Aimee Gonda
1°
8/4/14
A Raisin in the Sun
In reading and analyzing the play, A Raisin in the Sun, many elements were found that all worked together in constructing the play. Some of the parts found in this particular play include plot, characters, setting, and symbols. Each piece contributes differently to the context of the play. In the following paragraphs I will proceed to go into detail about each of the parts of this play and show how they all related to each other.
To start I will begin by talking about the plot and setting of A Raisin in the Sun. This story takes place in Chicago’s Southside sometime between World War 2 and present. This play portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family. The Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. Each of the adult members of the family has a different dream that they would like to pursue with the money. The Youngers eventually move out of their apartment fulfilling the family’s long-held dream. Their future seems uncertain but they are optimistic and determined to live a better life. They believe that if they stick together and resolve to defer their dreams no longer then they will succeed.
Throughout the play there are a total of ten characters. The characters include Ruth, Travis, Walter Lee, Beneatha, Lena, Asagai, George, Lindner, Bobo, and the moving men. I am going to talk about some of the main characters in the book. Ruth Younger is the wife of Walter Lee and her son is Travis. She finds out that she is pregnant at the beginning of the story and is afraid the baby will be a financial burden on the family. She and Walter Lee have a rough marriage and she has proven herself to be an emotionally strong woman throughout the story. She is very close to the Younger family and she is accepted in their family as well. Walter Lee, Ruth’s husband, is the protagonist, or the main character, in A Raisin in the Sun. Walter is a dreamer who wants to open a liquor store with his friends. He feels as if using the insurance money to open the store would help with the Youngers financial issues. In the play he struggles being a man and he often times drinks away his problems. However, in the end of the play Walter steps up and becomes the man that his mother always hoped he would be. Mama, or Lena, is the matriarch of the family. She is Walter and Beneatha’s mother. Lena is a religious, moral, and maternal woman. She wants to fulfill her dream of buying a house with a backyard for her family. And in the end, she accomplishes her dream for her family. Beneatha has the brains of the family, she cares more about education than anyone else in the family. She is twenty years old and dreams of becoming a doctor. The last
