A Raisin in the Sun

Home Ownership

By: Talia Bahar, Kai McNamee, and

Savannah Starkings

Introduction

Home ownership in A Raisin in

the Sun
Major theme in the book
Walter's views of a
home/property
Symbolism of a home to
the Youngers
The importance of
money
Housing discrimination

Home Ownership = Independence

Walter Leeit makes
difference in a man
when he can walk on
floors that belong to
him.

Walter wants the house too, so

he can feel less dependent,
and realise he can take care
of himself.
He wants to feel less like hes
being taken care of and live up
to the legend of his father

Property Ownership & Walter

Your old man is all right, man...I mean
he thinks big, you know what I mean, I
mean for a home, you know?
Life is just like it is. Who gets and who
dont get. - Walter (Pg. 125)
People who dont get it are the tookens.
They get taken from, and dont appreciate it, but
dont understand it enough to start being the
takers.
People who do get it are they takers. They
have more of an advantage and can have his or
her own house.

Symbolism of a Home

Youngers VS Clybourne Park

Community

A home represents different things to

different people

To the Younger family a home

represents:

Hope:They believe the house will

help provide a better future for
them
Unity:The idea of the home
unites the family as they
confront the discrimination they
face in a white neighborhood
Growth: The home creates new
opportunities for the Younger
family to achieve emotional,
moral, and economic growth.

Symbolism of a Home
Course I don't want to make it
sound fancier than it is ... It's just
a plain little old housebut it's
made good and solidand it will
be ours .

A house becomes a home once you

make it your own.

To the Clybourne Park community, a

house is just a house, not a home
Lindner and the rest of the
Clybourne Park community don't
see what the Youngers see in a
home.
They don't understand why they
can't just pick another house
because they haven't been
through what the Youngers have.
Langston Hughes Theme for
English B

The Importance of Money

White Picket Fence Dream

only possible with
money(pressure)
Money can have a positive and
negative affect on a family,
depending on how much importance
you put on it
Mama doesnt want the money to tear
her family apart.
a home is supposed to unite

Once upon a time freedom used

to be lifenow it's money. I guess
the world really do change
- Mama

Housing Discrimination

Younger family is a black family in a

white neighborhood
Although the community wants
them to leave, they dont

I come from five generations of

people who was slaves and
sharecroppers - but aint nobody
in my family let nobody pay em
no money that was a way of
telling us we wasnt fit to walk the
earth - Mama (Pg. 127)

Housing Discrimination

Youngers are victims of post

WWII housing discrimination
Lindner represents the
discriminatory community
Post WWII GI Bill results in
housing discrimination (Post
War Economic Boom)

What do you think you are going to gain by

moving into a neighborhood where you just arent
wanted - Lindner (Pg. 103)

Home ownership in American Literature

Home ownership in Of
Mice and Men vs. A
Raisin in the Sun
George and
Lennies dream farm
The house that
Mama bought
Importance of a home
Independence

Sources
Housing Discrimination today:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/14/news/la-ol-housing-discrimination-hasnt-disappeared-20130614

LA History, Prop 14:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Los_Angeles#Proposition_14

Post War economic boom

http://www.understandingrace.org/history/society/post_war_economic_boom.html

GI Bill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Bill

House Prices
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/31/business/economy/case-shiller-index.html?_r=0