“A Proud-Acting Bunch”: The Issues of Suburbanization and Class Stratification in “A Raisin in the Sun”

In Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun a number of social issues are both explicitly and subtly exemplified through out the characters experiences and relationships. Living in a cramped Chicago apartment, the Youngers’ display both influential goals and conflicting restraints. Beneatha Youngers is a controversial character; she complicates society’s typical gender roles, introduces the wrestle between assimilation and ancestry of African-Americans, but specifically serves as a paradigm for her generation in the play.

Another theme and issue that arrives from the play A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, is racism. During the 1950’s blacks and whites were segregated. The house the Younger’s purchased was in the Clybourne Park neighborhood, an all white neighborhood. When Lena told the family they were moving to Clybourne Park they stood with amazement. “Mama, there ain’t no colored people in Clybourne Park” (p.734). The family heard of other colored families’ houses being set on fire in this neighborhood, they were concerned that the same thing would happen to them.

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry accurately portrays what it was like for an African American family to be living in the Southside of Chicago in the

Similarly, Hansberry continues this idea in the opening scene of Act two. This scene opens with Beneatha dressed in traditional Nigerian robes, dancing to Nigerian melody, and singing along with the record. Walter soon joins her and the entire house becomes involved in Beneatha’s enjoyment. By opening the second act as such, Hansberry presents aspects of African culture in an uplifting and celebratory fashion, thus further connecting her characters with their African roots. She evens implies the awareness many young blacks have of their past through the character, George Murchison. The critic Anne Cheney points out: “even George Murchison…has an awareness of his African past” (Cheney 59). She continues to examine the comparisons Hansberry makes regarding Lena to the “earth mother.” Furthermore, Cheney argues that through Asagai, Hansberry refutes the stereotype of Africans with “a bone through his nose, or his ears.” Hansberry contradicts this stereotype by characterizing Asagai instead as a down-to-earth

She goes on dates with George but finds him boring and is offended that he finds her dreams of being a doctor stupid. She is a strong independent woman who is at the brink of being a full thrown feminist and is not at any time giving into the pressures of society to marry the richest man she can find. George is an African-American who shows no interest in his African roots, he does not like talking about Africa or talking to those who advocate it. George has completely assimilated into the American culture to gain the respect of the white people being one of the African-American families who cracked on the pressures of society assimilate. George’s wealth was not something that swayed Beneatha, his wealth sure could assist her in pursuing a medical career but she did not want to be tied by any boundaries. Asagai was different from George because he did not want to marry Beneatha to tie her down, he wants to marry her to set her free.

Economic and societal poverty are the key forms of poverty highlighted in the three-act play, A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine Hansberry, the playwright, discusses the hardships of African-Americans attempting to emerge in society in the 1950’s. The play is staged in ways where the audience can grasp the trifles of an African-American family continuously experiencing setbacks whilst attempting to achieve their notion of the “American Dream”. To Walter Lee Younger, his idea of the “American Dream” is that anything is possible for those who have money. Unfortunately, there is a minor problem: Walter Lee Younger is a working-class African-American man who struggles to make ends meet in the Southside of Chicago, Illinois. The family undergoes

The setting of a rundown house in a poor neighborhood gives the impression of their struggle to survive as African Americans. The shabbiness of the exterior suggests their low social status. “A relatively recent addition to the house and running its full width, the porch lacks congruence. It is a sturdy porch with a flat roof. One or two chairs of dubious value sit at one end where the kitchen window opens on to the porch. An old fashioned ice box stands silent guard at the opposite end” (Wilson, setting description). While the newly added porch may represent an attempt to

George Murchison’s role in Beneatha’s life triggers societal expectations that are directly shown by her family, due to the fact that Murchison is a successful black man and he is respected in their community due to his wealth. Beneatha always feels

Through Mr. Lindner’s visit to the Younger’s family, A Raisin in the Sun demonstrates racially segregated nature of Chicago’s neighborhood, and how the Younger family suffered emotional trauma in their everyday life due to their race in the form of stress they had to experience due to the non-violent tactics used by the people to racially segregate them from other people in the community, further leading them to have lesser options to improve their status.

    Lorraine Hansberry faced many obstacles in her life which has made her  write this book A “Raisin in the Sun.” As said in Blooms Literature “She was the youngest of four children whose parents were well-educated, middle-class activists centrally engaged in the fight against racial discrimination. Early figures in the Civil Rights movement.” In the book “A Raisin in the Sun,” the first play written by an African American she made through experiences of  black people who live on Chicago’s South Side, Hansberry used members of her family as inspiration for her characters. Lorraine Hansberry life had comparisons in this book dealing with poverty

Nobody in the play is as influential on Beneatha as the people she dates. George is the first person she goes one a date with. He comes from a very wealthy African-American family he looks and dresses preppy. Her family loves him, but she is not serious about him. Beneatha says,”...I couldn’t ever

The Black’s Quest for a Home Ownership in A Raisin in the Sun and in America

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun encompasses all the ideals of the American Dream through her characters: Walter, who embodies the quest for an opportunity for prosperity, Beneatha who wants the freedom to be herself and embrace her African heritage, and Lena (Mama) who buys a home in a white neighborhood pushing the boundaries of social mobility during that time. The Youngers are in a state of poverty, because of this as suggested by Lloyd Brown “their deprivations expose the gap between the American Dream and the Black American reality” (241). However the Youngers attempt to close this gap, challenging the status quo in an effort to better themselves.

“Our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities” – Mr. Linder Pg.100. In the quote Mr. Linder is expressing his organizations dislike of Blacks; like most of people in the 50’s, Mr. Linder was degrading a group of people on exterior appearances. In the play you can see hints of racism and gender discrimination from Walter when he asked Beneatha why she isn’t a nurse or maid instead of striving to become a doctor. Racism has been a long hard for Black community and other minority groups in the world. A Raisin in the Sun never gives the slightest hope of racist views ever being lifted. Over time the stain of

A Raisin in the Sun was a play written in the late 1950’s analyzing the cruel effects of racism amongst the Younger family. The younger family suffers from racial discrimination within their living space, place of employment, and the housing industry. Racism has been going on for a very long time in the United States and will always continue to exist. Racism has not only led to political but also social issues. "A Raisin in the Sun confronted Whites for an acknowledgement that a black family could be fully human, 'just like us."(qtd. White fear.) The setting took place in the ghetto, south of Chicago where mainly African Americans settled. In this division, apartments and houses were overly priced, crowded and poorly maintained. Crime rates were extremely high and most families lived in poverty. Due to segregated housing, it was a daily struggle for black families who had hopes in leaving the ghetto for better lives.