A Simple Person:

An Essay based on A Raisin in the Sun

By Cassie Seidel

Pine Point School

English Class

9/27/11

    Are you a simple person? If you don’t know, the song, “A Simple Man” by Lynrd Skynrd, tells a story about living a simple life. This song can relate to the character, Walter Lee, in the play “A Raisin in the Sun.” “A Simple Man” also relates to my life as a teenage girl living in 2011. My life can get so complicated. I need to slow down and live a simpler life, like Walter Lee.
.
    The book, “A Raisin in the Sun” can relate to living a simple life. The character, Walter Lee, can definitely be considered a simple man. He gets very frustrated; however, he loves everyone who is around him all the same. In the book, there is a character named Mama, who is Walter Lee’s mother. In the song, “A Simple Man”, Mama tells her son right from wrong and how to go through life. In the book, Mama tells Walter Lee basically the same thing. The lyrics, “Be a simple, kind of man, Oh won’t you do this for me son?” are proof of the love these two mothers have for their children. They are both caring, loving, and kind. The song also tells the boy to find a woman to love. Walter Lee finds Ruth who is a beautiful woman, a kind woman, and a caring woman, just like his mother. Ruth and Walter sometimes don’t get along, but that is just how a simple family lives. Just because you live a simple man’s life, doesn’t mean you always get it right.

    This song, “A Simple Man”, can also relate to my simple life as a 14 year old girl. It has always been hard for me to, “Forget my lust for a rich man’s gold.” I usually look at something, want it, and try to get it. I need to realize how great my life is without “gold”. I also have trouble being simple because I am so dramatic. No matter how hard I try, it seems like I can never slow down. However, if I take a deep breath and realize that life is getting too crazy, I can calm myself down. Finally, my mother always tells me to take a deep breath and think, just like Mama in Lyrnd Skynrd’s song. Her kind words and loving actions show me that being a simple person is better than being a crazy complicated person. Being crazy might be fun some of the time, but going back to the simple basics puts me back on track. In my worst hours, being a simple person puts my problems in perspective.

    “A Simple Man” was written in 1973, and it still relates to life in 2011. It amazes me how a song can be listened to 38 years after it was written and still relate to life today. The song also relates to the life of a poor black man named Walter Lee in the early fifties in “A Raisin in the Sun.” A simple raisin in the sun might grow into a large complicated grapevine one day.