“A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry is a play that talks about the life of a particular African American family in the South Side of Chicago. They live in an old raggedy apartment with two bedrooms for five people. They share a bathroom with the neighbors and the only window in the apartment is in the kitchen. The opening scene of the play tells us that the family is receiving $10,000 of inheritance money because of Mr. Younger’s death, who was the father. The family is excited with this good news and they all have plans of what they want to do with it. Mama wants to buy a house so they can move out of the neighborhood they are in now into a bigger and nicer home. Walter Lee, Mama’s son, wants Mama to give him the money to invest it in a liquor business. He believes that he and a few of his friends can open a liquor business and they will make a killing, providing his family with whatever they want. Beneatha, Mama’s daughter, has plans of using the money for going to school and becoming a doctor. Beneatha and Walter Lee seem to be a little selfish with thinking the money should go to them, but Mama on the other hand makes a decision for the whole family when she buys a house. Mama bought a house in a white neighborhood but she didn’t spend all of the money. She gave the rest of the money to Walter Lee and told him to split it with his sister. Walter Lee being selfish, did not split it with his sister, but instead took it to his “friend” for the liquor business and he ran away with the money. The family moved into their nice house in the white neighborhood despite the treats they received from neighbors and even offerings of money to not move in.
“A Raisin in the Sun” shows the audience just a little taste of what it was like growing up for African Americans in that time period. The audience is exposed to the living conditions of the Younger’s. It is clear that their apartment is just not big enough for the five of them to live in; six if you count Walter Lee and Ruth’s baby that is on the way. The family also went through some racism and acts of discrimination. They were paid a visit by Mr. Linder, who was a white man speaking for the other white neighbors, and he told them he and the rest of the neighborhood would pay them to not move in. It’s sad to think that someone would actually pay someone else to not be their neighbor, but that’s how it went back then and there are still acts of discrimination today. Beneatha is one that stood out to me. She was proud to be an African American and she showed it. She cuts her hair and starts hanging out with an African American man. Beneatha stood up for who she was and I think in the end she had a lot to do with the Younger’s not selling out, but instead moving into their new home.
2 comments:
I really like that you mentioned the historical significance of this play. It's easy to try and ignore things when they are pure fiction, but people paying to keep African Americans out of their neighborhoods really is a part of our country's history. Good insights!
I agree that one of the main factors that readers get a glimpse of is how African Americans lived during the time period. These elements aim to display the desires of life for the African American in the mid 18th century. These desires take us into a world where individuals are forever in pursuit of freedom and contentment and the hope for a better future. Historically, the play highlights the poor living conditions of the black American and the racism that they underwent. The audience sees the dark, overcrowded house of the Younger’s.
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