Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, was written perhaps with some personal experience. When Lorraine was younger, a mob surrounded her home in a white middle class neighborhood and threw a brick in her window (Literature and Language, 913). However, racial prejudice is just one of the themes discussed in the play. The play takes place during the Civil Rights Movement, and the obstacles overcome are obstacles we still face today. Racial prejudice, family strength, and a sell out are the several strong thematic elements in the play. When the Younger family is introduced, they are introduced together. Despite the hardships endured throughout the play, the family stays together even through quarrels. Mama is almost like a Buddha of the Younger family by acting as the backbone of the family; Mama is the strong one (A Raisin in the Sun, 854). When Walter explains to Mama how he wants to start a liquor store with the money she tells him she doesn't want to go into the liquor business. She decides then to tell him he needs to sit down and talk to his wife, which is more important, because she's family (A Raisin in the Sun, 869). Mama notices also how Walter and Ruth's relationship is uncertain (A Raisin in the Sun, 855