Raisin in the Sun Essay Throughout the play A Raisin

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Raisin in the Sun Essay Throughout the play A Raisin in the Sun, by Ernest Hemmingway, I found that many of the characters had their own objects of symbolism. One character whose object I found most appealing, was Mama and her plant. This plant was everything to Mama; it was her most prized possession out of everything she owned.

One act within this story, where Mama shows the reader how much this plant really means to her, is when she is scolding her 2 children, Walter and Beneatha. She is yelling to them about what terrible tempers they both obtain. If you read deeply into the story, you will discover that Mama is actually taking her anger out on her plant, instead of taking it on the children. I truly understand Mama when she does this, because this exact same incident happened to me, although it would be in a different situation.

If for some odd reason my parents scold me, I usually get angry. Instead of yelling back at them and making the matter worse, I usually tend to take the anger inside me out on any person who I come in contact with.

Another instance where Mama shows her obsession for her plant, is when she is watering it and speaking to Ruth at the same time. She is discussing what spirited children she has. As Mama explains the vitality of her children, she begins to compare them to the fact that her plant does not ever receive enough sunshine. What Mama is trying to depict, is, just like her children, the plant is very full of energy, and like both the plant and children, neither of the two get much sunlight. As I read further into this comparison Mama made, I realized that I had been in a very similar situation, with my brother. One day, a friend of mine, began to compare my brother and I to his bottle of rubber cement. He saw that my brother and I easily bonded with each other, just like his bottle of glue.

As Mama and Beneatha continue to finish they're packing for the move; Mama walked up to her plant. She began to wrap it very carefully so not anyone could harm it. This here clearly shows that this plant is the most important factor in her life. Instead of packing something that depicts family history or something, she is packing her "Raggedy-looking Old thing." Mama clearly states that this one plant is the only thing in her long life that really expressed her. I clearly understand why mama did this, because I myself did the exact same thing on my move to Houston. Instead of packing up things of great value to the whole family, I spent most of my time and energy packing my own belongings.

One last incident that I found Mama showed her real love towards her plant, was when the Younger family was ready to move. Everyone was outside the house calling for Mama, but she insisted to have a moment alone in the house. Instead of Mama insisting on spending her last few moments with her family, she would like to do it with her plant. This shows that her plant is of more value to her than her family. Just the other day, I was reading the Houston Chronicle. I was skimming through the paper; I found an article on Children's Love for Their Family. From this article, I read that nearly 40% of children own a prized possession, which they thought more of than their parents.

I believe that this Plant which Mama owns, obtains both a positive, and negative symbol. In some cases it is a good influence, such as when she takes her anger out on the plant, and not her family. But it can also have a negative influence, when you choose the plant, over your family. This plant, I believe is kept in a very notable area. As Mama said, the plant did not get too much light, yet it was near a window all the time. I find it very significant, that the plant is near a window, yet receives no light. I also found it very questionable, when the author did not mention the species that this plant belongs to. I believe that the reason he did not reveal the plant type, because if he were to tell us, some readers would criticize Mama, because they may not agree with her loving this plant so much. See, if Mamas plant were to be a bush, some people may have something against this, and it would stop the sale of this book. I hope you now realize some of the main factors of why Mama loves this plant so much. It can be both beneficial and hurtful, at the same time.