A Raisin In the Sun Symbols

While reading "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry, I noticed two primary symbols. The first is that of the window in the apartment. It is the only window in the apartment, and as such, the only source of natural light. I believe this window to represent hope to the family. The family hopes that they can move up, and get out of this apartment. Mama specifically, is always hoping to move into a house, that they own, rather than paying rent to an apartment. The window represents the hope to move outside of the apartment. The other symbol I found, involves Mama's plant. Mama's plant represents hope, as well as the window, but in a different way. In the small patch of dirt, with the small amount of sun available in the apartment, the plant is constricted. It can never grow to it's full size within the small confines of the apartment. As the family leaves the apartment, their hope increases. The amount of space available for the plant to grow increases as well. The plant can grow infinitely large at the family's new home, just as their hope, can go nowhere but up, with the ownership they have just recently acquired. Towards the end of the play, Hansberry writes "Open It! (She does and lifts out an elaborate, but very elaborate, wide gardining hat, and all the adults break up at the sight of it" (Hansberry 514). Mama has moved from being the caretaker of a single plant to being a gardener.