A Raisin in the Sun Themes

The Value and Purpose of Dreams

A Raisin in the Sun is essentially about dreams, as the main characters struggle to deal with the oppressive circumstances that rule their lives. The title of the play references a conjecture that Langston Hughes famously posed in a poem he wrote about dreams that were forgotten or put off. He wonders whether those dreams shrivel up “like a raisin in the sun.” Every member of the Younger family has a separate, individual dream—Beneatha wants to become a doctor, for example, and Walter wants to have money so that he can afford things for his family. The Youngers struggle to attain these dreams throughout the play, and much of their happiness and depression is directly related to their attainment of, or failure to attain, these dreams. By the end of the play, they learn that the dream of a house is the most important dream because it unites the family.

The Need to Fight Racial Discrimination

The character of Mr. Lindner makes the theme of racial discrimination prominent in the plot as an issue that the Youngers cannot avoid. The governing body of the Youngers’ new neighborhood, the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, sends Mr. Lindner to persuade them not to move into the all-white Clybourne Park neighborhood. Mr. Lindner and the people he represents can only see the color of the Younger family’s skin, and his offer to bribe the -Youngers to keep them from moving threatens to tear apart the Younger family and the values for which it stands. Ultimately, the Youngers respond to this discrimination with defiance and strength. The play powerfully demonstrates that the way to deal with discrimination is to stand up to it and reassert one’s dignity in the face of it rather than allow it to pass unchecked.

Analysis

"A Raisin in the Sun," by Lorraine Hansberry was a play that depicted the real life struggles of a black family trying to make a living among their oppressors. This family was a representation of black families during the time period of the '50s and '60s. Hansberry addressed many issues within the play including feminist views, racial identity, racism, and abortion rights. The most important issue in the play is the value of one's dreams. The play's focus was on all of the character's personal dreams. They were so focused on their dreams that they stopped working together as a family and began falling apart. In the end, everyone put their dreams aside and was happy just to be family. Hansberry implies that in order for blacks to make it during the time period in which the play was written, they should work together as a family unit first, then shoot for their dreams. Then, they will make it even further.

Racial discrimination is one of the bigger themes too. When Mr. Lindner pleas with the Youngers not to buy the house, it demonstrates back then how the white society viewed a black family trying to better themselves. The strain about their decision continued to pick the family apart, just how discrimination in the '50s and '60s picked families apart. The family's ultimate decision to stand up to Mr. Lindner and buy the house shows why blacks stood up for themselves and their rights during the Civil Rights Movement. Hansberry is saying that in order to move along in life we all must face obstacles, but it is up to us whether or not we look past the obstacle and move along. In this case Hansberry demonstrates that we must look past the obstacle by facing it and then overcoming it. This attitude of standing up for oneself was used frequently during the Civil Rights movement.

Embodiment of the Period

This play captures the spirit of the Civil Rights movements because it shows how a black family lived during the time period of the movement. It also teaches moral lessons that were used during the Civil Rights movement, such as chasing your dreams, sticking with your family, facing racial discrimination in a positive way, and even the search for racial identity.

The biggest motivator of the Civil Rights movement was the dream for blacks to be treated equally. Everyone put aside their own personal dreams to come together and achieve the bigger dream. This concept is what "A Raisin in the Sun" was structured. The Younger family was motivated by their own personal goals, but in order to get what everyone truly wanted, they had to place aside their dreams and work together.

Respect

www.last.fm/music/Aretha+Franklin/_/Respect

Analysis

Aretha Franklin's "Respect" voices women's choice during the '60s to take on new roles, other than being a housewife, and still be accepted by their husbands and peers. This new attitude came along with reemerging feminist ideas in the black community during the '60s.

The opening lines

(oo) What you want
(oo) Baby, I got
(oo) What you need
(oo) Do you know I got it?

show that even though women are deciding to take on different tasks, they will still be the same women. If anyhow their husbands or anyone treats them differently they will leave and go elsewhere. This is shown in the last few lines of the song:

You're runnin' out of foolin' (just a little bit)
And I ain't lyin' (just a little bit)
(re, re, re, re) 'spect
When you come home (re, re, re ,re)
Or you might walk in (respect, just a little bit)
And find out I'm gone (just a little bit)
I got to have (just a little bit)
A little respect (just a little bit)

The format in which the lyrics are written help paint the picture that the women is telling her husband what she will do for respect and what she would do without it. Without a male responder, the song then becomes informative instead of a type of persuasion. The women's act of "getting information across" to her husband and the rest of society creates a more demanding tone and thus leaves no room for questions as to whether women deserve respect or not.

Embodiment of Civil Rights Movement

The right to equality was the real issue during the Civil Rights Movement and in "Respect" the women's right to equality among their husbands and other members of society is the real issue. The way in which the song is presented also helps parallel it to the way in which blacks fought for their civil rights. In the movement, blacks informed people what was going on and demanded their rights, just like the women in the song are informing their husbands and the rest of society.

Memorial March after assassination of MLK

Analysis

Ernest C. Withers took this photograph after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. This captures the nonviolent protests that the followers of Dr. Martin Luther King did during the Civil Rights Movement. This type of art is in its realist form. A picture is worth a thousand words, therefore Withers does not have to express his feelings, the picture already does it for him. The angle in which Withers took the shot has a lot to say about his purpose for this picture. The picture is angled just enough so that we can read what the signs say. Some of the signs say "Honor King: End Racism!" and others say "Union Justice Now!"

Embodiment of the Period

This picture embodies the period because of what is written on the posters. The Civil Rights movement was all about fighting for equal rights through civil disobedience, protests, and boycotts. In the picture the people are marching down the street in protest and still asking for what they want.

What also is significant in this picture is when it was taken. When Martin Luther King was assassinated many fights and riots broke out. It was a frantic and disheartening time for the black community. Some practiced the opposite of what Martin Luther King had been preaching the whole time period. However, this picture shows people in the black community practicing what they had been the whole time Martin Luther King Jr. was alive.

Their Eyes Were Watching God Themes

Power: Power, specifically black power, was an issue of great importance to the Harlem Renaissance writers. Various characters in Their Eyes were Watching God have different notions about the best way to gain power in a white-dominated world. Nanny's idea is that her granddaughter should marry a wealthy man so that she doesn't have to worry about her financial security. Joe gains power in the same way that whites traditionally did, by gaining a position of leadership (the mayorship) and using it to dominate others. However, Janie finds that the type of power that she prefers in a man is personal, rather than constructed. She thinks that a person's power is derived not from their material possessions, but from their personal experiences, and their manner of relating to others.

Black Autonomy: One of the most politically notable aspects of Their Eyes were Watching God, a decidedly apolitical novel, is the concept of black autonomy. Jim Crow laws were still in effect in the South during the 1930s, keeping blacks and whites in separate schools, churches, and bathrooms. Eatonville, the town in which Zora Neale Hurston grew up, was famous as the first all-black incorporated municipality in the country. Hurston's novel is a ringing affirmation of black autonomy, portraying a town with a black mayor, post office, and so on. But she questions the methods of the leader of this town, concerned with whether he achieved power through traditionally white avenues.

Appearance of Race: There is a high incidence of African-Americans with mixed black and white descent in this novel. Janie's mother, Leafy, was the product of a rape by a plantation master, and was visibly white enough to garner punishment of Nanny by the plantation master's wife. Janie is described as having coffee-colored skin, and Hurston is careful to describe the degree of blackness of all of her characters. Caucasian characteristics can have a positive (Janie's shiny hair) or negative (Mrs. Turner's pointed nose and thin lips) effect on the character's attractiveness. Hurston is consistent on one point, however, and that is that people who try to look like something that they are not (usually whiter than they are) always end up looking terrible.

Work/Money: Janie differs from many of the other characters in Their Eyes were Watching God in that she is financially stable throughout the book with a fair amount of money in the bank. Therefore, for Janie, work is isolated from making money, and depends entirely on the nature of the labor. Contrary to most people, she enjoys laboring in the field more than clerking in a shop (despite the fact that the latter is "higher class") because it allows her to be near nature and the man that she loves. Janie's naturalism extends beyond her sexuality to include which type of labor she prefers.

Analysis

Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" was written in a feminist view. The main character Janie went against all "normal" women duties and went around freely, living her life the way she saw fit. Janie represents the black women during the Harlem Renaissance period that saught to broaden their goals and duties in life. Many women during that time period wished for work and to be able to be happy in their marriage. Janie felt these feelings too, expect that she did not want to do housework all day.

The many themes of power, black autonomy, appearance of race, work and money all tie into one thing: that blacks should be able to be free, equal, and proud to be themselves. When Janie tries to accomplish all of these themes, people in society mortified her behind her back. This shows how people in society were treated in the '20s when they tried to accomplish goals out of the norm. Society talked about them and shunned them too. Even though Janie's husband dies, in the end she was more happy because she found her identity of who she truly was. Hurston is saying that blacks should go for their goals, even though everything may not work out as you would like, you will find your identity in the end. Then you will be at peace with yourself.

Embodiment of the Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was all about freedom of expression and the search for one's identity. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" shows these goals through the main character Janie and her neighbors. Janie freely expressed what she wanted and searched for her identity with her different husbands. Even though Janie was criticized by everyone except her friends, she continued to pursue. She lost everything, but ultimately found her identity.

The Nanny represented the older people in society that did not expect any change in life, Phoebe, Janie's friend, represented the few people that truly believed in change. When Janie ran away from her first husband to look for freedom, this symbolized the Great Migration North. When Janie found Tea Cake is represented the Harlem Renaissance period, and when she found her identity in the end, it represented when the black community found their identity at the end of the Harlem Renaissance.

When Dawn Comes to the City

When Dawn Comes to the City The tired cars go grumbling by, The moaning, groaning cars, And the old milk carts go rumbling by Under the same dull stars. Out of the tenements, cold as stone, Dark figures start for work; I watch them sadly shuffle on, 'Tis dawn, dawn in New York. But I would be on the island of the sea, In the heart of the island of the sea, Where the cocks are crowing, crowing, crowing, And the hens are cackling in the rose-apple tree, Where the old draft-horse is neighing, neighing, neighing, Out on the brown dew-silvered lawn, And the tethered cow is lowing, lowing, lowing, And dear old Ned is braying, braying, braying, And the shaggy Nannie goat is calling, calling, calling From her little trampled corner of the long wide lea That stretches to the waters of the hill-stream falling Sheer upon the flat rocks joyously! There, oh, there! on the island of the sea, There would I be at dawn. The tired cars go grumbling by, The crazy, lazy cars, And the same milk carts go rumbling by Under the dying stars. A lonely newsboy hurries by, Humming a recent ditty; Red streaks strike through the gray of the sky, The dawn comes to the city. But I would be on the island of the sea, In the heart of the island of the sea, Where the cocks are crowing, crowing, crowing, And the hens are cackling in the rose-apple tree, Where the old draft-horse is neighing, neighing, neighing Out on the brown dew-silvered lawn, And the tethered cow is lowing, lowing, lowing, And dear old Ned is braying, braying, braying, And the shaggy Nannie goat is calling, calling, calling, From her little trampled corner of the long wide lea That stretches to the waters of the hill-stream falling Sheer upon the flat rocks joyously! There, oh, there! on the island of the sea, There I would be at dawn. Claude McKay Analysis Claude Mckay's "When Dawn Comes to the City" describes a typical day for blacks in Harlem. McKay's language includes an intertwinement of personification, repetition, A B rhyme scheme, onomatopoeia, symbolism, and sensuous imagery. All of these elements combine create a feeling a hustle and bustle: the feeling of Harlem. Each element individually creates its own part in the city of Harlem. The personification of the tired cars, moaning, and groaning. Of the crazy, lazy cars, dying stars, and rumbling milk carton. This gives Harlem the feel that its a town that never goes to sleep. Even the inanimate objects move all of the time, making the city stay live. Onomatopoeia is also used in conjunction with the personification. Every other stanza onomatopoeia is used. All of the animals produce their distinct sounds once dawn rises. The three time repetition of their sounds helps to create the seen that all of these animals and inanimate objects are there all at the same time. The more their noises are repeated, the more they are contributing to the bustle of the city. The A B rhyme scheme pairs up the nouns and the verbs that rhyme together. This shows that even though there is much activity going on in Harlem, there is still a sense of unity between everything in certain way. There are also a few uses of symbolism. The dark figures that start for work are the black people beginning to wake up at dawn and contributing their part to the city life. The dull stars fading away into the life of dawn represent the black communities oppressors fading away because they are ready to start a new day with new ambitions. The darkness can no longer protect their oppressors, so they leave. So, when dawn comes to the city McKay is in the heart of Harlem, where all of the black community's dreams are coming to life again. The continuous mention of dawn in New York and not of night represents the black community's beginning to find their own identity and freedom. The sensuous use of language helps give the city a taste for what it wants, and the repetition of the animal's noise gives Harlem "the beat" it needs to keep going. Embodiment of the Period "When Dawn Comes to the City" represents the life of Harlem and the sense of the black community finding themselves. The constant sensuous imagery and use of onomatopoeia keeps the reader's mental and imaginable focus, helping them unconsciously concentrate on the nonstop pace of Harlem. This poem is not about the individual people of Harlem, but rather about the city itself. There is no individual reference to anyone, save for the author. The only reference to anyone is symbolistic (i.e. dark figures) or general (i.e. lonely newsboy). There are also many references to loneliness and almost isolation. The lonely newsboy is one example, under the same dull stars in another example, and the last example is when the author describes himself in the heart of the island of the sea. The loneliness further defines the black community's independence from outsiders around them during that time period.

http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/media/page/0,,834425-1818778,00.html

Analysis

Thomas "Fats" Waller's "A Handful of Keys" is a fast-paced style of piano music that was prevalent in the nightclubs during the Harlem Renaissance. The major key in which is was composed gives the song a joyous feel. The repeated dotted eighth-sixteenth rhythm gives the song a bouncy feel. The fast pace beat helps to add to the bustling pace of the city life that is also reflected in the style of music. The constant staccato notes state their presence, but then are gone the next second. The piece begins quietly, decrescendos, then jumps to forte. This represents the progress of the Harlem Renaissance, how it started in a mild fuss with the northerners, then settled down, then the black community came out again towards the end of the period. The repeated main melody represents the repeated events that the black community faced during the time.

Embodiment of the Harlem Renaissance

The fast tempo parallels to the fast pace of the city life in Harlem. Also, the staccato notes move so quickly that they're there one second and are gone the next. They have served their purpose by keeping up the tempo. This can be compared with the blacks down south who served their purpose and fulfilled their job, but wished to go up north with everyone else. When they left the south, the pace slowed down, and the plantation owners had a hard time keeping up with everything.

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Midsummer Night in Harlem

Analysis

This painting by Palmer C. Hayden depicts the life in Harlem during a night in midsummer. There is a sharp contrast of white clothes, objects, and animals against all of the black people there. The white shows the black people's freedom and their purity. All others that aren't wearing black are wearing bright colors, that also show the joy of being independent. The amount of people gathered in the street and out of the windows shows the closeness of the people and also shows how the city of Harlem never rests, even in the middle of the night.

One object to point out is the stand-alone church. All of the churches in the time period were not stand-alone, they store-front churches. Hayden's choice to change this detail implies that he is trying to display the black community's independence from other communities. This simplest objects are slightly changed or exaggerated to show this effect.

Embodiment of the Harlem Renaissance

Everything in the painting is designed to look just like cities in Harlem did, expect for some objects that are exaggerated, like the church. The reason of assemblage outside of the house is also illustrated. Back then, their homes did not have air conditioners. So, they either assembled outside their house, or stuck their head out the window to cool off. This painting does a fine job displaying how everyone knew each other and how happy the black community was.