Learning To Like Summer Essay, Research Paper

Learning to Like Summer

How can personal experiences change a person s attitude? This question is answered

through Lorraine Hansberry s On Summer. In this narrative, the main character and author,

Lorraine, has a disfavorable impression of summer. However, through certain experiences,

she realizes that it is a season to be greatly appreciated.

Summer was a mistake, according to Lorraine. It was an utter overstatement that

consisted of displeasurable things like grainy sand, cold waters, and the icky, perspiry feeling of

bathing caps. Everything was always louder, sharper, hotter, and therefore, very

uncomfortable. However, Lorraine did appreciate one thing about summer, and that was how on

hot days, her family would go to the park and lay on the cool, sweet grass with a freshly-cut

smell of lemons.

An experience that opened Lorraine s mind to the joys of summer was when she went to

visit her grandmother in Tennessee. During her drive, while passing Kentucky, she saw

beautiful hills where her grandfather had hidden as a slave from his master. After reaching her

grandmother and spending some time in the rural Tennessee, Lorraine begins to associate the

good parts of summer with the natural beauty of the countryside. Soon, the fun summer is over

and Lorraine must go back home to Chicago. Next summer, upon hearing that her grandmother

has died, she realizes how special summer was because of the precious moments she was able to

spend with her grandmother.

Another event in Lorraine s life that aided in changing her opinion of summer was when

she went up to a lodge in Maine. She encountered a remarkable woman who was stricken with

cancer, but didn t let that cancer be a hindrance to her. The woman refused to accept cancer as

tragedy and her face softened, looking around, hoping to see one more summer. Through the

lady s eyes, she found the gift of another summer with its stark and intimate structure.

Through her experiences with the cancer-ridden woman and her grandmother, Lorraine

realized that summer was the most special season of them all. Summer has the longest days, and

to dying people like those mentioned above, every minute counts. Summer gives these people

more daylight, more time, to realize their wishes and dreams. Fall, with its pretentious

melancholy, can t do this, and the austere winter can t do it either. Not even the

frivolous spring, full of false promises could measure up to the intensity and beauty of summer

in Lorraine s eyes. Hearing that the woman battling cancer did indeed get to see another

summer just cemented these newfound beliefs for her, and is proof that experiences can change a person s attitude.