Now that we've begun reading Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, I'd like to get your thoughts on some of the themes she explores. In particular, I'm interested in your thoughts about how she portrays the experience of racism, as well as gender discrimination, and its effect on individual dreams. So in a paragraph, answer two of the following under the comments section: a. What does Hansberry reveal about the impact of discrimination on its individual victims? How? b. How do the characters' responses to discrimination either show Transcendentalist values (i.e., Beneatha) or contradict those values (i.e., Walter)? c. Why do you think Hansberry used a plant to represent the family's dreams? Any connection to the Transcendentalist notion of nature here?
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Gabby Recalde
2/23/2014 03:17:13 am
(A/B)Lorraine Hansberry explores more than race and gender discrimination in A Raisin in the Sun. She also shows the hostility between those of the same race, but different social classes. This is demonstrated in Scene I of Act II when George comes to the apartment. When Beneatha tries to express her interest in her African heritage, George insults it by saying, "Let's face it,baby, your heritage is nothing but a bunch of raggedy-assed spirituals and some grass huts!"(Hansberry 81) Even though George shares this heritage, he now believes he is better because of his money and Western culture. This behavior goes against the Transcendentalist value that humans shoulds stay in touch with nature and their roots. Another example of prejudice between social classes in this play is Walter's behavior towards George. He holds his money and education against him. I found the way that Hansberry included this type of prejudice to be very clever. (C) The use of the plant in A Raisin in the Sun is symbolic of the family's dreams. Being in the environment that they are the plant doesn't get the sunlight that it needs to grow, just as the family does not have many opportunities to achieve their dreams. I see Mama as Thoreau, trying to protect the plant from dying, and Ruth as the rest of society, being negative and expecting the plant to die. I am very excited to see how this relationship between the plant and Youngers develops as the play progresses.
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Lauren O'Brien
2/23/2014 09:52:44 am
(Question A) The play "A Raisin In The Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry reveals the impacts discrimination and racism have on the individual. For example, Walter Younger goes completely ballistic with the segregation and class differences between African Americans and white people; he sees how well off myriad whites are, and deeply covets this lifestyle. All Walter wants is money because he has been ripped apart from the "better" part of society his whole life. As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side- and that is exactly how Walter views his life because of discrimination. This deep inequality for African Americans at the time also slowly tears Walter from his wife Ruth and son Travis, as the tensions in society gradually permeate into the Younger family. The overall lack of a voice in society leaves Walter angry with the world and himself, and these feelings slowly consume his life, as they do to a multitude of other African Americans during this time. (Question C) Hansberry uses a plant to represent the Younger family's dreams, because like plants, she is implying all dreams eventually die. Plants begin as seeds- they are planted, grow into something immaculately beautiful, and die. The cycle continues for all of eternity. Hansberry is implying dreams follow this cycle: an idea becomes a seed and is planted, this idea growing and captivating the mind, causing total infatuation with this hope. This hope becomes the driving force behind one's actions, but over time the force becomes less and less until it completely dies out. Humans are fickle and our desires often change every day. Thus, Hansberry compares dreams to plants because neither last forever. Dreams can be achieved, but people always progress to their next goal. Technically speaking, without plants, humans could not exist; perhaps Hansberry is also implying without dreams, a person could not exist. This also connects to the Transcendentalist philosophy and importance of nature, because Hansberry is giving dreams a high value through its comparison to plants. Nature, in Transcendentalist views, is everything- so, dreams are everything. Nature is never-ending and will always help a person to feel one with its surroundings, as dreams help to keep a person moving and inspired. Hence, Hansberry exemplifies her Transcendentalist approach to dreams in "A Raisin In The Sun".
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Ava Merz
2/24/2014 05:02:19 am
(B/C) Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun", shows both effects of discrimination, which include a transcendentalist side and one that contradicts its values. Beneatha represents a transcendentalist, while Walter (devil's advocate) represents one who contradicts her values and beliefs. Beneatha's dream is to become a doctor, which at the time was unheard of. She is an unique individual who believes in the importance of thought/belief in your own ability.And, nothing will stop her from achieving her goal. She is one who would say "Dare to know and imagine, that I may become a black doctor". Her brother, Walter, doesn't belief in Beneatha's dream and thinks its unrealistic. He doesn't understand why she would even try becoming something that she "can't". He is one who would say "Why? Why are you wasting you time? Become a nurse. Can't you just live with that. Stop that. Whatever you are doing... imagining? Stop already. Welcome to the real world." Another thing that contrasts Beneatha and Walter is that Beneatha wants to blend in with white culture, while Walter just wants the "rich white" life. Beneatha just wants the white's acceptance, and Walter wants the white's benefits.
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Jose Montealegre
2/24/2014 08:11:42 am
Throughout the play, Lorraine Hansberry demonstrates the act of discrimination placed of both Beneatha and Walter and it is really interesting how both react to it. Beneatha is a very optimistic character in the play who is always experimenting with new things and even though discrimination is a negative thing, Beneatha instead uses it as a “wake up” call. She realizes that she has lost her African culture and she takes great effort to regain her real identity, which explains her dancing of the Nigerian music (I loved that part by the way). On the other hand, Walter really takes it negatively. Walter is dreamer, as you noticed at the end of (Act II, Scene 2), and even though he is recognized as horrible man, I believe his intentions are equally as good. He wants the best for the family and is desperately waiting for his chance to accomplish that, but the problem is that he believes the only way to do is by becoming rich like the rest of the “rich white people”. As pronounced is the play, Walter Lee is an assimilationist, which is what Beneatha doesn’t want to become.
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Cat
2/24/2014 09:27:00 am
(A/C) In her play, A Rasin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry shows the many ways in which people cope with broken dreams through her characters. Walter Lee, for example, is introduced as an ambious young man with a dream of opening a liquor store and getting rich, but if someone reminds him of how unrealistic his dreams seem, he almost instantly loses this ambition and retreats back into himself and snaps at those in his way. Benie on the other hand, dreams big and when people call her crazy she just moves on with her dreams.
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Pat Monaghan
2/24/2014 10:11:48 am
(B) The characters in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun react to discrimination very differently. Beneatha wants to defy the stereotypes of black people and women in the 50’s. The only problem is she doesn’t know how. She wants to be a doctor that much is clear but the rest is up in the air. The Horseback riding lessons, photography, playing guitar and getting lessons with Asagai. She walked up to Asagai saying she would like his help to find “her identity”. If it’s her identity she shouldn’t need anybody’s help finding it. She thinks she can be an independent but she needs people more than she thinks. Which is why she always gets into fights with Walter and is balancing two suitors at the same time. Beneatha is like Walter in a way. They both want to get out but don’t know how so they cling to the first opportunity they get even if it is a bad one. That is why Walter is so enthusiastic about the liquor store, because he sees it as a way to get out of the ghetto. That’s his dream and he will get behind any idea to make that dream real. (C) I think Hansberry’s idea to use the plant to represent the family’s dreams is a great literary device. It shows that none of the family besides mama wants to fix it even though everyone else is striving towards their individual dreams and mama’s dreams are nonexistent. It shows that we only truly accept our dreams for dreams when we wake and realize they are out of our reach. Even when mama retires and is about to get the check she still wants to fix the plant. This shows the drive the family has to want to do well but their inability to do so due to their lack of knowledge.
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Samantha Quinn
2/24/2014 10:13:24 am
(A/C) Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun constantly demonstrates the struggles of discrimination on all the characters leading them to question the pursuit of their desires. Walter Younger dreams of using his mother’s insurance money to invest in a liquor store to most importantly create a better life for his family, but also because the white people are doing it as well. This is not the best investment as it is alcohol and, Lena, Mama does not want that. He has good intentions however a business deal with a liquor store seems like he wants to prove a point more than everything. That he could be an African American involved in a successful business. On the other hand, Beneatha hopes to become a doctor. Many people laugh, thinking she’s crazy when she tells them. She is very serious about chasing her dreams as she wants to help others, using the discrimination to fuel her desire. Walter’s sister would better the entire community, not just herself if she was given the chance. Although Walter and Beneatha were siblings, they react to discrimination in completely different ways. The plant living in the apartment represents the entire family's dreams. None of them can come true without each of them giving up their own hopes. This is weakening Mama, much like the plant, on the inside as she must decide what happens with her check. Whose dream will come true and whose dream will be crushed. To Walter it seems as though his dream is dead without getting so much as a chance and Beneatha is thriving knowing that she could become a female doctor. Regardless of the dreams, all of them want a better life, but the sacrifices they must make will surely make them wilt like the poor plant.
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Brian Chamberlain
2/24/2014 10:25:31 am
(Question C) The plant in Raisin in the Sun represents Mama's dreams for the family. She dreams that both her kids one day will reach their goals. She would like Walter to have the opportunity to become more than he is and Beneatha to become a doctor. What she wants for them is happiness. At this point in the play, both of these dreams look bleak, that is why the plant is dying. The plant is connected to Transcendentalism in that Transcendentalists hold a high regard for nature and following your own path in life. Walter and Beneatha are trying to follow a path that only they see. The health of the plant represents the progress of their dreams along that path.
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Anya Carney
2/24/2014 10:39:59 am
A/C).
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Amy Thomas
2/24/2014 01:15:07 pm
(A) Lorraine Hansberry reveals the harsh impact of discrimination. This is expressed between all the characters, but I feel it's usually towards Beneatha. The quote that hit me the most was when George comes into the apartment in Act II Scene II and says "I don't go out with you to discuss the nature of "quiet desperation" or to hear all about your thoughts,"(Hansberry96,97). He has a habit of thinking he's so intelligent compared to people, and puts others down because of that mindset, even his own girlfriend. Beneatha has also been beaten down to an extent with her desire to become a doctor. It's a more promising dream to come true more than Walter's though. His desire in wanting to invest in a liquor shop is more of an uneasy decision, seeing that Willy is sort of shady. Walter was also beaten down for his dream in his investment by both his mother, Mama, and his wife, Ruth. The individual discrimination level in this novel is pretty intense in certain parts, such as on both Walter's and Beneatha's dreams.
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Haley Watson
2/25/2014 04:56:56 am
(B&C) Out of the four main characters in A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha displays the most transcendentalist values. She is incistent on exploring and defending her African heritage. For example, after George's insults Beneatha's interest, she argues, " See there... you are standing there in your splendid ignorance talking about people who were the first to smelt iron on the face of the earth!" Beneatha's statement is similar to something Thoreau would say. People (in this time period the wealthily white and black) were so caught up in money and the world that they didn't want to learn about how civilization even started. Beneatha's use of earth symbolizes one of transcendentalism's key points; meaning is found in nature. Transcendentalists believed nature was necessary to discover one's true self. Mama's plant relates to this concept. The plant not only represents transcendentalism's environment (nature), but the different paths of the main characters. In the film version of the play, the plant has 4 leaves drooping over the pot. Each leaf represents each character. Mama wishes for her family to be happy and together. Beneatha wants to l set herself apart from others (wanting to become a doctor and African heritage fascination). Walter desires a rich lifestyle, while Ruth longs for her husband to be content, but she also must be content too with another baby and its questionable future on the way. Transcendentalism encourages individuals to follow their own paths, but to remember that they are all connected. Each leaf is connected to the stem, like how the Youngers are as a family.
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Liv Winnicki
2/25/2014 06:04:52 am
The theme of discrimination is large in this play. The characters react different but they all resist. Especially when they are told not to move into the house at Clyblourne park. They refuse to not move in because they are black. And this shows the rise of civil rights happening in the period that Hansberry wrote it. Beneatha shows themes of feminism in her aspirations to be a doctor. Beneatha goes against the world with her discrimination but she does not at all seemed fazed. She is determined and will not let stereotypes at this time ruin her. The plant is used in the novel to describe keeping the family together. The plant is dying, but mama keeps trying to keep it going as she is with the feuding family. Also at the end of the Act they buy her gardening utensils symbolically describing that they are doing their best to help her now. They also want to help keep the family together. Transcendentalism in the plant is that the whole family is all one plant (one energy) and together they make up one whole. They thrive helping each other.
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Jack Anderson
2/25/2014 07:41:20 am
(A/C) In the novel A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, just about every character seen so far has been subject to the injustice of discrimination. Each individual reacts in his or her own personal way, but everybody suffers similarly. Some snap, some are silenced, and some resist, but each and every victim of discrimination has felt despair. Even if they do eventually find the courage from within to fight back, first they must feel the despair. “Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even. “- Muhammad Ali. However, it is not only the case that the soul returns from rock bottom with that extra ounce. In fact, in Walter’s case it’s practically the opposite.
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Will Cronin
2/25/2014 07:42:45 am
A) Lorraine Hansberry displays the theme of discrimination throughout the play, A Raisin in the Sun. Everyone in the family reacts differently, but all of them defy it. Beneatha is upfront and speaks her mind about it while Mama is a bit more conserved. However, discrimination still happens. An example of this would be the situation with Clyblourne park. They were told not to move into the all-white neighborhood because they were a black family. Though they were suggested otherwise, they still wanted to move in.
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Ann Palma
2/25/2014 07:54:18 am
(A/B) Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun illustrates how victims of discrimination try to change themselves and their identity in order to fit in with the self- proclaimed superior party. Walter Younger and Beneatha are the prime examples of this concept. To African Americans, all white people are rich, snotty, and of course, better than them. Walter's whole goal of life is to become one of them instead of having to live in impoverished conditions and work as a worthless chauffer who opens car doors all day long and is only allowed to say the words "Yes, sir." He becomes obsessed to the Gatsby level with becoming rich and is set on investing his father's insurance check into a liquor store even though the risk of it could leave him and his family in worse conditions then they currently are in. Walter can't take living as a minority any longer and is too preoccupied with his dreams to realize how much he's hurting his family. To Walter, becoming a well respected, wealthy man like all of the "crackers" is the holy grail of life and he is Indiana Jones, stopping at nothing for success. As for Beneatha, while she constantly tries to prove that she is more than the color of her skin, she is caught in between the white world and her African American identity. Beneatha shatters the African American woman stereotype through her self-reliance and determination to become a doctor, however she disguises her heritage by acting white, which Asagai criticizes her for. He pretty much calls her out completely regarding her hair and stating that, "But what does it matter? Assimilation is so popular in your country," (63). Beneatha begs to differ, since she considers herself as the definition of success for African Americans and has in no way changed herself to become white. His fighting words utterly catch her off guard, but she realizes that he must have a point. This realization causes her to suddenly try to embrace more of her heritage by dressing up in traditional Nigerian clothing and dancing to African music. Beneatha did more like the opposite of what he brother is trying to do. Instead of trying to become white like she had been doing before, Beneatha begins to embrace her identity, whereas Walter can't seem to see beyond the white horizon. Their attitudes towards personal success despite origin parallel the Transcendentalist idea of infinite human potential.
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Brandon Alvaro
2/25/2014 09:53:18 am
(A/C)During the time period in which "Raisin in the Sun" takes place, discrimination and racism was the biggest conflict within America. Lorraine Hansberry does an inceridible job to bold the emotional tolls that it has had on the Youngers. Walter is a perfect example of what the impact has had on the African American society. He thinks his job is in comparison with being a slave and his jelousy is what drives him to be successful business man. Also, not onlybis racism having an effect in this book, but women are discriminated against because of the lack of options they have to help a family. Walter holds this against Ruth throughout the story. Hansberry also factors in some symbolism with Mama's little plant. It is only a small specimen, and is meant to represent the family. It's starts out as weak and has barely any water to keep it alive, but eventually mama gets herself a garden to keep it in and let it grow, just like she hopes the new house would do for her family. This plant isnalsonthe only thingnshenhas of her dream of owning a beautiful house with a big garden. She wants it to eventually grow and prosper.
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Zack Sabat
2/25/2014 11:07:18 am
(B) How a character reacts to discrimination shows a lot of about their trancendentalist values whether they know it or not. Beneatha reacts to discrimination by embracing who she is and by learning about her heritage from Asagai. She also wears the skirt that Asagai gave her and listens to the music. Walter on the other hand takes the polar opposite view; whenever he is discriminated against he dreams of changing himself and becoming wealthy. Beneatha is becoming her own person (which is a very transcendentalist thing to do) while Walter idealizes money and gets stuck in the status quo.
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Bridget Kelly
2/25/2014 11:42:30 am
(Question A) In the first two acts of "A Raisin in the Sun," we are introduced to the main characters, a family of african-americans living in a community with a great deal of racial discrimination towards them. However, each of these characters become affected by this oppression in a different way. For example, Walter gives into this luring charm that the rich have dangled right in front of him, and has become a money-hungry machine, who even goes as far as to say that life is all about money. On the opposite end of the spectrum, his mother, Mama, does her best to hold her own through the uneasy situations. She stays true to her morals and beliefs of family and faith, and does her best to tune out society, or at least the awful parts of it. Beneatha uses the peoples' hate on her race to empower who she is, under the influence of Asagai. She has become obsessed with discovering her native african heritage, something the white people are telling her to be ashamed of. Therefore, the author is trying to portray the message that victims of discrimination are forced to have this become a part of their lives, whether they mean to or not.
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Katie Peter
2/25/2014 12:17:06 pm
B.) Hansberry displays the reactions of discrimination relating to transcendentalism through characters like Bennie. She is free spirited, and she does not let the color of her skin or her gender get in the way of her dreams. But unlike Beneatha, Walter looks at discrimination and is bitter toward anyone of the white race. He thinks of it as every white person is wrong and evil because they suppress the blacks to do their work for them and get paid very little. Although Walter has big hopes and dreams like a transcendentalist would say, he has a very irresponsible and bitter way of going about achieving those goals, making him contradictory to transcendentalism. C.) I think that Hansberry used a plant to represent the Younger family because that plant has the potential to grow, but it is not receiving the proper care it needs to reach its peak potential. This relates to the family because they are all good people with hopes and dreams, there is just a lack of communication and understanding that are preventing the family from reaching its peak potential.
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Eric Banal
2/25/2014 12:49:33 pm
A/C) Hansberry reveals that discrimination affected its victims in different ways. Some people were subdued to discrimination and excepted the fact that they aren't equal to other races, while others may have attempted to get rid of racism and stand up against it. Hansberry used a plant as a symbol to represent the family's dreams because a plant grows, just like the family's dreams grow when receiving the check, but plants also slowly die when the environment around it may be harmful. Walter's environment was harmful because his family isn't supportive of the liquor store, so therefore, his dreams of that are slowly dying. Using a plant as a symbol is very transcendentalist because, to transcendentalists, humans don't need society or all the advances of it so nature is the best place to be, with plants and all the other natural resources.
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Hannah Christensen
2/27/2014 08:55:39 am
C. I think that Hansberry uses a plant as a symbol to represent the family's dreams because its very simple, yet once you look closer its complex. From a distance, its just a stem and some leaves, but as you look closer you can see that it's rooted in soil and that each leaf has veins running through it. Also, each leaf branches out in its own direction, yet they each work for a common goal - to keep the plant alive and well. Each member of the Younger family works in a different way with a different passion but still work to hold the whole family together. From a distance, the family seems average, but when you look into each specific person, you notice the individuality behind them. The idea that it is a plant also relates to the oversoul in transcendentalism and that everything relates back to nature.
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Olivia Nooney
2/27/2014 10:45:27 am
a. What does Hansberry reveal about the impact of discrimination on its individual victims? How?
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