Raisin in the Sun Themes

We see many themes in Raisin in the Sun by Lorainne Hansbery, themes such as dreams as the main characters in the novel struggle to deal with certain circumstances that effects their lives. Everyone has a dream and everyone struggles trying to peruse that dream.

Another theme in the book that i noticed other than following your dream is the theme of "family." Family is an important part of the book through out the play. Family sticks together through hard times and through good times. The mom in the novel tries to keep the family together and their dream of purchasing a house.

A family must over come hardships and learn from it as we see this in the novel when the insurance money got stolen. The family in the book comes together and are strong characters who can over come any obstacles as long as they stick together.

American Dream....What is it?

You always grow up thinkin certain ideas that make up the American Dream. Well for some they want that nice house, they wanna put a smile on they famlies faces, they wanna teach they family the right way to live. I use to think my Amiercan Dream was to own that liquor store.... mama just didnt get what a great a'vantage that woulda been to the family.... no she jus didn't see it. Yeh I wanna nice house for my family and thats what mama went right on ahead and did... and i'm glad she did it. Now my family can grow and be happy, specially wit the new baby on the way. Now I can teach my son what it really means to be a man and I can put a smile on my wife's face. Maybe willy taken that money was the best thing that happened to us.... it brought my family closa. I guess you could say now my family bein happy is my American Dream.

Admirable Woman

A woman who has adjusted to many things in life
and overcome many more,
her face is full of strength.
She has, we can see, wit and faith of a kind that keep her eyes lit,
and full of interest and expectancy.
She is, in a word, a beautiful woman.
Her bearing is perhaps most like the noble bearing,
of the women of the Hereros of Southwest Africa -
rather as if she imagines that
as she walks she still bears a basket
or a vessel upon her head.-ACT 1, scene 1.

Lorraine Hansberry describes Mama in this manner to show the struggle she faced and how she can still walk with her head held high. The American Dream. Mama puts forth a resounding effort to keep her life and the life of her loved ones on track. An admirable trait and an admirable woman to say the least. Don't you agree?

Lord give us strength

Oh Lord, What am I going to do with that boy? I spent my life time workin' on raisin' him up right. He ain't behavin' like no man of the house that I ever seen. 'Bout time he learn real responsibilities like a grown man do! Man's got to start at the bottom and build himself up to get to the top! All that sweatin' and buildin' our Big Walter did was thrown away by that boy's selfishness. Oh Lord give me hope when all hopes been lost! All that money thrown away for his own evil doings. He done no thinkin' 'bout his boy Travis, or his sister Beneatha and her schoolin'- Poor dear Ruth, and with baby on the way, what they gonna do? Boy don't think clear 'bout the future. He robbed us all blind of hopes and dreams. Lord please, We got to keep our strength in these tough times! God bring blessing on my family.

Scent of interest

What we always say, " A picture is worth a thousand words"
What do you think of this picture of me?
Would you say this picture demonstrates the type a person of who I am?
I have legs on top of my head as though they are my antennas.
With my interests, all I can think of is complimenting about my wife. So beautiful and sexual. That is pretty much I have in mind. I can imagine myself spooning her very closely and just smell her lovely scent. Ah! love!

I would like to know what you think of this picture of me.
Let me know how you feel about me.

Middle English and More...

http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/inthebigynnyng/

The language of our land is coloured by many influences and often misunderstood. I find those not in contact with properly educated clergyman are particularly adept at misunderstanding, mispronouncing and generally bastardising the eloquence of the English language.

Great research is being done and many rare manuscripts being studied at Kings College and The University of Manchester, the link above will show you some of these works such as these.

Life Can Be a Barrel of Disappointments, Sometimes

I am thoroughly impressed by the rich characters Ms. Hansberry has created in her A Raisin in the Sun. Many of the characters in this play are struggling against their positions in life which have somewhat been dictated by society. Each reacts in their own individual way: Walter is angry, Beneatha can be pessimistic and cold, Ruth is weary, but each of them is hoping for something more, something better for themselves and their family.

When I began reading, initially I found Ruth to be more likable and thought I would relate more to her. As I continued, I found myself sympathizing with Walter. When a person feels trapped and overwhelmed by life's disappointments, they are capable of doing drastic things to break free. I feel Walter, though somewhat misguided, is trying to provide for his family, but has become reckless because he does, indeed, feel trapped. Some may view Walter as selfish and uncaring, but sometimes one has to be a bit selfish in order to stay sane. I believe you cannot wholly give in to the will of others because you will lose your own identity along the way.

Walter needs to do what he sees as necessary to become more than a chauffeur, more than a common worker and to become a provider for his family without relying on his mother and his wife. He is taking the steps necessary to become a man in every sense of the word.

So, Walter, I commend you, just be wary of the cost of your freedom.

What we have

Mr. Hughes, I do feel we can relate.
Each poets of our own renaissance time,
I fervently do wish we could debate
The meaning of you, and yours, us and mine.
We're both alone, yet part of something more
We write of love, though for different views.
How I wish I could find you, just past my door
How I wish you were here to give me clues
Teach me, please, of Simple's dark Chicago
Show me, please, the difference in our homes
Or do not, for between us, I am long ago
To the world, you and I will be here, but gone.

Nobody understands me.....

I want to have a serious conversation with my wife about the world today about who I am and all she can say to me is eat my eggs. I try to tell her that this mornin I was lookin in the mirror and thinking about it.... I'm 35 years old; i've been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in the living room- and all I got to give to him is stories about how rich white people live. She says I say the same damn thing everyday, but I'm tryna make a point, but all she has to say is, "Eat your eggs walter, and go to work." That's what's wrong with colored women these days they don't understand how to treat their man. They don't understand how to build them up and make them feel like they somebody and can do something. I am a man tied down to a woman with a small mind.... she just doesn't understand me.

Life of D.H. Lawerence

I, D.H Lawrence grew up as a sickly son. My life was always involved with pressure and domination. I do wonder when was the last time I smiled. Let me think; Never. Well, maybe once and that is when I met my true love. I have many complaints and issues involving with others. For instance, my dearest mother. She gave me no freedom nor my own desire. I had no choice but to be trained as a school teacher just like her. A desire that is not my desire. However, trained as a school teacher leads to one of my great interest. An interest called "Art" My relationship between my mother and I gave me one of the greatest masterpiece of my art work. I had to go through my first experience of life by helping my dearest mother die by over dosing her with sleeping pills.
Ah! there goes my illness. An illness that I can not end. My illness is telling me that I am not going to live much longer. Which means I shall quit as a school teacher very soon and continue writing more.
I had an affair with my wife who I tend to have violent fights and sexual bonds. Every experience of my life from childhood to my adulthood, I would include it as my greatest art work. Based on how I feel by putting it in great literature words of mine.
Well, look at the time here. As soon I have reached to my 15th art work, it is time for me to go.
My illness have arrive and had taken my soul away.

Good-Bye.

To D.H. Lawrence

D.H. Lawrence,

The way that you have written your brilliant piece of work, Piano, has illuminated me into a feeling in which I have not felt much of for the most part of my life. The image that you use in the first quatrain of this poem, of a young boy sitting underneath the same piano that his mother is playing and singing by to create a sense of delight for everyone in the room, is an image of a pure, innocent memory; a memory of which I am a bit jealous of as well. After the death of my father, Nathaniel Hathorne, I was only four years of age, and my mother since has lived her life in great solarity.

In the second quatrain, you also portray this image of pleasurable Sunday evenings during the winter solstice, with your family happily singing along to church hymns. I have never felt an experience so warm, for my bride's family were the only ones present to attend even my own wedding. In the third and final quatrain, you tell us about how you yearn for these fond memories to take place again in your life, understanding that those days are over. This has given me a sense of how enjoyable these memories are, again, and it also helps me in understanding your age and experience.

You have cleverly used the term Piano, not only as the theme of your poem, but also as the title, for piano is also a term meaning soft, or softly, like the sound of your mother's voice, or even the faint, soft, and distant sound of her singing voice lurking around far off in your memory. I would like to glorify such work of yours, hopefully magnifying your splendid imagery to others.

James Joyce examining the importance of depth in a setting

My story "Araby" is a great example of how Ireland and its unique culture manifested itself so deep in my literature despite spending most of my adult life in self-imposed exile from my native land. While this presence of Ireland continues throughout my works it doesn't limit the perspective from which I write but rather it strengthens my perspective. This story "Araby" comes from my work Dubliners, a set of descriptive tales centered in the city, By using embedding my writing in the culture I'm free to view the society on multiple levels of religion, politics, and tradition's effect on common Dublin life. In ensuing works I pushed the limits of conventional narrative and plot structure with dense writings like Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. I feel that it's an interesting point that one can interpret a setting on so many different levels rather than simply as a location. Culture can shape plot, even the dialect and patois of the work, an effect that I felt gave my writing a honest view of people while delving deep into psyches and passions.

Modern Day Feminist?

I find it interesting that much of my work has come to be regarded as "feminist" literature. I wonder, if I were a man, would my writing still be considered as such. I understand how it could be read and interpreted in this way, but I have to say, I do not wholly agree. I have written from experience, some my own and some gained through observation. I have tried to create characters with their own identities, who have their own unique circumstances and obstacles to overcome. I wanted to convey a view of reality through the eyes of an individual, whether they were male or female.

The purpose of my short story, The Story of an Hour, was not to condemn the institution of marriage, but to examine what marriage can feel like for one person, in this case the story's main character, Louise Mallard. Keep in mind, in the 19th century, woman had few options other than marriage. More were slowly becoming available, but we were a long way off from the many options women have today. Many women married young (I myself was married at 20 and had all of my six children by the time I was 28) so they were unable to develop any sense of self outside of the expected role of wife and/or mother. Marriage could be oppressive, especially if a woman had an overly controlling husband or if she was overwhelmed with familial and social responsibilities.

The possibility Louise sees of having a life that is completely her own is exhilarating and exciting to her. As she begins to whisper, "free, free, free!", it is not without a thought for her supposedly dead husband; she remembers fondly his "tender" hands, his face that had "never looked save with love upon her". She had even loved him..."sometimes". It is the possibility that she would be in complete control of her own destiny that causes Louise to emerge from her room feeling like a "goddess of Victory", triumphantly facing a future of her own making.It is Louise's crushing disappointment that kills her. When her husband walks through the door, it is too much for her to physically and emotionally accept, and she dies.

This piece is not "feminist" in the sense of being anti-marriage or man-bashing, it is a study of an individual's feelings. That individual happens to be a woman. I hope as you read my work you come to realize that the emotions I tried to convey are universal and not specific to a single gender.

Call me daring, but call me Hawthorne.

Is it much to early for me to publish such bold statements of my thoughts to the public eyes of Salem Village, and even beyond? Can the citizens of our community handle such thought, such enlightenment, during this era? What lies for me in my future I do not yet know, for the "good" puritans of our community may strongly disagree with my insightful findings. Other people of this village obviously are too ignorant to have any interest or understanding outside the walls of this stringent Puritan society. However, the issue at hand is too late to assist, for my work has already been published for other witnesses to ponder.

This is for the own good of our society. One needs to rise above the crowd, and illuminate the thoughts of others, otherwise our community will forever lay at the feet of Puritanism, even if it is the foot of Puritanism that is kicking the narrow-minded dirt into the eyes of it's followers, causing them to become blind to any other subject of thought. Who am I to set an example for the rest? Well, I am Nathaniel Hawthorne, one who is educated, and one with the ability to vision what is being blocked by the thick walls of Puritanism to it's followers. It was my own great-grandfather, Colonel John Hathorne with his narrow beliefs, that made the Salem Witch Hysteria what it was. This is not something that I am proud of, however the past was here and created the history for the rest of us to learn from. Why do I feel as if I am the only one enlightened? Maybe now others will follow along my revealed trail of curiosity and questioning, while the authorities may stay at the same pace they are going, headed in the same direction they will never fall away from. As for me, on the other hand, I think there is something more to learn from life. This is something that only the ones with true potential and questioning may be able to capture.

So what if I may question the "true" faith of many Puritans, including it's leaders? It only takes one idea to begin a new journey into something that was otherwise never thought possible. That is why I do not carry on my biological "Hathorne" last name, which is made up of evil morale and ashamed memoir. For the love of something worth believing, call me daring, but call me Hawthorne.

Going To Heaven

GOING to heaven! I don’t know when,
Pray do not ask me how,—
Indeed, I ’m too astonished
To think of answering you!
Going to heaven!—
How dim it sounds!
And yet it will be done
As sure as flocks go home at night
Unto the shepherd’s arm!

Perhaps you ’re going too!
Who knows?
If you should get there first,
Save just a little place for me
Close to the two I lost!
The smallest “robe” will fit me,
And just a bit of “crown”;
For you know we do not mind our dress
When we are going home.

I ’m glad I don’t believe it,
For it would stop my breath,
And I ’d like to look a little more
At such a curious earth!
I am glad they did believe it
Whom I have never found
Since the mighty autumn afternoon
I left them in the ground.

Do you agree with my journey to Heaven?

Sonnet 130

For though Shakespeare is my hero
He writes as if he is right next to his mistress
He writes as though he is in sexual activity with his mistress
I love how mysterious he is
I try to emulate his style with my writing
This sonnet is a remarkable one
One in which sexuality is brought out in those times of his many romantic events
For my style is one that noone can repeat
I think he was just trying to pour out his heart to his mistress without revealing to much
Tremendous piece of work
Shakespeare i adore the way you write and i hope that one day i can remembered as you are for your love poetry
As do i write love poetry but on a more sexual stage
What do you think Shakespeare is trying to say in this sonnet?