I MA English- CORE COURSE VII – AMERICAN LITERATURE- 14PENC23

Unit-V –Drama- A Raisin in the Sun-Lorraine Hansberry Ms. S.

Femina

Themes in A Raisin in the Sun

American Dream

The American Dream is primarily the belief that anyone who comes to or is
born in America can achieve success through hard work. Each character in
the play A Raisin in the Sun has a very specific dream. When the play opens,
the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. This
money comes from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. Each
of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would
like to do with this money. Mama wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she
shared with her husband. Walter Lee would rather use the money to invest in
a liquor store with his friends. Ruth dreams of a place for her family to thrive.
Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor. The characters become consumed
by their dreams and make decisions they might not ordinarily make because
they are so frustrated by their lack of fulfillment.

Afro-centrism

There is a strong motif of afro-centrism throughout the play. Hansberry's

afrocentrism is expressed mainly through Beneatha's love for Asagai. Asagai,
a Nigerian native, is who Beneatha seeks out during her search for her own
identity. She is eager to learn about African culture, language, music, and
dress.

Class Tensions within the Black Community

A Raisin in the Sun is not just about race; class tensions are a prominent
issue throughout the play. George Murchison is Beneatha's well-to-do
boyfriend. Although he is educated and wealthy, Beneatha is still trying to
sort out her feelings about him. Her sister-in-law, Ruth, feels George is good-
looking, and can provide well for Beneatha. However, Beneatha is not
dependent on "marrying well" for her financial security. Hansberry also hints
that marriage into the Murchison family is not very probable. Beneatha says,
"Oh, Mama- The Murchisons are honest-to-God-real-live-rich colored people,
and the only people in the world who are more snobbish than rich white
people are rich colored people. I thought everybody knew that I've met Mrs.
Murchison. She's a scene!" Beneatha is sensitive to the reality that even
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though the two families are black, they are deeply divided. She suggests that
class distinctions are more pronounced amongst African-Americans than
between African-Americans and whites.

Racism

The most significant scene that blatantly portrays racism is the visit paid by
Karl Lindner- "quiet-looking middle aged white man" - who is sent by the
Clybourne Park Improvement Association to go around and see the new
people who move into the neighborhood. This representative of the district in
which Mama has put a deposit on a house, wants to live in an all-white
neighborhood—and he is willing to pay off the Youngers to stay out. Non-
violent and non-threatening, as Beneatha later explains to a panicked Lena,
"They don't do it like that anymore. He talked Brotherhood." In fact Lindner
frames his polite and insidious plea for segregation under the greater good.
"A man, right or wrong," he says, "has the right to want to have his
neighborhood he lives in a certain kind of way," asserting that everyone is
more comfortable living with their own kind and that "race prejudice simply
doesn't enter into it."

Assimilationism

A Raisin in the Sun, offers up a perfectly good definition for assimilationism.

Beneatha explains that assimilationism is the process by which a minority
group in a culture is required or encouraged to adopt the culture of the
dominant and often oppressive culture in which they live, giving up their
indigenous heritage. Asagai suggests that Beneatha is an assimilationist
when he says "Assimilationism is so popular in your country," she is really
the person who stands against it, even cutting her hair and letting it curl
naturally, against the dictates of fashion. On the other hand, her boyfriend,
George, is the poster child for assimilationism. Walter Younger points this out
when he says "How come all you college boys wear them faggoty-looking
white shoes?" In order to fit in to the college crowd, the white crowd, George
Murchison adopts styles and attitudes which are distinctly un-African.

Role of Beneatha

Beneatha is an attractive college student who provides a young,

independent, feminist perspective, and her desire to become a doctor
demonstrates her great ambition. Throughout the play, she searches for her
identity. She dates two very different men: Joseph Asagai and George
Murchison. She is at her happiest with Asagai, her Nigerian boyfriend, who

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has nicknamed her “Alaiyo,” which means “One for Whom Bread—Food—Is
Not enough.” She is at her most depressed and angry with George, her
pompous, affluent African-American boyfriend. She identifies much more
with Asagai’s interest in rediscovering his African roots than with George’s
interest in assimilating into white culture.

Beneatha's defiance toward Walter is symbolic of her defiance toward

all barriers of stereotype. Much of the conflict between Beneatha and Walter
revolves around Walter's chauvinistic view of Beneatha. When Walter
complains that Beneatha's medical schooling will cost more than the family
can afford, his resentment and anger erupts and he says, "Who in the hell
told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy 'bout messing 'round with
sick people — then go be a nurse like other women — or just get married and
be quiet."

Beneatha's relationship with her mother is largely one of conflict

because of their many differences, but it is not a strained relationship, for
even after her mother slaps her for her blasphemous talk, Beneatha later
hugs and thanks her mother for understanding her dismissal of George. She
loves her mother even if they do not always agree.

Beneatha's "schooling" is a privilege that Walter Lee has not had, yet
Beneatha appears to believe that a higher education is her right. Everyone in
the family is making a sacrifice so that Beneatha can become a doctor. Yet
beneath what seems to be selfishness, Beneatha's strengths are her spirit of
independence. She is a "new woman" who refuses to accept the traditional,
spineless female role. As she is so knowledgeable about Africa, her self-
esteem is enhanced. Beneatha's search for her identity is a motif carried
throughout the play; the closer she gets to Africa via her relationship with
Joseph Asagai, the more she develops into a pleasant, likeable, and less
egocentric person.

Justify the title A Raisin in the Sun

The title of the play, A Raisin in the Sun, is from a line from the poem,
"A Dream Deferred," by Langston Hughes. The poem focuses on what
happens to our dreams when they fail to become reality, "What happens to a
dream deferred?/ Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?" This poem
connects to the Younger Family in the play because they all have dreams
that cannot be fulfilled because of their race. They continually need to water
and nurture their dream lest is dry up and shrivel up like a raisin in the sun.

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 When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance
check for $10,000. This money comes from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life
insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to
what he or she would like to do with this money. Mama wants to buy a house
to fulfill a dream she shared with her husband. Walter Lee would rather use
the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. Ruth dreams of a place
for her family to thrive. Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor. She also
wishes that her family members were not so interested in joining the white
world. Beneatha instead tries to find her identity by looking back to the past
and to Africa. The characters become consumed by their dreams and make
decisions they might not ordinarily make because they are so frustrated by
their lack of fulfillment.

As the play progresses the Youngers clash over their competing

dreams. Ruth discovers that she is pregnant but fears that if she has the
child, she will put more financial pressure on her family members. When
Walter says nothing to Ruth’s admission that she is considering abortion,
Mama puts a down payment on a house for the whole family. She believes
that a bigger, brighter dwelling will help them all. This house is in Clybourne
Park, an entirely white neighborhood. When the Youngers’ future neighbors
find out that the Youngers are moving in, they send Mr. Lindner, from the
Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to offer the Youngers money in
return with financial gain for staying away. The Youngers refuse the deal,
even after Walter loses the rest of the money ($6,500) to his friend Willy
Harris, who persuades Walter to invest in the liquor store and then runs off
with his cash.

In the meantime, Beneatha rejects her suitor, George Murchison,

whom she believes to be shallow and blind to the problems of race.
Subsequently, she receives a marriage proposal from her Nigerian boyfriend,
Joseph Asagai, who wants Beneatha to get a medical degree and move to
Africa with him. The Youngers eventually move out of the apartment,
fulfilling the family’s long-held dream. Their future seems uncertain and
slightly dangerous, but they are optimistic and determined to live a better
life. They believe that they can succeed if they stick together as a family and
resolve to defer their dreams no longer. They learn that the dream of a
house is the most important dream because it unites the family.

Hansberry’s reference to Hughes’s poem in her play’s title highlights

the importance of dreams in A Raisin in the Sun and the struggle that her

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characters face to realize their individual dreams, a struggle inextricably tied
to the more fundamental black dream of equality in America.

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Racism

The primary theme of A Raisin in the Sun is race and racism. In other
words, A Raisin in the Sun demonstrates how race can complicate the
American Dream. The Youngers live in a poorly maintained apartment in a
segregated neighborhood of a segregated city. Ruth works as a domestic
and Walter as a chauffeur for rich white families because they are poor
uneducated blacks.

The ten-thousand-dollar insurance check of much dispute is used partly

to put a down payment on a house in Clybourne Park. Lena, who perhaps
knows a little about what might happen once they move where they aren't
wanted, makes this bold decision to do something big and necessary despite
its risks. They all express varying degrees of worry about what they could
face but move ahead with the packing and relocation.

The most significant scene that blatantly portrays racism is the visit
paid by Karl Lindner- "quiet-looking middle aged white man" - who is sent by
the Clybourne Park Improvement Association to go around and see the new
people who move into the neighborhood. This representative of the district in
which Mama has put a deposit on a house, wants to live in an all-white
neighborhood—and he is willing to pay off the Youngers to stay out. Non-
violent and non-threatening, as Beneatha later explains to a panicked Lena,
"They don't do it like that anymore. He talked Brotherhood." In fact Lindner
frames his polite and insidious plea for segregation under the greater good.
"A man, right or wrong," he says, "has the right to want to have his
neighborhood he lives in a certain kind of way," asserting that everyone is
more comfortable living with their own kind and that "race prejudice simply
doesn't enter into it."

The three justifiably angry Youngers proudly throw Lindner out of their
house, face a relapse when a broken Walter pledges to humiliate himself to
Lindner in order to get the down payment back, and eventually triumph over
this bit of oppression when Walter Lee "come[s] into his manhood" and
refuses Lindner's offer to buy them out.

Thus, A Raisin in the Sun depicts ordinary Americans who happen to be

black- and explores how the fact of their race inhibits them from
accomplishing their dreams.

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 Role of Mama

Mama is Walter and Beneatha’s sensitive mother and the head of the
Younger household. She demands that members of her family respect
themselves and take pride in their dreams. Mama requires that the
apartment in which they live always be neat and polished. She stands up for
her beliefs and provides perspective from an older generation. She believes
in striving to succeed while maintaining her moral boundaries. She rejects
Beneatha’s progressive and seemingly un-Christian sentiments about God.
Ruth’s consideration of an abortion disappoints her. Similarly, when Walter
comes to her with his idea to invest in the liquor store venture, she
condemns the idea and explains that she will not participate in such un-
Christian business. Money is only a means to an end for Mama. Mama loves
Travis, her grandchild. Dreams are more important to her than material
wealth, and her dream is to own a house with a garden and yard in which
Travis can play.

Mama is the most nurturing character in the play. She constantly

reminds Walter that all she has ever wanted is to make her children happy
and provide for them. She cares deeply for Walter and shows this care by
giving him the remaining insurance money. She cares deeply for Ruth as
well, consoling her when Walter ignores her. When Walter says nothing to
Ruth’s admission that she is considering abortion, Mama puts a down
payment on a house for the whole family in Clybourne Park, an entirely white
neighborhood. She believes that a bigger, brighter dwelling will help them
all. Mama respects Beneatha’s assessment of George Murchison as being
arrogant and self-centered, telling her daughter not to waste time with such
a “fool.”

As Mama is accustomed to suffering and enduring hardships, the

Linders of the world cannot disturb her inner peace, for she has previously
suffered the death of a baby and, more recently, the death of her husband of
many years. Her strong faith and deep religious convictions give her the
psychological and physical mettle she needs in order to rise to life's
challenges. At her lowest point, she asks God to replenish her waning
strength and is immediately possessed of a more compassionate perception
of Walter Lee's folly.

Mama strongly believes in the importance of family, and she tries to

teach this value to her family as she struggles to keep them together and
functioning. Walter and Beneatha learn this lesson about family at the end of
the play, when Walter must deal with the loss of the stolen insurance money
and Beneatha denies Walter as a brother. Even facing such trauma, they
come together to reject Mr. Lindner’s racist overtures. They are still strong
individuals, but they are now individuals who function as part of a family.
When they begin to put the family and the family’s wishes before their own,
they merge their individual dreams with the family’s overarching dream.

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 The most overt symbol in the play, Mama’s plant represents both
Mama’s care and her dream for her family. In her first appearance onstage,
she moves directly toward the plant to take care of it. She confesses that the
plant never gets enough light or water. Her care for her plant is similar to her
care for her children, unconditional and unending. The plant also symbolizes
her dream to own a house and, more specifically, to have a garden and a
yard. Mama impresses us with her strength. As her name suggests, Lena's
entire family "leans on" her and draws from her strength in order to replenish
their own.

*******************

Character of Walter Lee Younger

As Mama’s only son, Ruth’s defiant husband, Travis’s caring father,

and Beneatha’s belligerent brother, Walter serves as both protagonist and
antagonist of the play. The plot revolves around him and the actions that he
takes, and his character evolves the most during the course of the play. Most
of his actions and mistakes hurt the family greatly, but his belated rise to
manhood makes him a sort of hero in the last scene.

Passionate, ambitious, and bursting with the energy of his dreams,

Walter Lee is a desperate man, shackled by poverty and prejudice, and
obsessed with a business idea. He is the typical man of the family who
struggles to support it and who tries to discover new, better schemes to
secure its economic prosperity. Difficulties and barriers that obstruct his and
his family’s progress to attain that prosperity constantly frustrate Walter. He
believes that money will solve all of their problems, but he is rarely
successful with money. However, Walter proves throughout the drama that
he does not possess the entrepreneurial skills necessary to succeed in
business.

Walter is sorely lacking education, a fact made most clear in his

confrontation with George Murchison. When George says, "Good night
Prometheus," Walter not only does not know what "Prometheus" refers to,
but he actually thinks that George, just that moment, made up the word.

Walter is chained, and his obsessive dream restores what his

frustrations devour. Sadly, Walter never sees any way out of his economic
distress other than the liquor store, which his mother opposes solely on
moral grounds. Walter's chauvinism is apparent when he questions Beneatha
about her decision to become a doctor: He asks why she couldn't just

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become a nurse or get married "like other women." Walter is obsessed with
getting money so that he can buy "things for Ruth"; he is unaware that
treating Ruth more kindly and with more respect would be more appreciated
and valued than any "gifts."

Walter often fights and argues with Ruth, Mama, and Beneatha. Far
from being a good listener, he does not seem to understand that he must
pay attention to his family members’ concerns in order to help them.
Eventually, he realizes that he cannot raise the family up from poverty alone,
and he seeks strength in uniting with his family. Once he begins to listen to
Mama and Ruth express their dreams of owning a house, he realizes that
buying the house is more important for the family’s welfare than getting rich
quickly.

After Walter foolishly entrusts all of his mother's remaining money to

his unscrupulous buddy- Willy Harris, his shame turns to self-hatred, the only
emotion that permits him to consider selling out his race and accepting
Lindner's offer. But Walter finally becomes a man when he stands up to Mr.
Lindner and refuses the money that Mr. Lindner offers the family not to move
in to its dream house in a white neighborhood.

*******************

Joseph Asagai

In the play A Raisin in the Sun, Joseph Asagai is one of Beneatha’s

fellow students and one of her suitors. He is from Nigeria, and throughout
the play he provides an international perspective. In trying to win Beneatha’s
affections, he is persistent but never overbearing. He flatters her with gifts.
Asagai's gifts are not meaningless trinkets but are things that are both useful
to and desired by Beneatha — such as the Nigerian robes. Asagai's
compliments to Beneatha are sincere and therefore believable. His peaceful
ways and calm manner give Beneatha an appreciation of his views even
when they disagree.

Asagai is charming, mannerly, personable, and quite intelligent. In

spite of the cultural differences between him and the Younger family, he
appears to "fit in" more with them. He is proud of his African heritage. He
hopes to return to Nigeria to help bring about positive change and modern
advancements. He tries to teach Beneatha about her heritage as well. He
stands in obvious contrast to Beneatha’s other suitor, George Murchison,
who is an arrogant African-American who has succeeded in life by
assimilating to the white world.

Asagai is helpful and concerned about the welfare of others. He

volunteers to assist in the move to Clybourne Park and offers much-needed
consolation and good advice to Beneatha when she is at her lowest.

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 Though Asagai criticizes Beneatha a few times in the play, he seems to
do so out of a desire to help her. He criticizes her straightened hair and
persuades her to cut it and keep a more natural, more African look. He
criticizes her independent views. He counsels Beneatha spiritually and
emotionally, helping her to get back "on track" as she rails against her
brother's foolishness in having lost the money. He points out to her that her
dream of attending medical school is bound up in the insurance money from
her father’s death and her reliance on Walter’s investing schemes. This helps
to open Beneatha’s eyes to the necessity of probing her own existence and
identity. The text’s implication that Beneatha intends to accept Asagai’s
proposal of marriage and move to Nigeria with him suggests that he is, in a
way, a saviour for her.

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George Murchison

In the play A Raisin in the Sun, the educated and wealthy George
Murchison represents the black person whose own self-hatred manifests
itself as contempt for other blacks. George is pedantic — an academic show-
off — constantly making literary allusions. When Ruth asks George what time
the play begins that he's taking Beneatha to see, he answers pompously,
"It's an eight-thirty curtain. That's just Chicago, though. In New York,
standard curtain time is eight-forty." Such information is wasted on Ruth,
who has probably never seen a play and certainly has never been to New
York.

George's pomposity won't even permit him to ignore Walter's

desperate lie that he knows what New York is like; "Oh, you've been?"
George asks in order to further belittle a man whose self-esteem is already
zero. When Beneatha mentions Africa, George begins immediately to recite
everything he knows about African civilizations. Even though he clearly has
no respect for any of the accomplishments of the black people, still George is
compelled to match his knowledge against Beneatha's.

When George and Beneatha argue just before their inevitable breakup,
he warns Beneatha not to be such a serious intellectual and free-thinking
"new woman." But, when he says, "I don't go out with you to discuss the
nature of 'quiet desperation,'" he is showing off his own accumulation of
learning.

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Ruth Younger

Ruth's close relationship with her mother-in-law and with her new
family is comparable to the biblical Ruth, who tells her mother-in-law, Naomi,

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that she will travel with her wherever she goes and that "your people shall
be my people."

Ruth is a "soft" lady. She is not aggressive. She just lets life "happen"
to her. She is the "worn-out wife" with a tedious, routine lifestyle. Hansberry
describes Ruth as being "about thirty" but "in a few years, she will be known
among her people as a 'settled woman.'" Ruth has only simple dreams and
would be content to live out her life being moderately comfortable. Her
biggest dream blossoms only after Mama's news of the possibility of their
moving to a better neighborhood.

Ruth is easily embarrassed and tries too hard to please others. When
George Murchison arrives in the middle of Walter and Beneatha's frenzied
African dance, Ruth is overly apologetic to George about their behavior.
When Walter and Beneatha argue, Ruth asks Walter not to bring her into
their conflict.

Ruth reveals the most emotion when Mama tells her that they may not
be able to move. It is only then that Ruth assertively expresses her views.
She contemplates an abortion, for example, not because she wants to, but
because she is worried about the additional burden she would bring to the
family that she already has. Still, Ruth is not an "emotional weakling." She
never raises her voice, but she exhibits a remarkable strength. With all of her
economic and marital problems, Ruth never succumbs to despair. She has a
charming manner of always getting her way. She forces Travis to kiss her
goodbye even though he is too angry at her. She persuades her mother-in-
law to stop meddling with just one glance of disapproval. And she manages
to save her marriage even when things look hopeless for the relationship.

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Travis Younger

Travis is spoiled. In the first scene of the play, he cleverly gets what he
wants (the fifty cents his teacher has told him to bring to school) from his
father after his mother has emphatically stated that they just don't have fifty
cents. Earlier, Travis said that he could get it from his grandmother, which
implies that she gives him whatever he asks for.

Travis is a likeable child because, although he might be mischievous at

times, he is always mannerly. He seems sheltered and overprotected by the
numerous adults in the household, yet he is a "street kid," drawn to the life
of his ghetto neighborhood. In Act I, Scene 2, Travis and his neighborhood
pals are chasing a large rat for "sport."

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 Travis shows remarkable maturity by requesting permission to make
some money by "bagging groceries" at the local supermarket. He is not so
spoiled nor so pampered that he shirks responsibility. This scene contains,
perhaps, another of Hansberry's attempts to pay homage to the "children of
the poor," those whom she admired for their "spirit of independence."

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Karl Lindner

Lindner is a "flat character" But he is still developed by Hansberry as a

human being and not simply a stereotype of a bigot. For example, when Mr.
Lindner arrives at the Younger household, he is extremely shy and timid, not
threatening or abrasive or loud. He is polite and mannerly even though
everything he says is insulting to the Youngers.
It is immediately apparent that Mr. Lindner is not even aware of his
insults to them. He is simply a courier from the Clybourne Park
neighborhood, bringing a message to the Youngers that he, himself, had no
part in originating. He has been sent by the organization which he
represents, and he naively believes in the correctness of this organization.
But never do we get the impression that Lindner is filled with hatred that
would make him knowingly insult the Youngers or hurt them physically in any
way. Lindner does not realize the scope of his mission. When he says that
"people want to live among their own kind," he firmly believes that he is
doing the Youngers a favor by offering to pay them not to move into
Clybourne Park.

The Youngers are kind to Lindner when he first enters their apartment,
and Lindner's amazement turns into discomfort. When they offer Lindner
refreshments, he declines because he realizes at this point that the Youngers
are decent people, which makes his mission uncomfortable. Lindner appears
almost pathetic as he tries to explain his point of view to a fiery Beneatha, an
angry Walter, and a surprised Ruth.

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