Maximo Gutierrez

Ms. Storer
English 3 Honors
March 12, 2020
My Biggest Takeaway from A Raisin in the Sun
The biggest takeaway I had from reading Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is that
how no matter how much money you have, or what position your life is in, or how the world
treats you, you should always maintain a sense of dignity and hope, like Lena did her entire life
while waiting for the money to buy a house, or what Walter almost lost his dignity after
threatening to sell the house for money.
Most of my life, I have been very fortunate as far as my family’s financial situation. My
grandparents were the first in my family to move to the U.S. in the 1970s for a better life than
they had in Mexico. Through stories of my parents, my family had been poor in almost all their
history, and the financial situation of my mother and father’s generation was still not very good.
My mother’s parents lived in a condo until they moved in with us, and most of their childhood
was focused around finding ways to have fun with the limited opportunities they had. My
father’s financial situation was slightly better, as they lived in a small house, but life was still
hard. Despite this, my parents always remained diligent for a better, and they became the first
generation of my family to attend college, where they studied hard to become teachers and buy a
large house for me and my brother to live a comfortable life.
When I think about my life in comparison to the Younger family, I see radical
differences. I have never had the living experience that the Youngers had, but I can relate to my
parents, who grew up under almost similar living conditions. I could imagine my parents not
having 50 cents necessary for something, like Travis did in the book. I could also imagine my
grandmothers and mother working hard like Ruth as well to keep up a clean lifestyle, as even
today, they sacrifice so much to upkeep the house and can come off so much as tired. My
mother’s sister also wanted to be a doctor like Beneatha, and I could see how her financial
situation could have provided a challenge in getting her to that goal.