A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry, written in 1958, about a black family in South Chicago. The play is set "sometime between World War Two" and the late 50s. The family lives in a small apartment-type house, which is old and cramped. From the start, there are many issues that the family faces--not only due to race, but also gender, identity, and money.
The family faces economic stress that is imposed on them because of the way that society was constructed at the time and sadly is still structured today, if less obvious. Black individuals were not given the same opportunities as others due to racism. This is shown by Walter Younger's job as a driver to a white man, and his wife's job as a maid/childcare giver to a white family. They live in a home that Walter's parents bought with plans to move out of shortly after getting married, but they never had the economic means to move to a better home. Even through generations, the family could not advance economically enough to jump socioeconomic classes. This speaks to the oppression that African Americans felt by racism.
The family feels more than just economic stress, but stress on identity because of economics. Walter, the father who feels he should be the breadwinner, is not able to make enough money to advance the comfort and wealth of the family. He wants to take an economic risk by opening a liquor store with his business partners, but his wife (Ruth), sister (Beneatha), and mother (Mama) do not approve of the risk it could take. This emasculates Walter, and makes him feel less of a man. He makes it seem that a woman's only job is only to affirm the actions and goals of her wife. This sets up a gender dynamic to contend with in the play--not only were there inequalities between the races; there is inequality between the genders. Walter gives a sense of tarnished masculinity, due to his mother constantly reminding him how he’s nothing like his father, and him realizing he can not properly provide for his family.
It is interesting that Walter's little sister Beneatha is going to school to be a doctor. She is the one in the family who is trying to pursue her dreams in a way that is less risky than Walter's liquor store goal. She seems to be the only one in the family who does things for the experience, enrichment, and "expression." She speaks of taking guitar lessons and horseback lessons. She does things simply for her own enjoyment, which is extremely far off from the way the rest of her family operates. They work and work, but she is learning for her profession and trying to enjoy and express herself along the way. This more progressive approach on life shows that she is searching for her identity.
There is also a dynamic between generations. the difference between the young and the older generation. The older generation of black folk which is symbolized by Mama is wants to use the money to help her family, but the younger generation want to use the money for self serving needs. The older generation seems not to understand the ideas of the younger generation, for example when Mama tells Walter he has a job and a family. Walter wants more than that, while Mama sees his life as satisfactory. The views of the older and younger generations cause a divide between them. The ideas of religion amongst the older and younger generation has also become divided. Beneatha believes that there is not God but that it is man who creates opportunity. Mama is set in her ways about the belief that there is a God. The ideas of the older black generation is confronting the ideas that the younger black generation has formed due to the new era.
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