A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry - Literature review Example

Two Raisins in the Sun (An Antithesis Of Two Characters In Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin In The Sun Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago on May19, 1930, the youngest of four children of independent and politically active Republican and well-to-do parents Carl and Nannie Perry Hansberry. “Hospitals at that time were required to list the racial identities of newborns; however, upon receiving their daughter’s birth certificate, Hansberry’s parents crossed out the word ‘Negro’ and wrote ‘Black’, an act of minor significance but certainly a testament to the Afrocentric ideology that the elder Hansberry bequeathed to their children” (Cliff Notes, n.d., n.p.) Produced in 1959, the play presaged the revolution in Black and women’s consciousness and the revolutionary torment in Africa that exploded in the years after Mrs. Hansberry’s death in 1965 to ineradicably change the consciousness and social fabric of the nation and the world. “As so many have commented lately, it did so in a manner and to an extent that few could have foreseen, for not only the restored material, but much else that passed unnoticed in the play at the time, speaks to issues that are now inescapable value systems of the black family; concepts of African American beauty and identity; class ad generational conflicts; the relationships of husbands and wives; black men and women; the outspoken feminism of the daughter; and in the penultimate scene between Beneatha and Asagai, the larger statement of the play and the ongoing struggle it portends” (Nerniroff, 1994) Although 1930 is the time Americans associate with the Great Depression, the Hansberry family remained economically stable and by 1930 standards of the Chicago blacks, they would have been considered “rich”. Hansberry was not comfortable with her “rich girl” status, but identified with the “children of the poor”. She imitated their maturity and independence. She decided to wear keys around her neck in imitation of the “latchkey” children of her day, so she too might be regarded as one of them. She never lived in a Younger household but observed such households closely in her childhood. In her plays as in “Raisin”, she has focused on the class of black people she cared most about. On the other hand, Lorraine’s father, Carl, remained politically active. He challenged a Supreme court decision against integration and won his right to purchase a house in an exclusive Chicago neighborhood where no other blacks lived. “Shortly afterward, Hansberry herself was nearly killed by a brick hurled through a window by angry whites. Hansberry remembers her mother “standing guard” many times with a loaded gun in order to protect her family from the violence of racism. Such traumatic memories were probably a part of a black family’s courageous decision to move into a hostile and new environment” (Cliffnotes, n.d., n.p.). The death of Lorraine’s father at the age of fifty one touched the author deeply. It was her father’s constant battle with racism, she said, that caused his early death. The cause and effect of much of the action in “Raisin” evolves as a consequence of Big Walter, an unseen character in the play, although there are may references to him in the dialogue. “A Raisin in the Sun” narrates the story of the Youngers, a lower-class black family in their struggle to gain middle class acceptance. The play begins as Mama, the sixty-year-old matriarch awaits a $10,000.00 insurance check from the death of her husband and the drama focuses on how the money should be spent. Walter Lee, Mama’s son, is desperate to be a better provider for his family that he plans to invest the whole amount in a liquor store with two friends. Mama Younger objects vehemently for ethical reasons. She is opposed to the idea of selling liquor. Their disagreements spark minor conflicts. Mama decides to invest a portion of the money as downpayment on a house in a white neighborhood and Walter’s objections causes her a great deal of anguish. To solve the problem, she entrusts Walter Lee with the rest of the money and he loses no time in proceeding with his plans of setting up the liquor store. One of his business partners, however, absconds with the money. This act tests the mettle of the Youngers and after much wavering, they continue with Mama’s original plan of moving into the house in a white neighborhood where blacks are not welcome. My director has given me a free hand in choosing which role to fill and I have chosen that of Mama Younger for a number of reasons, primarily because she has many admirable qualities most elderly women should have. The main protagonist of Hansberry’s “Raisin in the Sun” is Mama, Big Walter Younger’s widow. She is a woman in her early sixties, full bodied and strong. She has a particular grace and beauty and wears them unobtrusively. Her face is full of strength, framed by hair that is totally white. Her eyes are lit and full of expectancy. She is a beautiful woman who has adjusted to many things. As a matriarch she loves her family devotedly and wants the best for them. When Mama explains to Walter her act of buying a house at Clybourne Park, she says: “Son- I just tried to find the nicest place for the best amount of money for my family.” Her frustration comes as a result of her family’s inability to appreciate her efforts. [Act 2, Scene 1] Mama’s carriage is noble and precise; on the other hand, her speech is somewhat careless. She intends to slur everything, but her voice is soft. She loves plants and gardening; however, her gardening is limited to just one plant due to lack of space in the place where the family lives. Because this paper deals with an antitheses between two characters – Mama and Walter Younger, both characters shall be discussed. Walter Lee Younger is Mama’s only son. Beneatha’s brother, and Ruth’s husband. He is also father to Travis Willard, ten or eleven years of age. Walter Lee is a lean, intense man in his middle thirties, inclined to quick nervous movements and erratic speech habits- and unlike his mother, always in his voice, there is a quality of indictment. Walter is the type who would rather accuse the people around him for the ills of the world rather than blame himself. Here, he accuses his wife, Ruth, for expressing her opinion regarding his friends: Walter: “Anybody who talks to me has got to be a good-for-nothing, aint he? Charlie Atkins was just a good for nothing loud mouth too, wasn’t he? When he wanted me to go in the dry cleaning business with him. And now- he’s grossing a hundred thousand a year.” [Act One , Scene 1] Ruth (turning on him): “Oh, no he ain’t going to be up no earlier no such thing! It ain’t his fault he can’t go to bed no earlier nights cause he got a bunch of crazy good-for-nothing clowns sitting up running their mouths is what is supposed to be his bedroom after ten o’clock at night …. Walter: “That’s what you mad about, ain’t it? The things I want to talk about with my friends just couldn’t be important in your mind, could they?” Walter is the sort who feels that he is being ignored by everyone in the family. Mama: “Son – I think you ought to talk to your wife … I’ll go on out and leave you alone if you want” Walter: “I can talk to her later – Mama, look-“ Mama: “Son-“ Walter: “WILL SOMEONE PLEASE LISTEN TO ME TODAY!” This is in contrast to Mama’s voice which is LAW in the household and respected by the members: Mama (quietly): “I don’t ‘low no yelling in this house, Walter Lee and you know it! (Walter stares at them in frustration and tends to speak several times. And there ain’t going to be no investing in no liquor stores. I don’t aim to have to speak in that again” Walter is also a jealous man. He is jealous of the affection vested on his wife and sister by Mama. Speaking to Ruth, he says: “Mama would listen to you and Beneatha. She think more of you. All you have to do is just sit down with her whey you drinking your coffee one morning and talking bout things like you do and---“ Proof of his envy of Beneatha are his words in reaction to her statement that the insurance money belongs to their mother: Walter: (bitterly): “Now ain’t that fine! You just got our mother’s interest at heart, ain’t you, girl? You such a nice girl – but if Mama got that money, she can always take a few thousand and help you through school too ---can’t she?” Mama is furious in response to Beneatha’s statement “I don’t believe in God. There simply is no blasted God – There is only man and it is who makes miracles!” Mama absorbs this speech and rises slowly and crosses to Beneatha and slaps her powerfully across her face. Mama: “Now – you say after me, in my mother’s house there is still God.” Beneatha: “In my mother’s house there is still God.” (Act 1, Scene 2) This goes to show that not only is Mama obeyed by the members of her clan but also that Mama loves God foremost. In Walter’s case, it seems that Walter remembers God only when he is in trouble. Willy with whom Walter entrusted the bulk of the insurance money absconds with it and Walter goes into a frenzy. Walter: (Turning madly as though he is looking for Willy in the very room) “Willy!!...Willy…don’t do it… Please don’t do it…Man, with that money…man, please not with that money..Oh God Don’t’ let it be true..” (Act 2, Scene 3) Mama chides her son for not honoring God and not appreciating him for the life he gives when she states: “Well, well – son, I’m waiting to hear you say something…I’m waiting to hear how you be your father’s son. Be the man he was… your wife say she going to destroy the child! And I’m waiting o hear you talk like him and say we a people who give children life, not who destroys them! “(Act 1, Scene 2) Mama’s value system is different from that of Walter in that she puts importance in a little plant as shown in the following conversations with Ruth: Mama: (looking at her plant and sprinkling a little water on it). “Got to admit they got spirit – Bennie and Walter, like this little old plant that ain’t never had enough sunshine or nothing – and look at it… In Walter’s case, all he cares about is money as his mother complained to Ruth: Mama: “No- there’s something come down between me and them that don’t let me understand each other and I don’t know what it is. One done almost lost his mind thinking ‘bout money all the time and the other done commence to talk about things I can’t seem to understand.” (Act 1, Scene 1) Walter and his wife share the same opinion regarding Beneatha’s ambition to continue her studies and become a doctor. His words to Beneatha: “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you go crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people – then go be a nurse like other women – or just get married and be quiet…” (Act 1, Scene 1) And here’s what Mama thinks: Beneatha: “Get over it? What are you talking about, Ruth? Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I:m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet – if I ever get married”. Mama: “‘course you going to be a doctor, honey, God willing” (Act 1, Scene 2) Despite the differences in character of both Mama and Walter, the story proceeds smoothly under the guidance of Mama and ends to the satisfaction of its leader – Mama. Beneatha becomes a doctor, thanks to her brother, Walter; while Mama achieves her dream of satisfying her family and having a garden of her own. All this, due to a twist of fate which we, as readers, never expected to happen. This is an example of how a family consisting of people having different ways of thinking can live satisfying lives together if they really love one another. References CliffsNotes (n.d.) Raisin in the Sun, Retrieved on April 5, 2008 from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-150.html Cooper, D. (1993) Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. Explicator, Fall, Vol 52, Issue 1 Kodat, C.G., “Confusion in a Dream Deferred: Context and Culture in teaching A Raisin in the Sun”, Studies in the Literary Imagination; Spring98, Vol. 31 Issue 1 Nerniroff, R. (1994) Introduction in Raisin in the Sun (by Hansberry, L.) .) New York: Signet Read More