What are the major themes of a raisin in the sun?

What are the major themes of a raisin in the sun?

A Raisin in the Sun Themes

• Dreams. Dreams possess great importance in A Raisin in the Sun, with the play’s name coming from a 1951 Langston Hughes poem titled Montage of a Dream Deferred.
• Dignity and Pride.
• Race, Discrimination, and Assimilation.
• Gender and Feminism.
• Money.

What do Walter and Ruth both want?

The most important thing that Walter wants from Ruth is support. He feels trapped in a limiting job and hopes for more for himself (and for his family). Many of the requests Walter makes early in the scene are reciprocated by Ruth and they are somewhat trifling quibbles and repeated remarks.

What does the apartment symbolize in a raisin in the sun?

How does the setting of the apartment reflect the family’s problems in Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun? The Younger’s apartment represents the deferred dream to which the play’s title alludes, and when Lena Younger succeeds in buying a house, she achieves the long-time dream that she and Walter Sr. had shared.

What are some symbols in a raisin in the sun?

A Raisin in the Sun | Symbols

• Music. Music reveals character, portrays heritage, and provides comfort.
• Money. Money is a pervasive symbol for dreams and generational conflict.
• Mama’s Plant and Sunlight. Mama is devoted to her plant, which symbolizes her nurturing of life in a small space.
• Beneatha’s Hair.
• Cooking and Food.

What is the conflict between mama and herself?

Mama experiences a constant struggle over the extent to which she should shape her son’s future and that of his family. When she learns that Ruth is contemplating an abortion, she is aghast but also conflicted, because she knows it is far from her decision to make.

Does it stink like rotten meat Or crust and sugar over?

The next three lines say, “Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet?” The Dream will stink like rotten meat if the dream dies. This mean the person would lose faith and hope and let their dream go to waste.

What happened to Ruth at the end of Act One Scene One?

At the end of the scene, Mama discovers that Ruth has fainted and fallen to the floor. Lorraine Hansberry’s debt to Richard Wright can be noted in the similarities between Hansberry’s Walter Lee and Wright’s Bigger Thomas. Hansberry’s play even opens with the ringing of an alarm clock, as does Wright’s Native Son.

What happens to a raisin left in the sun?

a raisin in the sun – a fruit which was once juicy, a nutritious food, now is seen to dry up and become useless. As the sun rises each day, time passes, nothing happens. like a sore – a flesh wound or symptom of illness which, once neglected, begins to turn bad and could be harmful to the health.

Why is Mama so upset with Walter at the end of the scene?

Mama tries to talk to Walter about what it is he wants in life. He tells her that what is important is money, and Mama is upset because she thinks what is important is freedom. Finally, Mama confesses that she believes Ruth is thinking about getting rid of their baby.

What is Ruth’s dream in a raisin in the sun?

Ruth’s dream is similar to Mama’s. She wants to build a happy family and believes one step toward this goal is to own a bigger and better place to live. Ruth’s dream is also deferred by a lack of money, which forces her and Walter to live in a crowded apartment where their son, Travis, must sleep on a sofa.

What is the conflict between Ruth and Walter?

Ruth seems to think the store is a bad idea, and Walter is insulted, telling his wife “A man needs for a woman to back him up…” (I. 1). This will be an ongoing conflict in the play. Walter believes that other family members, including Ruth, do not support or believe in his dreams.

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun meaning?

Raisin A raisin is a grape that has been dried up. Like a raisin means a long-sitting unreached dream that loses its “juice” or spirit and then shrinks. A deferred dream make us lifeless like a raisin in the sun. The pain will be worse because it is untreated, fester like a sore.

What evidence is there that Walter and Ruth still love each other?

What evidence is there that Walter and Ruth still love each other, despite their problems? He goes to her after he is mean to her.

Why did Mama buy the house in a raisin in the sun?

The matriarch of the family, Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with her husband. Mama’s son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. He believes that the investment will solve the family’s financial problems forever.

What does the new house represent to the younger family?

What does the new house signify to each of the Youngers? It signifies new life and more freedom, but it is sad for them to leave their old house.

Why is it called raisin in the sun?

The play’s title is taken from “Harlem,” a poem by Langston Hughes, which examines the question “What happens to a dream deferred?/Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun?” This penetrating psychological study of a working-class black family on the south side of Chicago in the late 1940s reflected Hansberry’s own …