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Lorraine Hansberry's, A Raisin in the Sun, is an incredible play that portrays the hardships of a black family living in poverty. I enjoyed the age range of perspective in each of the characters the book. Along with showing the poverty issue, it also displayed a changing of the times as certain things were being discussed in the Younger family. Leena Younger (Momma) was the authoritative presence among everyone in the old apartment.
She lived through more hardships than any of her children as she states... " In my time we was worried about not being lynched and getting to the North if we could and how to stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity too. " This was her time, living through slavery and raising her children so that they could live free in this world. Now, everything has changed and she realizes how different her children have become from their parents. Her son, Walter Lee, is a headstrong man just like his father and he has dreams that his mother does not understand. Money was an important issue in the book and since Leena was going to receive a check for a lot of money, everyone was wondering what she was going to do with it.
Walter Lee felt he should get part of the money so that he could start a liquor start business. He hated his job and he wanted his son Travis to live and not feel that he was poor. " I open and close car doors all day long. I drive a man around in his limousine and I say, "Yes, sir; very good sir; shall I take the Drive, sir?" Mama, that ain't no kind of job... that ain't nothing at all. " Walter doesn't see the simple things that he does have though as Leena points out. "You a good - looking boy. You got a job, a nice wife and a fine boy. " Nothing seems like its enough and it probably isn't and I think we can all relate to the Younger family.
The fact is that when times change we have to as well, and everyone wants more. It's not a matter of the need as it is more of the desire and in this case I can see why Moma doesn't understand. Even her daughter, Beneatha, wants things that she does not comprehend. Beneatha is probably someone who I can see as living today. She's twenty years old and she wants to become a doctor. Beneatha, like her brother, wants to do something that pays good money.
Unlike him, she wants to experience many things in life at the same time. Her economic status holds her back a bit but she still doesn't give up on one day being a big success in life. Leena wants to give her daughter this opportunity because it would be a more practical use of her money. Ruth, Walter's wife, thinks that Moma should take the money and go on a cruise or something before she dies. I would probably agree because look what money Introducing so much money to a poor family is like being taken out of a warm home and thrown into the woods full of wild animals. Its weird how a piece of paper can manipulate peoples perception of what's needed and what's wanted.
Meanwhile, I'm feeling sorry for Ruth because she has to keep a straight head through all the fussing and arguing. She was put on such a strain that it was clear you could see she was very distressed in the book / play . She had a lot of responsibility taking care of the family and her child. Not only that but she was a hard working black woman. The emotion is what makes the play so great though.
There's no holding back or pretending about anything. It is the pure raw emotion towards life that draws you into the book. The characters help you picture what it must have been like. Imagine living in poverty with so many hopes, dreams and desires. It could drive you mad just thinking about it. No wonder Leena and Ruth always thought Walter Lee and Beneatha were a little off.
If you really want to teach teens what racism, poverty and what hope and desire are all about this would be a great book. It takes a lot of courage to rise above it all in a time where there is no equality among people. People need to learn the deep meanings about what the book was really all about so, a teen audience as well as adult would enjoy the quality of this book. Lorraine Hansberry's play is truly one of the great American classics.
I enjoyed reading it very much. Her words are real and true and they hold a lot of meaning. The book can teach people about family, heritage, justice, equality, and the responsibility involved in being part of a growing group of people. The characters were able to find themselves as real people do in life. They learned who they were and what they wanted in life through all the mishaps and mistakes. In the end they did it all as a family and people should read this book because, they would ultimately learn some things in the process.
The Chicago Tribune puts it best as - "A play rooted in its own time that speaks through the years to our own. " Bibliography:
Free research essays on topics related to: living in poverty, walter, lorraine hansberry, younger family, walter lee
Research essay sample on Living In Poverty Lorraine Hansberry
