Through The Eyes of A Struggling Black American Family

This is an excerpt from my research paper from my junior year in high school.


Toni Morrison and Lorraine Hansberry both got into depth through the use of tone and attitude allowing readers to create a vivid portrait in their mind of the various types of conflicts a Black American family faces. Although, the Youngers, a Black American family succeeded in moving to a predominately white neighborhood, that was only the battle their race, culture have not yet won the war. If one takes a look a at the Breedloves, one will notice that they succeeded in nothing except bringing more corruption and dysfunction to a race who already suffered from being called ignorant just because of the color of their skin. While the Younger family build themselves to avail their race in winning the war, the Breedlove family is making it harder, allowing the white man to see exactly what they already think “There goes an ignorant black nigger,” behind doors readers see the down spirited side of the Youngers, a side with no pride, but what makes the two works have opposing outcomes is the same reason the Youngers win their battle with their conflicts and the Breedloves do not. Walter becomes head of his family when he finds the strength and the pride his parents instilled in him that he forgot was there, then becomes the rock of the Younger family, enabling them to win their battle. Then one takes into account Cholly and his family who from day one were corrupted with the thought of no self worth, they had no pride embedded into them only hurt and misleading hopes of advancement in life. Like Walter and his family they had a choice to ascend in their fight for happiness and to emerge victorious in their battle against the white man, but they chose to make all the wrong decisions resulting in their ultimate demise, failure. In A Raisin in The Sun one observes the struggles and downfalls the Youngers go through, but they were able to overcome those challenges and win their battle, but the Breedloves were not able to be triumphant, by winning their battle. They ended up getting trampled by their conflicts. The two families were not so different in the beginning, they both were failing to excel and surpass their conflicts with life, people, and themselves, but in the end the two works concluded with opposing outcomes, the Youngers being triumphant, and the Breedloves being failures, to the Black American family’s war in enhancing their life despite the white man’s criticism.
In conclusion the Younger family proved that in the face of conflict when things are really tough they can pull together and prevail over their conflicts, their ability to overcome their conflicts is the glue that pulled and held them together. The Breedlove family proved that if conflicts with in a family is not handled carefully and cautiously the family can and will fall apart. Finally, both families proved the different outcomes in a Black American family’s ability to advance in life despite the pitfalls and criticism the white society bestows upon them.