A Bright Future or No Future At All?

I was surprised to discover that the ending of the play, A Raisin in the Sun, left the audience in suspense. Even after Walter Lee's big mistake of giving his money to Willy Harris for the liquor store, the family decides to move. The Younger family decides that they will not live in their small portion of a house no more. Ruth's pregnancy surprise sparked Mama's interest into buying a bigger home. Ruth's son, Travis sleeps on the couch because there is no bed for him, so where will the new baby sleep? Mama's decision to pick a house in an all white neighborhood during these racial times, was a risky thing to do. Ruth and Walter were taken by surprise by the news. 

After almost not moving because of the huge money offer for the house in the white neighborhood, the family decided to move. Since racism was high in the 1950s, the audience is left with their imaginations. One does not know if they will survive in the white neighborhood, but they are taking that risk. What would happen to young Travis? Will he be tortured and tormented in the new neighborhood? How long will the Youngers live if they stay there? I believe it is how one perceives it. 
 
A new beginning or death?

There is no clear ending, but would the play be ruined if it were to continue?

What's Next?

                A Raisin in the Sun has an optimistic ending. All seems to go well, and despite their struggles, the Youngers are finally getting a new start to life. Even though Walter has squandered Mama’s insurance money on a ploy to open a liquor store, the family will still be able to make the rent for a more expensive home. This should be manageable with four working adults in the house. This life is not ideal but the Youngers will do anything to get out of that old apartment.

Unfortunately, the problems that will face the family are not internal. It is clearly seen at the end of the play that a healthy family balance has been restored, but will the family be able to sustain the inevitable attacks by their white neighbors. The audience learns about the bombing of black families who dared to move into white neighborhoods in the first act. We hope that the Youngers will not have that fate, yet the danger of a bomb is always looming in the distance.

I am very curious to know what happens to the family once they move in. Do they successfully integrate into the white community? Are they tormented ruthlessly by their neighbors? Are they able to pay the rent and continue living in the house?

Drinking Problem?

It seems that Walter Lee has a drinking problem, but is this what causes him to risk all of the family's money on a shaky deal for a liquor store?  Walter drinks much more when he is not given the  money that he wants, and he comes home night after night drunk and without a care in the world if his family sees him loosing his mind.  Is the drinking causing him to go insane about the money? Does Walter also have a gambling problem since this is not the first time he has tried to spend lots of money to go into a business?  I think that Walter does have a problem with drinking and with handling money correctly, but this does not change the fact that he chose to use all of the insurance money on a liquor store instead of the house that can be a new start for him.  Walter was very wrong in his actions, and he needs to learn how to handle this much stress that he is under at this moment.  Also, his family notices his problems when he reacts towards finding out he lost the money, but why don't they realize that he might have an actual problem?  Are they too caught up in the moment of moving and disciplining him about this to try an help him later on?  If Walter has a drinking problem and a problem with money, then does this mean that this would happen again sometime in the future?

Show me the money

     A raisin in the sun the family receives news of the life insurance check holding $10,000. As for what this means Walter lee, son of Mama, wants to complete his dream and in the process must use money to invest. Walter lee finds a business deal with a man named Harrison.  The family of this story lives in a run down apartment that has little sunshine.  As for the ideal of the family all them want a new house.  The predominate population of the neighbor hood is white civilians that in this time were racist.  Walter lee deciding to fulfill his dream invest $6,500 in a small liquor business with Harrison and Bobo. Harrison ends up taking the money and leaving meaning the family has no money left.  This incident with Walter lee has destroyed the families hopes.  Only to assume that the family will always hate Walter lee for this mistake, how will the family resolve this issue?  The money offer by the neighborhood to pay away the black residents has been increased, but the accepting of this cash offer will leave the family in the apartment with a new born on the way. The personal choices made by Walter lee have affected the whole family from Benetha's medical school payments to the birth of Walter lee's second child with Ruth.          


In the playwright

Mama's Plant

One of the most apparent symbols seen throughout the play is Mama’s plant. Her care and dreams for her family are represented by the nutrient-deprived plant. The plant is initially seen when Mama makes her first appearance onstage. As proof, “She crosses through the room, goes to the window, opens it, and brings in a feeble little plant growing doggedly in a small pot on the windowsill. She feels the dirt and puts it back out” (Hansberry 39). Because the plant is immediately introduced, it is clearly a significant part of Mama’s life. She repeatedly confesses that the plant never gets enough light or water; however, she still takes pride in it and makes sure that it remains alive. In a similar way, Mama takes care of her whole family with unconditional love, despite the lacking environment for growth. Mama has a longtime dream of owning a house and having a garden in the backyard. Once she moves the plant to her new house, it no longer represents a dream that she hopes to one day fulfill, but it now represents what a lot of hard work and dedication can accomplish. Mama does what is best for her family for the duration of the play, and in the end she can finally be content knowing that her family has finally grown. 

What happens now?

So what now? The play has ended and the characters have moved on, but is the story really over? At the end of A Raisin in The Sun Walter finally proves himself to be a man, and despite the lack of money, he decides to move his family into their new house. The play ended on a happy note leaving the Youngers full of hope and optimism that can be felt by the audience, but honestly how practical was their decision? After six generations the Youngers were finally given the chance to move into their own place and have a house that belongs to only them. This was a momentous occasion that can easily be marred by their current financial issues along with the neighbors in their new community. The way the play ends gives the audience a sense that the Youngers will be fine and live happily in their house, but what if this is not the case? Even with four working adults to compensate for their impoverishment, the Youngers still have to deal with the fact that they are a black family living among a community of whites who do not wish for them to be there. The ending of A Raisin in The Sun is heartwarming and uplifting, but is it all a facade hiding the harsh reality of life? 

Does anyone else feel that what happens to the Youngers after the play might not live up to the suggested happy ending?

Father and son

Cormac McCarthy wrote The Road for his son on his leafy patio at the Menger hotel, little did McCarthy know this story would be his finest work (The wall street journey).  As the story progresses the reader can develop an attachment to the characters from the connection the two hold, while the boy would mess up the man would stay calm.  The man and boy as read sharing soda pop and eating apples, although it is an insignificant fact it shows that the two are happy together.  This relationship between the two character relates to how McCarthy feels towards his son. The death of the man in the road was to be expected by the reader as for he has been coughing up blood all though the journey.  The man dies in the end of the story leaving the boy to encounter another man that is willing to help, why would the author of this story end keep the mans life in such bad health id if the character represents him?  The author of the story explains that he wrote this book for his son to show his love (Oprah Winfrey show). Why does McCarthy die in the end to leave his son with the vast amounts a cannibals out in the world?  This death in the story is necessary for one reason and that is to show that McCarthy will die for his son in the end for the sons life. This is a representation of the memories that the two have of each other that the boy will remember for the rest of his life in this world.    

The End of A Raisin In the Sun

        Walter Lee basically took away his family's dream to allow his to come true. He went and gave away the money from his father to a man who was supposedly going to give the money to someone to buy a liquor store and license for himself. When the truth about what Walter had done it was a surprise to me because I felt as if Walter was becoming happy with the decision his mother had made about getting a new house; i figured he had moved on and wanted to see how his life would end up being in an upgraded home and community. Walter doing what he did with the money was very selfish and definitely not right.

        The end of the play A Raisin in the Sun stood out for me due to it not really being expected. I expected the play to go on and be about how they lived in the house in the white neighborhood, but it ending with the foreshadow that they will move on stands out to me. It would have been interesting if the play had gone to the point where they moved in order to see how they are actually treated by their neighbors and to show off the disrespect the black community was getting at the time.

The Gap?

The gap described in The Road give the reader an idea about what type of disaster brought the world to an end.  When the two main characters, the man and boy, come across obstacles  they describe either as grey or on fire. The gap is described a a landmark that the to characters are aware of on the way down to the south. On page 52 the man is quoted saying "we will approach the gap soon...".  The way the gap is described is as a fire pit in the ground. This gives the reader an incite on what kind of disaster destroyed the world. The assumption is that a virus wiped out the population as for when they encountered the "grey dead man" quoted by the man in start of their migration.  But the gap gives the reader an idea of a natural disaster or warfare of grand proportions.  The land around the area of the gap is scorched as read on page 51.  The world seems to be scorched and in a state a post anarchy. Although the author of the book wrote this as a story for his son and himself (Oprah Winfrey show), the description of post anarchy and fire must have a hidden theme.  Evidence provided by the gap alludes to mass destruction, while the gap is a vague part of this story it can help understand what type a event affected the world.
 

Phenomenal Woman

A song that comes up during the play and its film adaptation is "Noways Tired" by James Cleveland, a gospel singer who was popular during the 1950's. When I first read over the reference to the song, I instantly made a connection with gospel and how important it is. I've listened to gospel for a while, and though I am not Christian, there is more to the genre than religion. It is about motivation and keeping hope in times of negativity.
I see why this song is so relevant to A Raisin in the Sun. Even in the first lines of the song, the inspirational message is observable. "I don't feel no ways tired, because I've come too far from where I started from," Cleveland sings. This relates to Mama's story. She was a poor girl living in the South when she and so many other black people moved to the North, which was foreign to them. Facing harsh discrimination in the South, she left her home to pursue a better life. Mama had little money and family in Chicago, but she decided to move anyway. Mama says to Walter, "In my time we was worried about not being lynched and getting to the North if we could and how to stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity too...Now here come you and Beneatha – talking ‘bout things we ain’t never even thought about hardly, me and your daddy" (Hansberry 102). Mama does not lose hope for a better life; she wants to keep progressing and growing. Even when old and retired, Mama wants to make a better life for her family. Though she faced such oppression, she is not discouraged. She is the most admirable character in the play, in my opinion.

You Let the Whole Team Down

I was shocked when it was revealed during the movie that Walter Lee had used the down-payment money towards investing in the liquor store. I was aware that Walter desperately wanted to set off on his own path and find a better future for himself and his family through the liquor store, but I had not realized how selfish his intentions were until now. If Walter truly wanted a better life for his family and his self, he would have realized that risking almost all the money on the store could cause more harm than its worth. This goes on to prove that Walter Lee did not have his family's best interests at heart, but instead was determined to prove to himself that he could be more than a chauffeur and have a real job. Although we have not finished the movie and seen the reactions of the rest of the Younger family, I think it is safe to assume that there will be quite a bit of backlash. Walter's mistake could potentially cause the family to lose the house in Clybourne Park. This in turn will most likely result in the family staying in their apartment for much longer, and maybe Ruth terminating her pregnancy. I am interested in seeing how the rest of the play will carry out after this sudden turn of events.  

Walters Mistake

I believe that Walter made a big mistake by giving the money to the guy who was going to open the liquor store with him.  I understand that Walter thought this would be the best thing for his family, but I believe it was too big of a risk.  If he wanted this to be done the right way he should have been more involved in the process instead of handing his money off to someone who could not be trusted.  I also blame Mama for the situation they are currently in.  She knew that Walter has been passionate about opening this liquor store, but she still trusted him to bring the money to the bank for the down payment on the house.  If Mama had brought the money to the bank herself, they would not be in this situation.  Now, they don't have the house to move into, or the liquor store to be opened.  If they are unable to get the money back, they suffered a huge loss and Walter is to blame for throwing the money away.    

The consequence

I was shocked to find out that Walter gave the money for the down payment away. Now since most of the family knows that the money is gone and Walter was scammed I am so curious to find out what is going to happen next. I wonder if Walters family is going to be able to move into the new house in the end. I think that Mama should not let Walter move into the new house after pulling this sort of scam. Even though Walter was trying to better his family with the investment in his liquor store, his impulsive behavior got to the best of him. Walter needs to straighten out and take responsibility for his actions. I hope that all of Walters frustration does not build up and cost his family more complications then they already have. Hopefully Walter will learn from this mistake and start trusting Mama and Ruth more. This scam could start a new beginning for him. If they do still move into the new house then maybe Walter will be more cautious with money and fully think out all of his possibilities before making a decision. Moving to this new house could spark a new side in Walter. I think this is just what his family needs to get back on track. I hope everything works out for their family in the end and they still move into the new house.

What in the world has Walter Lee done?

As we have left off in the movie, it seems that he may have completely fouled up the whole plan to move into their new house. While he was meant to put the down payment on the house, he instead entrusts the money with his friend Willy Harris to invents in a liquor store. This may have been Walter's biggest mistake since Willy Harris flees with the Younger's money. This slip up may be irreversible. While the Younger's can hope and contact the police, their money is as well as gone. The backlash Walter Lee is about to receive from not only his Mama but Ruth, Beneatha , and possibly Travis. While not only him and his family may never move into the house, he must be devastated that he lost the money that repays for his father's death. This can only worsen the state of frustration and confusion that he is already in. With the struggle of trying to support and better off his family, he is stressed to the max. Now that his family sees him as a failure and a disgrace. He may become unstable and overcome with the amount of stress. Walter Lee may make even more rash decisions now, since he may not thing straight or realize what lines should not be crossed to help his family.

Walter could possibly woresn his family even more.

Mother Knows Best

At the end of Act I Scene I, Mama states how she does not seem to understand and connect with her children anymore. They frighten her. Ruth insists this is not the case. She states, "You just got strong-willed children and it takes a strong woman like you to keep them in line" (Hansberry 52).

It does seem to be the case that Mama and her children do not recognize each other's motives for their actions, especially with how to run the household. Earlier in the text, Mama slaps Beneatha for disrespecting the authority of God in her house. She makes Beneatha recite the line "In my mother's house, there is still God" (Hansberry 51). I do not believe this action was justified. Yes, Beneatha  was speaking out of turn and insulting her family's beliefs, but she did explain why she believed as she did. How else can Mama understand her children if not listen to what they have to say? Mama's actions are out of fear for Beneatha's well being. She does not see Beneatha as an adult who can make her own decisions have hold her own beliefs.

What are anyone else's thoughts? Do you think Mama was correct in disciplining Beneatha? Or should she have rather listened to her and discussed her beliefs?

"Mo Money Mo Problems"

While reading through the play A Raisin in the Sun, I could not decide whether or not Mama made the right decision. Although she was trying to get her family out of the overcrowded, tiny building they live in was it worth it to spend the entire check on a new house. Walter wanted to take all of his father's insurance money and invest in a liquor store with his friends. While this may have brought great fortune to the Younger family, it was risky and Mama refused to invest in an alcohol business. A compromise that may have went over better with Mama would have been investing into a more family based business, such as a restaurant or perhaps a deli of some sorts.

Beneatha on the other hand, most likely needed money to pay for her schooling in order to become a doctor. Although earlier on in the play Mama said that some of the money would be set aside for Beneatha's schooling, she spent it on this house in Clybourne Park.

Mama's intentions were good but, was this the correct time to relocate to a new house? It is made apparent in this play that as soon as the insurance money was known about, members of the family started to behave differently. Should the money have been used to invest in Walter's business or to push Beneatha through school? What may have been a better compromise besides quickly buying a new house?

The Key to a New Life

While reading A Raisin in the Sun, I thought it was quite honorable of Mama to go ahead and make a down payment on a new house for the family. Although they may not realize it now, this is a great gift which benefits the whole family equally. Most of the Younger family does not want to experience change and would much rather use Mama’s insurance money for their personal motives. With that said, Walter was the most upset once he heard the news that Mama bought a new house. He made it clear that he was hoping to use the money to invest in a liquor store. After intentionally putting Mama on a guilt trip, she did feel poorly about it. Buying a house would be a smart move for the Younger family and unlike everyone else in the family, Mama isn’t selfish, but she makes her decisions for the well being of the family. Everyone may not realize it yet but the decisions that Mama makes are only to help the family in the long run, not to hurt them.

With all great things, there is a catch. In this case, the house Mama purchased is in Clybourne Park, an all white neighborhood. In Mama’s defense, she said that there were no other houses available, but Ruth was still worried. This portrays the tension between whites and blacks in the Northern states during this time because they feel they are not equal. Fortunately, she soon got past that and was once again excited to be soon living in a house instead of the cramped apartment they currently live in. It is obvious that with buying the house, Mama thinks the only way to make the Younger family happy is for them to have their own house and their own property. In my opinion, this was the best possible solution Mama could have chosen. What do you think?