Compare and Contrast “A Raisin in the Sun.”

Compare/Contrast Paper on â€Å"Raisin in the Sun, â€Å"by Lorraine Hansberry. The play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun,† was a radically new representation of black life, resolutely authentic, fiercely unsentimental, and unflinching in its vision of what happens to people whose dreams are constantly deferred. I compared Act One, Scene 2, in the play and the film. The setting in the play is on a Saturday morning, and house cleaning is in process at the Youngers. In the film, the setting is the same as play, with lighting and costumes. The plot in the play is when Mrs. Younger gets the insurance check of $10,000. In the film, the plot is the same, but includes music not mentioned in the play. The dialogue in the film has some deletions from the original text, with new dialogue added throughout the scene. Some film techniques used are: the film cuts back and forth to different characters, the room is well lit with the sunshine coming in through the window, and music is added throughout some parts of this scene. Perhaps the biggest difference between the play and the film in this scene involves dialogue. Much of the dialogue is deleted; however, new dialogue is added through some parts of this scene. Also, in the play, the mailman comes up to their apartment and rings the doorbell unlike the film, Travis runs up to him outside the building and gets the mail from him right away and runs back to give it to Mrs. Younger (his grandma). Racism was rampant during the 1950’s and this often hindered African American dreams. What is the American dream? In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter is depicted as being a very ambitious and determined man. He often had dreams of making a better life for his family and himself. One way of making a reaching his dream was to open a liquor store. â€Å"I got a dream†¦. I got to take hold of this here world; I’m going to open a liquor store. † (p. 701). This is all Walter dreams about. A way for him to achieve this dream is to utilize the $10,000 insurance money from his father’s death. Walter’s dream conflicts with his mother’s, Lena’s (mama’s), dream. Lena, known as mama, is a strong, caring, and very religious woman. She works very hard to try and help her family have the best. She dreams of owning a house for the family â€Å"You should know the dream I have of owning a house and fixing it up and making me a little garden† (p. 707). This brings about conflict with the other family members, particularly Walter who is already set on opening his own liquor store.