A Raisin in the Sun: A Summary

Introduction

The major theme in A Raisin in the Sun concerns generation in two senses--personal growth despite harsh social and economic opposition and family lineage. The title comes from Langston Hughes's poem, which compares a dream deferred too long to a raisin rotting in the sun. The Youngers are tired from the struggle to survive, but a promise of growth is inherent in the family name and in recurring plant and birth images. Mama's prize possession is a scraggly, little plant that gets fitful sunlight from the only window in the apartment. Just as she regularly ...