“… grabs her plant and goes out for the last time.” – Symbolism

 

Symbolism, the use of symbols to represent ideas, has been a common use of figurative language in writing for many years. Lorraine Hansberry uses this type of visual description throughout the play. The main example of this is the way the author uses the image of MAMA’s deprived and “feeble” plant to illustrate a deeper connection to MAMA’s dreams.

When MAMA first enters the play, the first thing she immediately does is tend to her plant in the window. The author wants the reader to understand that although the small plant is considered almost dead it is persistently attempting to grow with the little amount of sunlight that it receives (39, 52). The dream that reoccurs in the play is MAMA’s hope of moving out of the apartment, that she and Big Walter bought right after they got married, and move into a two-story house with a garden (45). Hansberry’s use of symbolism is interesting here. The lifeless plant, that is barely surviving from lack of nourishment, represents MAMA’s dream garden. MAMA didn’t have the opportunity to fulfill her dreams due to putting the needs of the family first but, she still cares for the plant every day. The plants’ purpose of representing the dream of a garden/new home is illustrated in Act 1 Scene 1. The author writes “Well I always wanted me a garden like used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home. This plant is close as I ever got to having one … Lord, ain’t nothing as dreary as the view from this window on a dreary day is there? (53)” The last sentence in this quote has many possible meanings, but the view that strikes me is that MAMA is describing the “view” from the perspective of looking at the window not out of it. The barely living plant sitting on a windowsill, getting little to no light, and fighting to survive is a depressing sight for MAMA. The lifeless presence of the plant reminds her of the dream “deferred” or, in other words, a dream put on the shelf untouched.

When Big Walter passed MAMA made the decision to use a big portion of the insurance check for a down payment on a house, she was one step closer to achieving her and Big Walter’s dream until the rest of the money was stolen from them. The loss of the money deterred MAMA and the Younger family from moving into the new house. Hansberry describes this scene, “MAMA enters from her bedroom. She is lost, vague, trying to catch hold, to make some sense of her former command of the world, but it still eludes her… She goes to her plant, which has remained on the table, looks at it, picks it up and takes it to the windowsill and sits it outside, and she stands and looks at it a long moment. (139)” Distraught and emotionally drained from the emotional rollercoaster that is her life, MAMA puts the plant back into its usual spot. It is portrayed that by putting back the pot, MAMA is giving up on the dream once again, confident that it will likely not happen and that her life will remain the same. In the last stage direction of the play, Hansberry closes with MAMA packing up the last of the house, “MAMA stands, at last alone in the living room, her plant on the table before her as the lights start to come down … The lights dim down. The door opens and she comes back in, grabs her plant, and goes out for the last time. (151)”  MAMA grabbing the plant at the end is so important to this figurative theory behind the symbolic purpose of the plant. MAMA going back in the house to grab it and take it with her to the new Younger residence represents the conclusion of their life in the apartment and symbolizes the fulfillment of her and Big Walter’s dream.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

Having read and watched A Raisin In The Sun, what purpose do you think Lorraine Hansberry had when she decided on the title of this play? What message was she trying to portray?

How can we compare the imagery of Langston Hughes’ a raisin in the sun to Hansberry’s symbol of MAMA’s beloved plant?

15 thoughts on ““… grabs her plant and goes out for the last time.” – Symbolism”

  1. Megan,
    I had very similar thoughts when reading the last Act of this play! The plant was definitely symbolizing Mama’s dream with Big Walter which wasn’t talked about as much as all of the other characters dreams’. I think Lorraine Hansberry chose the title of this play for the purpose of the raisin symbolizing a dream left out in the sun, wrinkled and dry already, but still sitting there waiting to be acted upon. I think she was trying to portray a message that the dream was left and pushed back on for a while before it was pursued and it got very wrinkled and dry in the sun (symbolizing the raisin). The imagery of Langston Hughes’ a raisin in the sun to Hansberry’s symbol of Mama’s beloved plant can be compared in a way where they both represent dreams and have been sitting for a while. When you stated, “The lifeless presence of the plant reminds her of the dream “deferred” or, in other words, a dream put on the shelf untouched”, was that dream sitting there until the end of the play where Mama takes the plant and moves into a bigger house with a garden to be made like she always dreamed of. The dream was “untouched” and small, almost lifeless like the plant, but eventually it will be apart of a garden, the bigger dream.

    1. Megan,
      I really noticed the importance of the plant throughout Hansberry’s play as well. However, I wasn’t as observant as you in realizing that tending to the plant was not only Mama’s last action in the play, but it was also her first. This play has a reoccurring presence of the value of dreams. Mama’s dream is as simple as wanting a garden of her own in the backyard of a house that they own. The plant is her hope, her dream that she is holding onto before the possibility slips away completely. When she leaves for good, Mama wants the plant to be the start, the seed of her dream. In terms of the title of this play I believe that the title is symbolic of Mama. Mama has been through most of her life, is left alone by the death of her husband and is already quite far into her life while still not reaching her dream. Like Langston Hughe’s poem, Mama is wrinkled, tired and worn out from her tough life like the Raisin that was once a grape in Hughe’s poem. Although this is true and her life seems over, Mama still waits for her dream, as the already dried raisin in Hughe’s poem waits for more to its life.

  2. Megan,
    I agree with you that the house plant is a perfect piece of symbolism for Mama’s dreams, because it seemed almost lifeless while living in the Younger’s apartment, but now it will have a chance to blossom in their new house just like Mama will. I think Lorraine Hansberry chose to call the play “A Raisin in the Sun” because the play is about how every major character in the story has a dream that they are either chasing after or deferring, and how it has affected them. In Walter’s case, he is completely agitated from not being able to go after his dream. After Willy Harris ran off with Walter’s money, Walter was so destroyed emotionally that Mama says about him “death done come in this here house.” She also says to Beneatha “you mourning your brother?” I think the message Hansberry was trying to portray through the title is that our dreams, whether fulfilled or not, impact our entire lives and even our will to live.

  3. Megan,
    I really like how you incorporated the title of the play into the message that the story is trying to convey. I personally believe that Hansberry chose this title because of the poem by Langston Hughes that we can see at the beginning of the book. A raisin is already a dried up fruit so to think of something that is already dried up and to put it in the sun is like taking something that is already broken and breaking it even more. All of the members of the Younger family have different dreams and goals but they all need/ want money in order to accomplish it. A raisin in the sun is slowly decomposing just like all of the Younger’s dreams.

    Mama’s plant is so special to her and she cares for it like her dream of one day owning her own home and her own garden. She treats her plant like her dream, with intent to follow up on it. Like the poem by Langston Hughes, a raisin in the sun represents the Younger’s dreams and how they are actually turning out but, Mama’s plant represents her hopes and how she wishes her dreams will turn out

  4. To answer your first question, I believe that Lorraine Hansberry used Langston Hughes’ poem as inspiration for titling her work, which would explain why she inserted the poem in the beginning of the book. I think that the poem reflects the Younger family in several ways, in several of the lines of the poem. Starting with the opening line “What happens to a dream deferred?”; the entire play revolves around dreams. Walter has dreams of living a lavish life, Beneatha has dreams of becoming a doctor, even Travis has dreams of growing up to be like his father. The poem uses language that draws an unpleasant picture in the readers mind, as does the play in regards to the Younger’s living situation. The play describes their home as small, dark, and old. It’s cramped and the family dreams of living in a new place with lots of windows. In the second to last line of the poem, Hughes suggests that a dream deferred may “sag like a heavy load”, much like how both Mama and Ruth constantly have heavy loads of work and stress. They both have dreams but have had to push them to the side while they work to support their family. Overall, I think that the poem was perfectly chosen to represent this play and to be paired with it.

  5. Megan,
    I really liked the point you made when you said Mama’s plant in the window represents her dream garden. Saying that, although she can’t have the big garden of her dreams, she still takes care of it like it is. I also believe it represents Mamas dedication and drive that she has for things that she believes in. What i think Lorraine Hansberry wanted to portray in the play title being A Raisin In The Sun is how little the family has in such a big world. They are represented as the raisin in how little they have in their possession, even when they had the incoming check, most of it was washed away in the blink of an eye. The main lesson of this play is to be grateful for what you have even if it’s not much and keep your family as your main priority above everything.

  6. You’re blog post is great and I loved how Lorraine Hansberry used Mama’s plant as a symbol of her dream. Besides the great examples that you have stated to explain how the plant symbolizes Mama and her dreams, I believe that the plant symbolizes strength within her as well. In Act II Scene III, Beneatha asks Mama what she was doing with her plant and Mama replies “fixing my plant so it won’t get hurt none on the way…”(121). Beneatha is shocked that her mother was taking the “raggedy-looking old thing” with her to the new house and Mama exclaimed that “it expresses ME!”(121). I believe that her plants symbolizes her own strength because the plant has nearly survived in a apartment with little to no sunlight just like Mama. Just like she has survived the conditions of segregation in Chicago of 1959. Mama’s efforts in keeping their dreams as a whole family is represented in the way that she nurtured and cared for her plant, keeping it alive. The new house is a new beginning for her and her plant which will continue to prosper.

  7. Hi Megan,
    I had really similar thoughts on the symbolism throughout the text. I liked what you thought about Mama’s dying plant representing her dream garden; to add onto that I think it could also symbolize the Younger family’s struggles in the beginning and their hardships with money and relationships to each other. Like the plant, the Younger’s have tried to work hard but fall short of achieving their goals. However, she continues to care for the plant which shows her dedication and hope for her family.
    I think Hansberry titled the book well, using the symbolism and imagery from Langston Hughes’ poem. The raisin lying out shriveled up in the sun reminds me of Walter’s dreams being left aside and him not getting to fulfill them. It represents a dream that has been neglected and tainted for a long time. This relates to the symbolism of the plant because plants and raisins decompose when they are either left out or not taken care of.

  8. Megan,
    I thought you did a really nice job implying the importance of the last scene of the play, with Mama taking her sad, dry plant with her. One of the interesting things about her character is that she always keeps her dream with her. Like you said, the plant represents her dream of living in a good house with a nice garden, and although the plant withers, it doesn’t die. She still harbors that dream, nurturing it enough to keep it alive, giving it the possibility to bloom agian, which is unlike some of the other characters, who let their dream get beaten out of them.
    To answer your first question, I think the meaning behind this title is similar to Mama with her plant. Although the dream that once was has withered and wrinkled away until it’s almost recognizable, it is still there in some form, just like a raisin in the sun. And then, with the right care, a raisin can be re-hydrated to the point that, even though it won’t become a grape again, it won’t be wrinkled and dry, but rather something new, something that has went to the brink but then come back. This seems to be a parallel for Mama, as well for the rest of their family. Although they have been to the edge, have been left in the sun until they’ve withered up and dried, they still have the possibility to re-hydrate, to become something new.

  9. Megan,
    I really liked how you decided to focus on Mama’s plant! I think this was the greatest piece of symbolism throughout the entire play, and it perfectly depicted Mama’s lost dreams. I think the line from the poem that stuck out to me most when referring to Mama’s plant would be, “What happens to a dream deferred? … / Maybe it just sags / Like a heavy load” (Hughes, 1, 9-10). The plant in the kitchen serves as a reminder; every morning she wakes up, every time she looks at or tends to her plant, it reminds Mama that her dreams, even as small as having her own garden, have not been achieved. The plant and what it represents is weighing Mama down, it looms around the house almost like a slap in the face. However, even though most of Mama’s dreams seem to be “deferred”, she still tends to the plant. Even at the end of the play when the Younger family is finally moving, Mama goes back inside to take her beloved plant with her. That time, it serves as a reminder of all the Younger family has had to endure, and all they are capable of enduring in the future.

  10. I believe Lorraine Habsburg was very selective in her title choice considering she could’ve taken any other part of Langston Hughes’ poem and titled her book after it. I believe she chose the raisin analogy because a raisin represents something that once was, however no it is shriveled up because it was left in the sun. Raisins also do not return to their previous form no matter how hard you try either. This is a metaphor for the entire Youngers family. Although they may have once been a “grape” because they didn’t act on their dreams, the family became a “raisin”. Langston Hughes’ poem can be used to represent Mama’s plant in several ways. The main line that stands out to me however is “maybe it just sags, like a heavy load” (Hughes line 8). Usually when a plant starts to wilt, it will begin to sag over and become discolored, however the plant seems to be Mama’s “heavy load.” In that no matter how bad life is, she’ll always tend to the plant so it’s clearly a priority of hers.

  11. Megan,
    I really like how you interpreted that scene. I did notice that the plant stood out and seemed to be an important piece but I hadn’t made the connection. The plant does seem to represent Mama’s dreams that she continues to put aside for her family. The scene where she puts the plant back on the windowsill after the money was lost is particularly moving. She was so close to taking that dream to the next step but had to put it back on the shelf once again for the good of her family. It also brings up the very last part of the play/book where she is leaving the apartment and almost leaves the plant/her dream sitting on the table but at the last minute she returns and takes her dream to the next step. Interesting interpretation and very well written, thank you for your post.

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