Preview

Corruption Showed in a Raisin in the Sun

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
571 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Corruption Showed in a Raisin in the Sun
Corruption Interpreted in A Raisin in the Sun The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry was written to portray the lives of African Americans during the great depression era of the United States. This story is about a family's struggle with money, prejudice, life and how obstacles can get in the way of accomplishing a dream. The story A Raisin in the Sun money has the ability to corrupt people as shown when Walter invests money into a liquor store, when he walks away from his wife when she tells him that she is pregnant, and when he considers selling his mothers” house to Mr. Lindner. Walter Younger is very dissatisfied with his life. He decides to invest in a liquor store with his good friend Bobo an this man Willy who he dosent know. Willy takes there money and runs leaving Walter with an empty pocket and an empty dream. Which changes the man that Walter is. Mama exclaimed,”No . . . something has changed. You something new, boy. In my time we was worried about not being lynched . . . You ain’t satisfied or proud of nothing we done. I mean that you had a home; that we kept you out of trouble till you was grown; that you don’t have to ride to work on the back of nobody’s streetcar—You my children—but how different we done become.” Mama is telling Walter that he dosent need to worry about the money that life was about family and togetherness and he needs to stop relying on the money for the happiness in life. Ruth become pregnant and she's pondering on whether she should have an abortion or not. When Walter return home she planned to tell him so he can help her make a decision. When he returns home Mama says,”You...you are a disgrace to your father's memory.” Mama is disappointed in her son for not stepping up and taking action in stopping Ruth from having an abortion.. She wants him to be a good man like his father was, but he's changing into a bitter man due to the check that his mother has received. When the Younger's arrive at their new

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The play a Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry. This story is about an African American family living in Southside Chicago. In the story, the family goes through many hardships especially when it comes to money. The Younger family lives in an overcrowded apartment which has very little room for all of them. There is a $10,000 check coming from the insurance company for Walter Lee’s dad’s death. He is the man of the house now and is determined to provide a better life for him and his family. Which he figures out at the end that money is not everything.…

    • 519 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Clybourne Park Summary

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The play takes place in a middle class white neighborhood in Chicago called Clybourne Park. The First Act takes place in 1959, the Second, in 2009. My favorite character in Clybourne Park is Kathy. I find it interesting that Kathy is connected to the family from A Raisin in the Sun. This fact brings the two stories together to mention the character of Mr. Lindner who was in A Raisin in the Sun briefly. My favorite part of the play was the very end when Kenneth is seen in the moments before his death. Before this part, I was a little confused about Russ’ grief and sadness throughout Act 1 and about the letter reading at the end of the first act. This flashback perfectly tied together the entire…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article , “The art of social Criticism : Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the sun ,” the author states that this play was written for those African American families and their struggles to be able to get out of the ghetto on Chicago’s South Side. Lorraine took every chance to engage herself in her everyday life and her literary work being a writer and a student. African Americans were placed in the lower class while some other families were middle class but still placed in the lower class like Lorraine and her family. Even though Lorraine was placed in the lower class that did not affect her , her privilege still did not insulate her from the struggles and anger she was facing. Basically the the reality of the play is the realization…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1961 film used the correct amount of cinematic techniques, such as limited close-ups and non-diegetic sounds to portray tensions present in the Younger family. The 2008 film failed to use an adequate amount of techniques and does not depict the tension as well as its older predecessor. Early in the scene, Walter follows Ruth around while she makes breakfast, trying to persuade her to tell Mama about his dreams. While standing over her, he goes far enough to try to make her participation beneficial to everything she’s tired with, saying “You’re tired, ain’t you? Tired of everything.…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Both mothers and sons have a relationship full of arguments, but it is only because the mothers care about how they turn out. It is obvious that both sons do feel tied down because they have to work so much to support a family and cannot live out their own dreams. In the end, Tom fails his family, gives up on them, and thinks of himself and leaves; like father, like son. Walter actually steps up to the plate at the end of the story and stands up to defend his family. Mama believes that it is his first step in becoming a true…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mama had the hardest time trying to influence Ruth to talk to her husband, Walter. Ruth has been having a hard time with communication in her marriage. " Walter: That is just what is wrong with the colored women in the world…Don't understand about building their men up and making ‘em feel like their somebody. Like they can do something" (34) "Ruth: There are colored men who do things" (34). Ruth and…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Secondly, Lorraine Hansberry tries to give people the inspiration to be proud of who they are. In the book, Walter Younger constantly states how unfair the Blacks are from the Whites. Also, in “Scene Three”, the Youngers put an offer on a new home, but a man, named Karl Lindner, tries to prevent that. Karl is from the town they plan to move to, and is a part of management. He goes on to tell the family that because they are Black, the Whites in the town will not be happy and cause a riot. Walter Younger proceeds to tell him, “This is my son, and he makes the sixth generation our family in this country. And we have all thought about your offer… And we have decided to move into our house because my father—my father—he earned it for us brick by brick.” This was Walter sticking up for his race and his family. Another situation the Youngers have pride in is money. When Lindner offers the family money to not move into town, Mama does not want to take it, unlike Walter. Mama tells Walter, “Son—I come from five generations of people who was slaves and sharecroppers—but ain’t nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth. We ain’t never been that poor…We ain’t never been that—dead inside.” Mama shares her pride for keeping her and her family stable, and there being a boundary to asking others. Although Beneatha and Walter are adults, Mama continues to try to teach them life…

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Critical Lens Essay

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The plot of “A Raisin in the Sun” often goes in unexpected directions through the decisions of Walter is a middle aged man looking to achieve the rich social status and live the wealthy life that white people do along with his son, Travis, his wife, Ruth, his sister, Beneatha, and his mother, Lena; this is all whilst living in a very racial discriminated society. He is a chauffeur for a wealthy white man, and hopes to improve his family's financial status by investing money into a liquor store. After moving into a house purchased by the mother's insurance check, Walter wrongfully invests the rest of the money into his liquor store business. However the person he gave the money to had ran off. In the story, the check was a symbol of hope for the achievement of every family member's dream. At that point in the story, there was no longer any hope for success.…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The reality of being unable to achieve his dreams burdens Walter and eventually changes him into a greedy, selfish and cowardly young man who makes poor decisions and hurts those who love him. Walter’s obsession with money has caused his family a lot of trouble, especially when it comes to the discussion of the $10,000 insurance money they receive. He belittles Beneatha’s dreams of becoming a doctor and says, “Ain’t many girls who decide to be a doctor”(36). Walter even claims that spending money on Beneatha’s education is a waste, and that he and Ruth would have been richer and happier if Beneatha dropped school. Not only does he put down Beneatha’s dreams, he also selfishly wants all of the insurance money so that he can open a liquor store to make his own dream of being rich and successful come true. Ruth thought Walter was a dreamer and tells him to “eat your eggs” (34) every time he brings up his dreams. When he realizes that he none of his family supports his desire to opening a liquor store, he becomes a bitter and cowardly man. When Ruth tells him that she is pregnant and considering an abortion, he…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When I read the play A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry I pictured the characters to look and act differently than they did in the movie. It threw me off when I realized that Sean Combs or P. Diddy played the part of Walter Lee Younger. The fact that I’ve seen him in much more of a comedic role such as the one he played in the movie Get Him To The Greek made me question whether he was the right actor to play a serious role in this film. When I watched more of the movie I noticed that he played the part perfectly and even though it was weird watching him play a serious role he did a very good job doing it. When I was reading the play I pictured their house to look the exact same way it looked in the movie, the little bathroom shared by more than one family and the outside area where Mama’s flower was. The dialog in the play and movie were similar in the way they spoke. After watching the movie and thinking about they play it hasn’t affected the way I look at the play, it now gives me something to base the characters off of when I read more of the play.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Submissive vs. Dominance

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The story is of a lower-class black family waiting for a $10,000 insurance check for their Mama.. Her son, Walter Lee, is desperate to be a better provider for his family that he wants to invest the entire check in a liquor store with two of his friends, BoBo and Willie. Mama, on the other hand, decides to use part of the money as a down payment on a house in a white neighborhood, Mama entrusts Walter Lee with the rest of the money. He invests the money secretly in his liquor store. One of Walter Lee's prospective business partners, however, runs off with the money. TheYoungers decide to continue with their plans to move in spite of their financial problems.…

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The complication of the play begins when the audience finds out that Ruth is pregnant. More conflicts arise when Mama receives the check, puts a down payment on a house, and gives the remaining amount to Walter to put into Beneatha’s schooling and for him. But selfishly, Walter puts the remainder of the check towards his liquor store investment, which come to find out in the climax, was a huge scam. Along with Walter’s regretful mistake, a man with The Clybourne Park Improvement Association has proposed an offer to the family by writing them a check to not move into their new home in Clybourne…

    • 1237 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Do you value your pride more than money? In the play, A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, An African American family is struggling in a inadequate worn down apartment trying to make a living. Mama, the eldest of the family, is going to receive a check for 10,000 and the family is ecstatic for its arrival. Walter Lee Younger is the most dynamic character in the book. Walter’s character develops from materialistic and greedy, to the man that his family wants him to be, a leader of the household who values them more than anything. Lorraine Hansberry demonstrates Walter’s growth through the use of characterization.…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The problems in Walter’s life exceed the ways he can deal with them. Walter absolutely hates his job. He thinks that being a driver for a white man is a horrible job. He complains about working and going to work all the time. As well as yell at others who had a better life than him. Like when he yelled at George for being a college boy that is taught to, “…talk proper and read books and wear them faggoty-looking white shoes…” (85). He does not like that George goes to college and comes out better than he is because of education. He also has troubles with his wife. They fight a lot mostly over his dreams. He believes that Ruth does not believe in any of his dreams. Every time he wants to do something like his dream of opening a dry cleaner she would not let him. His new dream of opening a liquor store was turned down by Ruth right away. Ruth saying no made him mad and he complained, “That's it. There you are. Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs” (33). He wants to show Ruth that he is upset that she does not believe in him and his dreams. There is also another problem with how they live. He is upset that his son cannot have a room of his own and has to sleep on the couch. Walter gets mad when Ruth tells Travis that he cannot have 50 cents for school. Walter’s financial life makes him very upset, he has to work, he has to give up on his dreams because he cannot afford to invest in them, as well as his son sleeping on a couch and not a bed. Walter hates his…

    • 1429 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Evils of Corruption

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many studies have been conducted that show the evils or consequences of corruption. And corruption has taught the Nigeria a dangerous and wrong lesson that it does not pay to be honest, hardworking and law-abiding. Through corrupt means many political office holders acquire wealth and properties in and outside Nigeria; and many display their wealth (which is beyond the means), but the society does not blink. This has made politics a big business in Nigeria, because anything spent to secure a political office is regarded as an investment, which matures immediately one gets into office (The Guardian, July 14, 2002).…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays