A Raisin in the Sun: The Play by Lorraine Hansberry

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Introduction

The paper is an analysis of the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. This was the first play written by a black woman and first appeared in 1959 and it about the life of Youngers, an African-American family. Youngers resided in a segregated neighborhood in Chicago.

The play through its various well nurtured characters have successfully brought out various themes such as sexuality, American dream, civil rights, culture, poverty, faith, compromise, tolerance and prejudice, primacy of family racism and oppression (Hansberry 55).

The essay will concentrate on the climaxes in the play, faith as well as racial discrimination. Climax in this play has been brought out clearly and successfully by the author. Climax is a situation in which there is a clear twist of events that usually take either form, good or bad.

Similarly, climax is used to refer to the end of the piece of art that is usually captivating and can leave people either happy or sad and mostly in dilemma. On the other hand racial discrimination refers to a situation where an individual or a group of persons are treated in an unfair manner due to their skin color or cultural background (Orlando 7).

Thirdly, the issue of faith comes out clearly in the play. This is true and clearly depicted by mama, after receiving the check, she indeed bought a house and entrusted his son with the remaining some. Additionally, the family of Youngers again confirmed their faith in Walter after he refused to take the offer Mr. Lindler was offering the Youngers’ so that they cannot move to their new apartment.

Racial discrimination has occurred and supported by the fact that the Youngers were unfairly treated by Mr. Lindler who tried to block them from going to their newly bought house.

Climax in the play is realized when Walter is made to understand by Bobo that Willy, the man entrusted with the money to start a liquor business has run away with the money, this thus killed Walters dream of becoming a business man. Another climax based on the second definition is when Mr. Lindler the white man was bluntly informed by Walter that the Youngers have not relented on their quest to move to their newly acquired house.

By definition, racial discrimination refers to a situation whereby someone’s skin color is used as a factor to determine a number of issues such as concerning jobs, acquisition of property, and promotion among others. It is generally the unfair treatment of an individual or group of persons on the basis of their skin color. In the play A Raisin in the Sun, there are clear instances where the Youngers have been sidelined as a result of being black (Hansberry 148).

The first case of racial discrimination is depicted when the life style of Youngers is described, a bigger family that only have one bathroom and where one must wait for his turn to get a shower. This kind of life facing the Youngers can be associated with the difficulties of black American to secure employment.

In case they are lucky, they are only capable of working in jobs that have very little earnings that cannot sustain life of an average human being. From the play we are told Walter works as chauffer for a white family, the salary from such kind of work cannot be sufficient enough to sustain such a big family.

Similarly, what Mama says summarizes it all, “We just plain working folks.” On the same note what Walter says about his wife that she has been working “in somebody else’s kitchen for the last three years to help put clothes on her [Beneatha’s] back” (Hansberry 111). It is presumably house of a white native and she endured unfair treatment while struggling to fend for the family.

Additionally, the issue of discrimination came to light in the play when mama bough a new house in Clybourne Park. Mr. Lindner, a white later come to the Youngers family and claimed to be the chairman of Clybourne Park Improvement Association.

When he was offered a drink, he blatantly refused just because it was offered to him by a black. We later learn that his motive was to purchase the house bought by the Youngers, since he (Mr. Lindler) claims that the place where the newly acquired house for the Youngers is unsuitable for them; they do not deserve to leave in such an area.

He plainly puts it, “Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities.” (Hansberry, 73) Although it is not very clear whether, Beneatha refusal to accept the attention of Murchison George a local was on the basis of race, it is clear that she liked Asagai more so because he was intelligent, articulate and proud of their race, Africans.

Use of climax as a literature style is very significant as it keeps things or themes in the piece of art rolling as well as bringing things into conclusion. A good example of climax is depicted where Bobo brought made it known that Willy did run away with the money Mama had given Walter which he intended to open a liquor business, the hidden agenda of Walter then comes to light (Hansberry 91).

As a result of such revelation, every member of the Youngers family was now aware of what Walter was unto with all the money entrusted to him by mama. Walter trust by mama has now diminished so to speak.

This again makes the trust Mama had in him fade away, although she claimed previously when asked by Walter, “You trust me like that, Mama? Mama echoed that she still trusts him. Similarly, Walters’s dream of trying his hands on liquor business hit a snug. Another clear example of climax in the play is when Walter stood on his ground against what he had promised Mr. Lindner concerning the buying of the house the Youngers had acquired (Cummings 12)

The news of Ruth being pregnant can also provide us with a typical example of climax. Although it was not planned by mama, we see her assigning some $3, 500 dollars as well as providing moral support and strongly object the idea of Ruth aborting.. Again the argument between Walter and his wife Ruth resulted to Walter proposing that Beneatha should either concentrate on her nursing career or just get married (Orlando 2).

Faith in the play is depicted especially by mama. She strongly believes in her family despite the fact that she is in hard financial times. After receiving her check, she bought a house for her family; this not only depicts motherly love but also faith in her family members (Hansberry 126).

Additionally, she entrusted Walter, her son with the remaining sum of money. We see Walter being amazed and asking his mother if she had that strong believe in him, and what mama replies is that no single day has she lost trust in him (Cummings 4).

Additionally, through Hansberry 126 we see an act of faith when mama set aside money for the purposes of educating Beneatha. The amount totals to $3,500. No one could have done that especially considering that the family was African-American. This shows us that mama has a dream that Beneatha is indeed capable of becoming a nurse which is her dreams.

On the other hand, Ruth, Walter’s wife has no faith in him. When she found out that she was pregnant, after fainting earlier that day, she immediately opted for an abortion on the grounds that Walter will not provide for the additional kid due to financial problems (Hansberry 117).

From the review of the play A Raisin in the Sun, the use of climax has been brought out effectively making the work interesting as well as captivating. Among the examples of climax in the play is when Walter refused Mr. Lindner offers on the house Mama had bought, additionally, the reporting of Willy running away with the money Walter had given him brought a new twist of events.

On the other hand, the play brings out clearly the issue of racial discrimination. It is evident that the Youngers were leaving in a congested house since they could not secure well paying jobs due to their skin color.

When mama bought a new and bigger house for the family, the white man who purported to be the chairman of Clybourne Park Improvement Association attempted to frustrate their effort just because the Youngers are black. Faith is also clearly depicted by mama in the play. This play is a typical literature on what happened to blacks in the past and indeed to a small extent at the present.

Works Cited

Cummings, Michael. Lorraine Hansberry’s – A Raisin in the Sun / (The Ghetto Trap). 2010. Review of Arising In The Sun.

Hansberry, Lorainne. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage Books, 1988.

Orlando Green Review: “A Raisin in The Sun”, 2000. Web.

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun Summary. Web.

Click Here To Order Now!

A Raisin in the Sun: The Play by Lorraine Hansberry

Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?

We have qualified writers to help you.

We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.

You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)