The Play ”A Raisin in the Sun” Assignment, Essay Example

Introduction

Lorrain Hansberry produced the play A Raisin in the Sun which first opened on Broadway in 1959.  The story is based upon a black woman’s experiences in the suburbs of  Chicago In addition to the book it became a well acclaimed success on Broadway and was later made into a movie.  The story tells of a families struggle in a run down 1 bed roomed apartment in Southern Chicago.  The apparent levels of poverty are demonstrated in the early scenes when describing the apartment ” The family’s inadequate living situation is conveyed through the fact that they share a bathroom with other tenants in their apartment house and through the fact that Travis must sleep on the sofa in the living room”  (Anon) . The story centres on five main characters – Walter and Ruth Younger and their son Travis, Walters mother Lena and sister Beneatha.

Walter struggles to make end meets as a limousine driver.  He has ambitions to become wealthy and improve their situation. By contrast his wife Ruth is settled with her circumstances. Walter plans in improving his situation by investing in a liquor store with a friend called Willey. The early part of the plot sees Mama (Lena) waiting for a $10,000 insurance cheque.  Walter feels he has claims to some of this money for his investment but Mama has objections based on the morality of  it being invested into a liquor store.  Mama later puts a deposit down on a house in a white neighbourhood but relents giving the balance to Walter less $3,000 on the proviso this is set aside for her sisters Education.  The drama unfolds with Walter stupidly handing over the money to Wiley who ultimately absconds with it.  This destroying Walters ambitions of becoming wealthy and depriving Mama sister of her education.  Irony is made in the sense that the white folk want to buy Mama out so they don’t settle into their neighbourhood.  Walter sees this as an acceptable way out of his financial worries but Mama feels they should not be got rid of for racial discrimination reasons.  Walter ultimately has his humanity restored by not accepting the offer and stating that they will try to be good neighbours.  In conclusion the family departs to their new and uncertain future in the predominately white neighbourhood.

In the analysis Walter gets what he wants when obtaining the money from Mama but fails to secure his dream because of the loss of money.  In addition he causes shameful loss to Beneatha, losing her educational allowance. Beneatha comes to terms with this and ultimately Walter gets to move into the house in the new neighbourhood lifting his aspirations to do better. It is really the prudence of Lena (Mama) that safeguards the family in addition to fulfilling her dream of having a house with a garden.  Joseph Asegai who is a medical student reminds us of the African roots of the family and maintains a perspective on their ancestry and African heritage. He ultimately hopes to marry Beneatha and return to Nigeria ” A Nigerian student in love with Beneatha. Asagai, as he is often called, is very proud of his African heritage, and Beneatha hopes to learn about her African heritage from him. He eventually proposes marriage to Beneatha and hopes she will return to Nigeria with him.”  (Hansberry).

George Murchison is a wealthy African American businessman and tries to court Beneatha. He is in stark contrast to the student Joseph. Whilst Joseph is fiercely proud of his roots and African Ancestry, George has stronger leanings towards the white community and forgets his roots and further criticises those that support it.

The Importance of a Raisin in the Sun

There are a number of important lessons that the book tries to teach us concerning morals, family values and behaviour.  Mama is the dominant character in the family and she tries to teach her Son Walter that money is not everything.  It is important to have self-respect and look after the well being of your family as opposed to longing for the materialistic gains of money.  Life is about the inner person and the close people around you.  By contrast Walter tries to influence his son that life improves with the acquisition of wealth.

The book has a great deal of symbolism in it. Perhaps the most important symbol being Mamas plant how she lovingly nurtures and cares for it through these difficult times. The plant is a symbol of hope and teaches us that we should never give up on our dreams. At the conclusion the family buy Mama gardening gifts for the garden in her new home. Another symbol is the liquor store indicating the type of activities that money should not be wasted on or a business that cultivates the type of people that cannot be trusted.  Ruth’s unborn child is another symbol focusing upon those of us that look towards the promise of the future, as opposed to dwelling in the past or not facing the consequences of the future.  The house in the white neighbourhood of Clybourne Park is a symbol of a new beginning. Essentially all of the family were really looking for a fresh start or new beginning. The very basis they came to the new world and that which had been denied them because of poverty.

Cultural heritage is contrasted by the behaviour and attitudes of George and Asegai.  This affirmed by Beneatha who is the only one in the family with a strong sense of tradition, pride in her ancestry and a sense of purpose.  George views Beneatha as just another acquisition and cares little of his cultural heritage or background.  By contrast Asegai truly cares for Beneatha and want to make her an integral part of his life.  Asegai is proud of his African heritage, he is driven by a sense of purpose and a desire to succeed. He wants to learn and then help his people, as opposed to turning his back on them purely for materialistic gains.  In this sense he both enlightens Beneatha and restores her sense of pride in her cultural heritage.  Walter never comes to understand Asegai but realises the sincerity of his affection for Beneatha.

In conclusion the book makes us realise the importance of dreams and sense of vision.  Each of the main characters have a dream.  Mamas is the main dream having the insurance money from her late husband. She has no real concern for investment but more centred on the happiness and welfare of her family.  She gave the bulk of the money to Walter after some small set asides to help Beneathas education and get the family a better house to live in.  Ruth wanted a more grander home and was less balanced in the caring of her family.  Perhaps Beneathas dream can be considered the saddest as many of her youthful dreams were shattered with the loss of her education money ” the dream to be a doctor and cure peoples ills”  the terrible disillusionment of Walter losing the money and the despair that someone stole her money, an alien person of whom she had no knowledge could simply ruin her life.  Walters dream of being like the white man suffered the dependency upon them to make his dream a reality.  The lack of listening to his family values and putting his trust in outsiders put his entire family at risk. If it had not been for the prudence of Mama the story would have ended in absolute tragedy.

Works Cited

Anon. E-Notes. 2009. 9 11 2009 <http://www.enotes.com/raisin-in-the-sun/>.

Hansberry, Lorraine. SparkNotes. 2009. 9 11 2009 <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/raisin/characters.html>.