mornings she is and how sick and tired they all are of living the way they do. Walter even asks Ruth later in the scene multiple times “What’s the matter?” and continuously responded with “Nothing.” Because to Ruth there really is nothing wrong, she has unfortunately seemed to accept her, and her family’s place in the world and doesnt want to take any risks with her husband. Even if her reasons for saying no to Walter are valid it shows a lack of willpower that many might have felt at the time due to the terrible circumstances they were placed in. Later in the scene we see Walter and Ruth having an argument over Walter wanting to possibly go into business with a few friends and using “the check” Mama is supposed to get as a jumping off place. It seems, immediately, that this is not the first time Walter has brought something like this to Ruth. And it is implied that Walter’s plans are never well thought out, or actually possible. But this one doesnt seem all that crazy, and Ruth just continuously shoots him down until Walter begins to question why “His Woman” does’nt blindly support him on anything he wants to do. Showing another big issue with some of the characters in this book, misogyny. What these examples are showing is a larger, overarching issue of how our country was at the time of this play. The system was rigged, and the “American Dream” told them that as long as they worked hard and stayed out of trouble they would be ok. But despite every single one of the members of Mama’s family being extremely hard working, they barely get by in the most basic of living quarters. They share a bathroom with other families, which Walter seems to have a lot of issues with. The house is way too small for the amount of people living in it, and beyond that, they can barely afford the extras on top of that. All while both Walter and Ruth work and Travis even makes some extra change holding groceries, and Mama has her big check. They still can very rarely afford anything, with my example being Ruth saying no to her son asking for 50 cents when he needed it for school. Even though Walter ends uo giving it to him because he doesnt want his son to know about the family’s money struggles, it’s hard to hide it from him with the way that they live. 

In conclusion, the relationship between Ruth and Walter, to me, perfectly shows what themes Lorraine Hansberry was trying to convey. With the ideas of money troubles being a constant talking point with the two, as well as bickering over how they share those troubles with their son. And the Mother who still lives with them as well has her own very strong opinions on how they should handle things, even if being a little old school. Each character provides a different look into life during this time period and shows the themes presented by Hansberry.

Hello, my name is Kenari Curry and I’m from Syracuse Ny. I am an exercise science major looking to go into physical therapy or athletic training. I like watching sports and comedies as well as napping.

My name is Alana Day and I am currently a sophomore as an exercise science major, but I am hoping to switch to sport management by the fall. I’m from Kirkville, NY, a little east of Syracuse, and I am also on the club softball and club tennis team here. I’m looking forward to reading new things in this class and opening myself back up to reading more on my own.

Hi I’m Gabriella but my friends and family usually call me Gab or Gabby. I am from Staten Island NY. So I am about forty minutes out from the city. I am a Junior and I am majoring in early childhood/childhood education with a concentration in English. I have always wanted to work with kids. At home I work at a private pre-school and I used to be a dance teacher. I have been dancing since I was three and dancing competitively since I was seven. It has always been a big part of my life so I continued my dance career here at Suny Cortland. I am a member of the cortland danceworks team. In my free time besides dancing I like to read a lot. I am a little bit of a book worm but I also really love to work out and catch up on a new show!

Hi everyone! my name is Lexi Storch and I am from Long Island. I am an Early Childhood Education major, with a concentration in humanities. I love to hang out with my friends and listen to music with them, my favorite music to listen to is country. I also really enjoy doing art in my free time and watching movies.

Hi! My name is Olivia. I am from Long Island. I was a Chemistry Education major and just recently changed to an English Education major. I enjoy reading during my free time and I love discussing books with people. I believe changing my major was the right decision and I am excited to see where it takes me!

Hi I’m Joe from Long Island and I’m a freshman psychology major. I have a little brother in high school and a dog named Carly. I like to hang out with friends, listen to music and travel. Right now I’m reading Sister Outsider by Audrey Lorde and my favorite artist is Lana del Ray.

Hi everyone! My name is Gianna, I’m an English Adolescent Education major, and I’m from Long Island! I’m currently a sophomore transfer student from WVU, and I’m very excited to be at Cortland. I’ve always loved reading and writing, so I’m very excited for this semester with you all!