Happiness in Fences, by August Wilson, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansbury :: Fences, A Raisin in the Sun

Imagine for a moment it is your big sisters 17th birthday. She is prohibited with her friends celebrating, and your parents are at the mall with your little chum salmon doing some last minute birthday shopping, leaving you home alone. You then hear a knock on the front door. When you getthere, nobody is there, just an nameless note taped to the door that says Happy Birthday, along with a hundred dollar bill. Youve been dying to get that new video game, and your sister will never know. You are faced with a tough decision, however not a very uncommon one. In both Fences, by August Wilson, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansbury, tough decisions have to be made about getting money from somebody elses misfortune. But moneys that important right? The role of money in peoples day-to-day lives is quite amazing when its put into perspective. The primary reason most Americans get up in the morning is so they can go out and make money. Money buys things money influences peop le money keeps us ali ve money makes us happy. Or does it? In Fences, by August Wilson, the Maxtons get their money when Gabes sharpen is shot in the war. In A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansbury, the Younger family gets their money when Walters father dies. But do the se things make them happy? Of physique not. They are coming upon money from someone elses misfortune, someone they love. The money may have made life easier for a brief moment in time, but the novelty soon wears off and reality soon returns.The interesting thing about these two novels is that the money received by both the Maxtons and the Youngers did exactly the enemy of what everyone expected it to do. It eventually made problems for both of the families. In Fences, the Maxtons used Gabes money to buy a house and even though it seemed like a sincere idea, when Gabe moved out, it caused a great deal of guilt in the family, but especially in Troy. He just couldnt get over how he used someone he loved so much, and they didnt even kn ow it. In A Raisin in the Sun, the Youngers also buy a house with the money the life insurance gave them.