Posted by Maggie Campbell (68.124.97.35) on June 23, 2005 at 9:13:28 p.m.:
Maggie Campbell
English 301
Jeanne Guerin
Rough Draft Essay # 2
6/23/05
Watermelon in the summer is the best way to cool down your body and have a refreshing snack. Watermelon is also a fruit that can bring many people to their knees in enjoyment. But sometimes a person cannot enjoy the watermelon without first having decided to eat the fruit. Once decided possibilities are endless while eating the watermelon. Like watermelon dreams are endless by making positive and responsible life decisions. This is dependent on how a person comes to terms with their dreams. A calm and collected mind can create the best dreams possible. Life does not always allow time for being calm or collected. Therefore a person must choose a path either the path to eating watermelon in the summer or the path to “A Raisin in the Sun” which is the best way for dreams to become nonexistent. P 1
Theme is important in this play and is carried throughout the storyline and plot.
Hansberry makes it very clear that her theme is how family survives through the thick and thin with or without money. Family ties are much stronger than any money could ever buy. Like family, dreams are meant to grow and change with each individual. “A Raisin in the Sun” makes it clear to see that if you take too long to live out a dream it will “sag like a heavy load” (Hughes 1371). Walter who is so caught up in his own plans for his father’s money decides what he wants to do with it even before talking to his mother. Walter is a very determined man that has hazy eyes from his dream. He has so long fantasized about his dream becoming reality that his mind will not change even with his wife’s opinion. P 2
Hansberry brings many kinds of characters to her play. Ruth who is the dynamic character brings with her a sense of joy. By her simply waking up in the morning to make sure her son and husband are ready to go for the day makes a reader imagine she is the head of the household, and does majority of the dirty work. Ruth’s character is strong and confident in her own life and this shows when she is willing to bring another living soul into the world. When Hansberry chose to make Ruth pregnant it made the reader attach them self more to her. This simple act of nature made Ruth seem much more lifelike. P 3
Walter who is the Protagonist in Hansberry’s play brings with him a sense of empowerment and misfortune. When Walter enters and has no idea that his wife is pregnant Mama then tells him, “Son- do you know your wife is expecting another baby?” (Hansberry 1396). She has to throw this out into the conversation when Walter is getting out of hand talking about how “money is life” (Hansberry 1396). Walter being upset about the money and realizing he will be a father again gets himself all worked up and he leaves the house. This same story happens often in our own world to many new fathers. As a reader we can relate to his feelings of being overwhelmed. When Walter finally steps up as the Man of the house and tells Mr. Lindner that they will be moving with or without the support of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association it shows that he has overcome the feeling of being without. He has made his families dreams come true by stepping up to the plate and swinging with full force. His family is very proud of him. P 4
Being a flat character is sometimes a hard job, but Bennie achieves it successfully. She sometimes seems like the mean sister annoying her brother, but she is also a young woman that has many great qualities. Bennie who is caught up in being her own person and being unique is very much still naïve in her thoughts. She is a young woman learning her own feelings about God, love, life and family. Bennie in the middle of all her life decisions has two boys that want to marry her and this proves to be a problem. She obviously has feelings for both of them, but each is much different than the other. Bennie finally decides that Asagai could be the one she wishes to marry, but still it is really left unsaid. Bringing the reader to a point of suspense Hansberry talks about Bennie possibly moving to Africa with Asagai. This would change the whole dynamics of the Younger household and could possibly be the end to all the fighting that occurs in those walls. We all know that Walter and Mama will keep up their fair share of arguments. P 5
The antagonist is the one that keeps Walter on his toes. There is not a better person to do that than his own Mother. Mama is a woman that could not be held down and she is a woman that needs no introduction. She is a strong-minded, strong willed and stubborn woman just like her children. She brings love and happiness to each of her family members. Her main focus is to buy a house for her family and to have a “little patch of dirt” (Hansberry 1405) to grow a garden. Keeping her ideas about the money in full swing she does crack down and help Walter. Mama gives him some money to put in the bank for Bennie and then to invest in his dream of a liquor store. Her actions speak louder than words and the reader knows she is telling Walter that she loves him, and believes in him. P 6
Travis is the character in Hansberry’s play that does not change therefore he is the static character. Travis is the son of Ruth and Walter and he seems to be a child who knows a lot about life. He is smart and often likes to give his elders a hard time. Being a child in the middle of this family experience he obtained a view that no one else has. His thoughts are pure and will one day become his morals in life. Other than Travis’ actions of playing outside for long hours the reader has no sense of who he really is. His parents talk about him respectively, and his grandmother loves him to pieces. P 7
Hansberry’s characters from “A Raisin in the Sun” either big or small will have a great impact in the way life will continue in their household and in others. Ruth will have a baby. Mama will have her garden. Bennie will have a husband. Travis will have his own private bedroom. And Walter will have made peace with his dream. The Younger family will grow into a family that consists of love, honesty, tradition, morals, respect, truth, and most importantly dreams. P 8
Word Count: 1147 * I do not have a thesis it is a work in progress* :)