Appreciation

In Those Winter Sundays, author Robert Hayden is invoking his audience to appreciate their parents and that they do. Many times, the small things one's parents do for us go unnoticed. For example, laundary, cooking, cleaning, the paying of bills, and more are all things that most don't think twice about or parents taking care of. However, if one day they were to stop doing so all together, one would notice immediately. Therefore, through his poem, Hayden urges the reader to offer his appreciation to his parents for the small things. For instance, the line "No one ever thanked him" (781) is a lucid example that draws the underappreciation of parents to the readers attention. Moreover, the lines "Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well" (782) clearly juxtaposes the phrase "speaking indifferently" with the kind gestures the father performed for his son.  This evokes pathos in the reader. One can clearly see that the narrarator's "indifferent" behavior toward his father is in no way justified in sight of what his father has done for him. This brings the reader to the realization that one should take notice of the care of his parents and be grateful.

There's a Hole in My Bucket, Dear Liza, Dear Liza..

Did the anonimously written poem Edward remind anyone else of the children's song "There's a Hole in My Bucket"?! Only paragraph in, after reading "'Your hawk's blood was never so red, Edward, Edward, Your hawk's blood was never so red'" (977), I automatically began reading the rest of the poem to the tune of that children's song. I was astounded at how similar the structures of these two works are. The repitition almost matches perfectly. Check it out!This mental connection proved extremely distracting, however, for I was too caught up in the joy of my realization that I could hardly concentrate on the meaning of the poem!
Alas, after some intense focus, I have to admit that I am still partially confused. Why did this young man kill his father? Why is his mother so calm upon this realization? Her initial reaction was to ask her son, "'And what penance will ye do for that, Edward, Edward...." (978). Did the mother encourage her son to kill his father? This thought crossed my mind upon reading the last line: "'The curse of hell from me shall ye bear, such counsels you gave to me, O'" (978). Did this woman advise her son to commit such a horrific act?! Is that why she will bear the curse of hell?! Who knows......

 I bet Costello does.

Never Give Up

Eudora Welty presents the theme that one should "never give up" in her short story A Worn Path. Phoenix Jackson is charactarized as an old and tried woman who walks with a cane and may be slightly senile. Despite these obstacles, however, Phoenix trecks through the woods climbing over logs, through thorn bushes, and passed a hunter who points a gun to her face. Nonetheless, through all of this, Phoenix trecks on. Thus, Welty elucidates the theme "never give up." In addition to through Phoenix herself, Welty uses syntax to present this theme. With phrases such as "On she went" (223), "'Now comes the trial'" (224), "'I wasn't as old as I thought'" (224), "In the furrow she made her way along" (225), "Then she went on..." (225), and "'I bound to go to town mister'" (227), Welty shows Phoenix's resiliency. Welty makes a point of beginning each new section of the journey with a phrase such as "On she went" (223) to show that despite the obstacles Phoenix faced in the previous part of the journey, she chooses to continue on. Moreover, each of these phrases are short and "to the point" and thus, more impactful. The reader is able to grasp the theme more easily through the structure in which Welty presents it.

A Twist of Drunken Irony!

In Frank O'Connor's The Drunkard, there is a bout of irony within the unfolding events of the plot. The father, having abstained from alcohol for a couple of months, has an itching desire to drink after the funeral of his friend. Throughout the story, the narrator hints that his father has a history of excessive drinking, though the father was reluctant to face such facts: "By the time he had taken the first he already realized that he had made a fool of himself, took a second to forget it and a third to forget that he couldn't forget, and at last came home reeling drunk" (344). Simultaenous with his desire to drink is his desire to escape reality for just a little while; while drunk, he did not have to face his problems. However, when his son drinks his alcohol, he is ironically forced to face his problems; his son's behavior opens his eyes to his own problem. The father is able to see how embarassing it is to be drunk in public. Thus, after dealing with his drunken son throwing up, inability to walk, and shouting of obscenities to the neighbors, the father exclaims, "Never again, never again, not if I live to be a thousand!" The father is swearing that he will never drink again for the rest of his life. His eyes are opened to the inconvenience and problems facilitated by alcohol. Thus, instead of escaping his problems, he is forced to face them, ultimately doing him more good than his own consumption of the alochol could have done.

One Cannot Avoid the Unavoidable

The short story Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer presents a theme that one cannot avoid what is unavoidable; therefore, he must not fear it. This is a recurring theme throughout the story, beginning with the narrator lying frightened in her bed. Upon hearing the noise in the middle of the night and contemplating all the terrible possibilities of its source, she says, "I have no burglar bars, no gun under the pillow, but I have the same fears as people who do take these precautions...." (231). Here, the author is implying that those who have burglar bars and guns have not eliminated their fears in doing so. Taking such precautions will not prevent intruders or murderers from breaking in, though they may offer potential victims momentary solice. Such misfortune is predominantly unavoidable. Later, the author goes on to say, "But I learned that I was to be neither threatened nor spared. There was no human weight pressing on the boards, the creaking was a buckling, an epicenter of stress. I was in it" (232). She is implying that people jump too quickly to the worst-case scenario when signs of danger are present, while most of the time, the apparent danger is something completely harmless. Thus, we must not live life worrying about all the misfortune that can befall us, for in doing so, we may bring it upon ourselves.
This theme of the impossibility of avoiding the unavoidable is presented again later on in the story when the young boy dies as a result of his parents' paranoia and over-caution.  Despite all the measures the family took to protect themselves from harm, destruction eventually found its way. In fact, the family made the situation and outcome worse through their excessive fears. Once again, we in life, we must accept the things we cannot change and stop trying to avoid the unavoidable reality of danger.

Mama vs. Walter

At one point in Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, Walter is clearly a foil character to Mama, and vise versa. Hansberry directly juxtaposes their ideas and beliefs. Mama even explicitly states that she doesn't recognize the person Walter has become. "No...something has changed. You something new, boy. In my time we was worried about not being lynched and getting to the North if we could and how to stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity too...Now here come you and Beneatha-talking 'bout things we ain't never even thought about hardly, me and your daddy....You my children-but how different we done become" (74). This difference is partly caused by the generation gap between Walter and Mama; the two hold different values. Mama's satisfaction with freedom in the north is equal to Walter's would-be satisfaction with becoming a wealthy business man. However, Mama sees this mindset of Walter's as ungrateful and uncharacteristic of how she and Mr. Younger raise their children. Thus, two have conflicting views. Hansberry reveals this to the reader through the above excerpt where Mama clearly juxtaposes the two viewpoints. This part of the story sets up for Walter's transformation later on in the story, which proves to bring he and Mama back together.

A Dramatic Change for Walter

Throughout Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, we see a dramatic change in Walter Lee. Near the beginning of the story, Walter was purely motivated by his own dreams and menas of escaping poverty; he was predominantly blind the needs of others, even ignoring his own wife's pregnancy and consequential thoughts of aborition. Mama says to Walter, "Well...Well-son, I'm waiting to hear you say somehting...I'm waiting to hear how you be your father's son. Be the man he was...Your wife say she going to destroy your child. And I'm waiting to hear you talk like him and say we a people who give children life, not who destroys them-I'm waiting to see you stand up and look like your daddy and say we done give up one baby to poverty and that we ain't going to give up nary another one...I'm waiting" (75). Walter responds with silence. This shows that he is completely blinded with his frustration with Mama buying the house and not allowing him to pursue his dream of entrepreneurship to the point where he can't even stand up for a life he created. Moreover, Mama repeatedly compares Walter to his father here; Walter's silent response confirms the fact that he and his father, at this point, are two very different people.
However, near the end of the story Walter undergoes a dramatic change. In the face of disaster, after the money he invested was stolen by Mr. Harris, Walter is finally able to see needs of his family members. He realizes that being with his family and making a comfortable life for them is what is truly important. He lets go of his desire to become wealthy. "And we have decided to move into our house because my father-my father-he earned it for us brick by brick....We don't want your money" (148). In this short excerpt, Walter both compares himself to his father as well as denounces a large amount of money, something that would have been extremely difficult for him to do earlier in the play. This shows a 360 degree difference in Walter Lee's mindset. He is able to lead the family into a new chapter of their lives motivated by the happiness he knows it will bring each member, rather than his own potential achievement.

Metaphoric Title

The title of Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun, is metaphorically revealing in light of the events that transpire throughout the stroy. Referencing Langston Hughe's poem A Dream Deferred, a raisin in the sun is an already weakened dream that has been left in the sun to "shrivel up" even more. This analysis can be directly applied to Walter Lee and his aspirations and feelings toward them. "I want so many things that they are driving me kind of crazy....Sometimes it's like I can see the future stretched out in front of me-just plain as day. The future, Mama. Hanging over there at the edge of my days. Just waiting for me-a big, lookng blank space-full of nothing. Just waiting for me. But it don't have to be" (75). This excerpt clearly shows Walters frustration with his dreams. For a few moments in time, they seem attainable. However, after the money, his apparent salvation, arrives and he is still unable to chase his dream of becoming a successful business man, he is even more pained. The close proximity can be compared to a raisin being left out in the sun; an already dried fruit continues to shrivel up with every passing minute. This is how Walter feels about his dreams. With the means of acting on them so close but the inability to utilize them, his visions for the future seem as hopeless as ever.

Characterization Through Dialogue

Lorraine Hansberry defines the personality and background of her characters in A Raisin in the Sun predominantly through dialogue and the manner in which each speaks. For example, in reading just a few pages of the play, we are able to discern the more-educated from the less-educated.
On page twenty five, Ruth's use of jargon and poor utilization of grammar in her first line reveal to the reader an uneducated aspect of her personality: "What you mean out? He ain't hardly got in there good yet" (25). Walter's lines and manner of speaking serve a similar purpose: "Ain't nobody bothering you" (26). On the contrary, Beneatha would never make such poor use of grammar. One can immediately recognize the gap in the education between Beneatha and the rest of her family members simply through analysis of her word choice, syntax, and adhearance to proper grammar. I first noticed the difference with the line, "God hasn't got a thing to do with it" (50). If it were Ruth or Walter speaking, this line would have undoubtedly read "God ain't got a thing to do with it." This simple adjustment is very revealing on behalf of Beaneatha's character. This difference in Beneatha's manner of speaking is symbolic of her overall desire to be different from her family, to reap a different fate. She does not want to feel trapped, and thus must work hard and attend school to make a life for herself and achieve great things. To do this, she must set herself apart.

No Setting No Story

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is almost completely centered around the setting that is the small urban apartment shared by the five family members. The plot is driven by the problems that the close quarters cause for each individual member. Most profound, however, is the effect of the living conditions on our beloved happy couple Walter Lee and Ruth Younger.
"And I'll pull the car up on the driveway...just a plain black Chrysler....Rich people don't have to be flashy....And I'll come up the steps to the house and the gardener will be clipping away at the hedges and he'll say, 'Good evening, Mr. Younger....'" (Hansberry 108-109). Here, Walter's rant to Travis about the future he has envisioned once Mama allows him to use the extra money for his business transaction clearly shows how Walter see's life in the small apartment. He is a man who wishes to be respected by society and simply does not see this happening unless he resides in a respectable abode. Walter has more superficial motives for escaping the apartment in comparison to his wife Ruth.
"Oh Walter...a home...a home" (Hansberry 91-92). Here, we see Ruth's motives for escaping the setting; she desires to have a home in which to properly raise her family. She wants a place to call her own, where she can establish a life for Walter, Travis, and the baby to come. Thus far, she has been dependent on Mama, living in the same apartment in which Walter was raised. Therefore, a change in setting would be a new chapter in life, a long-awaited beginning.