Characters are often put in situations, where the people around them have a predisposed assumption of them and judge them accordingly. In A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, the Youngers are plagued by poverty, like many African-American families of the time. There are many conflicts between race and class presented in this play. The result of Mama buying a new house in a all white neighborhood and Beneatha's wealthy boyfriend makes Walter feel alienated through class and race.
The neighborhood that the Youngers buy their house in, immediately sets out to get rid of them. A representative from the neighborhood makes them an offer, that Walter intends to take. The proposal represents the disdain that the white community has for all blacks. They are willing to pay money, just so they do not live in their "perfect" neighborhood. Walter wanting to accept the proposal represents Walter's want to assimilate into the white community. His view of being successful, is acting white and being wealthy, like a white person.
Beneatha's boyfriend George, is a wealthy African-American, all that Walter aspires to be. George is well educated and wealthy, while Beneatha dislikes these aspects, Walter adores them. Every person has a different american dream, Walter's is to be like George, even though George scoffs at Walter's lack of education and wealth. George represents a fully assimilated African-American. Joseph, is a starch contrast of George. Joseph is Nigeria and embraces his African heritage. He teaches Beneatha about it and shows how much she has already assimilated into white culture. Walter of course dislikes this and thinks she should be with George more often. The relationships that Beneatha has with George and Joseph represent the two clashing cultures of white and African. Walter wants to forget his African heritage by casting off the chains of poverty and then finally being able to live "happily". Walter's view of class, ultimately leads him to be alienated.
By the end of the play the Youngers are leaving for their new house, even though they had faced instances alienation. Walter's american dream is achieved, but its not the one he started with.
The neighborhood that the Youngers buy their house in, immediately sets out to get rid of them. A representative from the neighborhood makes them an offer, that Walter intends to take. The proposal represents the disdain that the white community has for all blacks. They are willing to pay money, just so they do not live in their "perfect" neighborhood. Walter wanting to accept the proposal represents Walter's want to assimilate into the white community. His view of being successful, is acting white and being wealthy, like a white person.
Beneatha's boyfriend George, is a wealthy African-American, all that Walter aspires to be. George is well educated and wealthy, while Beneatha dislikes these aspects, Walter adores them. Every person has a different american dream, Walter's is to be like George, even though George scoffs at Walter's lack of education and wealth. George represents a fully assimilated African-American. Joseph, is a starch contrast of George. Joseph is Nigeria and embraces his African heritage. He teaches Beneatha about it and shows how much she has already assimilated into white culture. Walter of course dislikes this and thinks she should be with George more often. The relationships that Beneatha has with George and Joseph represent the two clashing cultures of white and African. Walter wants to forget his African heritage by casting off the chains of poverty and then finally being able to live "happily". Walter's view of class, ultimately leads him to be alienated.
By the end of the play the Youngers are leaving for their new house, even though they had faced instances alienation. Walter's american dream is achieved, but its not the one he started with.
This is great. It follows the prompt well and stays focused. Your analyses of the characters' relationships are very thorough and do a good job of making your point. It would be beneficial for you to use quotes from the book. You talk briefly about symbolism of the neighborhood and the offer, but mostly focused on character relationships, so it would be good the go more into analyses of elements other than the characters.
ReplyDeleteGreat job at following the prompt through the entire essay. Sometimes it seemed to be more of a summary of the play, especially at the end of the third paragraph but you got back on track by the end. There seem to be a lot of characters with overlapping story lines so when you are describing it all in the beginning of paragraph 3, it gets really confusing for the reader. Maybe next time, try to leave out any details that aren't relevant to the prompt and stick with more specific examples so we don't end up with a summary, just important details that will show us the purpose of your essay.
ReplyDeleteIt's apparent that you feel that the characters are the most important part of a work of literature. However, it might be beneficial to consider the other aspects of the story that influence the characters. It would certainly help the reader get more out of the piece. But you did a very good job of following the prompt.
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