A Raisin in the Sun
By: Daniel Alejandro Mendivil Ahuatzin
4th hour
Racism is a major issue that has affected the United States since its discovery. Racism is the hatred by a person of one race pointed at a person of another race. The United States has grown up to improve as a whole but this process is a long way away from completion. Some citizens still believe that African-Americans are inferior to Caucasians and that they should be slaves. In the 1950s, whites and blacks were segregated to a point that they could not go to the same schools or even use the same bathrooms. Chief Justice Earl Warren abolished the segregation of schools in May of 1954. The desegregation of schools has helped people of all races grow up together in a non-hostile environment where they can develop relationships with people of other races. Throughout the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry criticizes the racial and discriminatory climate of America in the 1950s and early 60s.
It becomes obvious to the reader that the racial tension Hansberry experienced growing up reflected on the way her literature is written. Moss and Wilson state that, “Lorraine Hansberry’s South Side childhood, particularly her father’s battle to move into a white neighborhood, provided the background for the events in the play” (314). Hansberry experienced many of the situations she placed the Younger family at first hand. Hansberry’s father, Carl Hansberry, was put in a similar circumstance when he moved his family into a predominately white community at the opposition of the white neighbors. He eventually won a civil rights case on discrimination. Speaking of the United States, Adler states, “A Raisin in the Sun is a moving drama about securing one’s dignity within a system that discriminates against, even enslaves, its racial minorities” (824).
Lena Younger, known as Mama, is in her early sixties. “She is one of those women of a certain grace and beauty who wear it so unobtrusively that it takes a while to notice. She has wit and faith of a kind that keeps her eyes lit and full of interest and expectancy. Mama is, in a word, a beautiful woman. Thomas Adler asserts, “Her speech is as careless as her carriage is precise-she is inclined to slur everything-but her voice is perhaps not so much quiet as simply soft”(826). Her husband died a before the beginning of the play leaving the Younger family a ten thousand dollar life insurance check. Mama works very hard to try and help her family have the best, especially for Travis.
Walter believed that Ruth and Mama should not have work since it makes him seem cowardly. Ruth and Mama want to support the family by cooking and cleaning the houses of people in the neighborhood. Walter’s discrimination toward Mama and Ruth is a sign of the times. Women did not commonly work in the 1950s and 60s. The women were generally in charge of taking care of the children and the house or apartment.
The community of Clybourne Park places a stigmatism on the Youngers’ simply because they are of African-American descent. Previous African-American families who lived in Clybourne Park were bombed and had other disturbing thing done to their house and family. This can be related to the time of the play’s publication due to the civil rights movement by the African-American race. The late 1950s to the early 60s were a time of various hate crimes. African-American churches were burnt down by white supremacy fighters as well as thousands of homes occupied by African-Americans.
Walter Lee has many internal problems, which hurt his character. Walter Lee tends to drink too much when he goes to a bar and come home intoxicated. He started relying on the bar after getting in a fight at home or if he was down. Walter Lee possesses a temper got him into trouble by causing him to say things that he did not mean.
Ruth faces a major decision of whether or not to keep the baby she was pregnant with. Her marriage with Walter is in a downward spiral and forced her to consider the inconsiderable, abortion. Ruth still has thoughts of abortion until they moved into the new house in Clybourne Park. After moving into the new house, the family has enough room so that they would not be at each others throat the whole time unlike the old apartment. When the play ends, Ruth is planning to keep her baby.
Walter Lee experiences a severe control problem over his family. After his father‘s death, Walter becomes the man of the house and is not acting like he should be. Walter pressures himself to provide luxury to Ruth and anything less does not satisfy him. After Walter lost part of the life insurance to Willy Johnson who ran off with it, he leaves all the other financial responsibilities to Mama.
Mama’s external conflict is what to do with the ten thousand dollars left to the family from “Big Walter’s” life insurance. Mama wants the best for the family and is not sure whether to buy a new house, pay for Beneatha’s medical school, or help Walter start up a liquor business. Mama decides to spend seven thousand dollars on a down payment for the house and put the other three thousand dollars in the bank. When Mama gives the three thousand dollars to Walter to deposit in the bank, Walter gives part of it to his business partner Willy who then runs away with it. Mama is faced with another decision about whether to take Mr. Lindner’s offer to buy the house back or not. After consideration, Mama decides that the family will move into their new house.
A Raisin in the Sun relates to the events Lorraine Hansberry experienced growing up as well as the events happening at the time of which the book was written in 1959. Arthur France notes, “If serious can be taken to mean earnest, deep, grave, sober, solemn, not joking or trifling, then we might say that the setting of A Raisin in the Sun is indeed appropriate to tragedy. The condition out of which the action of this play arises is very serious in terms of the moral behavior of men”(185). In the closing stages of the story, the Younger family overcame the racism that they were fronted with to become a stronger family