Also related to the theme of race and racism as well as to the theme of prejudice and tolerance is the theme of Civil Rights. Although this play would debut before the major Civil Rights movement occurred in the United States during the 1960s, it raises many of the issues that would eventually be raised by the larger culture. ”Civil Rights” generally refer to the rights a person has by law—such as the right to vote or the right to attend an adequate schools—and are often also referred to as human rights. The central civil rights issue in this play is, of course, the idea of segregated housing. Mama Younger has the money to pay for a house she wants, but people attempt to prevent her from doing so because of her race. At this moment, she is not trying to make a political point but rather to purchase the best house available for the money.
After Asagai arrives, Mama’s attempt to impress him with her new knowledge of Africa is almost pathetic as she parrots what Beneatha has just told her, echoing Beneatha’s previous dialogue almost verbatim. When Raisin opened in 1959, most people’s knowledge of Africa was as limited as Mama’s. In 1959, when Raisin opened on Broadway, most African countries were under European rule.
- The Younger’s family has just received a $10,000 dollar check for their dead father’s life insurance policy.
- Anyway, I think that this man’s memory – of how cruel and brutal life was back in the 1960s when the Civil Rights Movement was just getting some momentum – would lead him to believe that life is a lot better now for blacks.
- Although he is willing to work hard, opportunities for him are few because he is Black.
- Petrie’s decision to make Asagai a minor character fails to reinforce Hansberry’s central theme of the responsibility society plays in the oppression of African Americans.
- The character that seems to express this view the closest is Mama.
Later on in the play, Beneatha considers marrying her African classmate and moving to Nigeria with him. In the end Beneatha decides that she no longer wants to become a doctor anymore. She concluded that humans are selfish and humanity cannot be fixed.
Major Themes In A Raisin In The Sun
As the world progresses to the future, new ideas will come while the old ones are creating history and the future generations can learn and treasure about the old ideas. The world will never be stuck on a specific generation and the ideas will be the same, new ideas will always be created, but it does not mean that the old ones are permanently gone. In New Year by Gail Harada, “This is the old way, the whole clan gathered, the rice steaming over the charcoal…” (Lines 1-3), the quote flashed back to the old tradition of celebrating New Year’s Day.
Raisin in the Sun is a play that has many themes on pride and dreams. Everybody has the right to dream and the right to make their dreams come true. Every members of the Younger family has their own dreams and their own ways to do it.
A Raisin In The Sun Themes Essay
This book was written by Lorraine Hansberry and inspired by a poem named “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. Both “Harlem” and A Raisin in the Sun are about African-Americans in the… In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, “A Raisin in the Sun”, Hansberry opens the play with a chaotic tone.
You therefore don’t have a point of view like you would have with a short story or novel. The family is in crisis mainly due to the circumstances in which they must live. The eldest son, Walter (a 35-year-old man with his wife and young son), wants to invest in a liquor store. When her mother decides to use some of the money as a down payment for a house in the White Quarter, her conflict with Walter escalates and causes her great suffering. Trying to sort out the situation between her and her son, the mother gives Walter Lee the rest of the money.
The African American family in this play is the Younger family there are five youngers living in one small apartment. I think the most important family member is Mama, she is the glue to the whole family and keeps everyone in line. Then there’s Walter lee Younger which is mamas son he works as a chauffeur and thinks he is head of the household. Walters wifes name is Ruth she usually minds her own business more than the rest of the family.
