Identity In Act One Scene Two Beneatha Asagai

8) If you had plotted the motion of the second hand on your watch instead of the clock that

and jumping on the kitchen table. Although Walter didn’t put hardly any emotion into his performance, Beneatha had some emotion behind her performance. With the little emotion Beneatha did have, she did not do much with it. She too, sounded mechanical. Her peak of emotion was when she wore her African dress she received from a friend. There was not enough emotion acting between to the two to be equivalent to the emotion behind Mama or Ruth’s acting.

She is studying to be a doctor, which is quite difficult for a young African American woman in a working class family since they can barely afford to send her to medical school. Beneatha is then confronted with two men, George Murchison, a wealthy black man, and Joseph Asagai, an intelligent African student from Nigeria. Beneatha sees who she is pressured to be through George, and what she believes she wants to be through Asagai. The American Dream for Beneatha is the search to find who she wants to be through the characters of Murchison and Asagai, in a family and world where she is expected to live and act in specific ways according to her role in society.

Beneatha is chasing her dream by her wanting to become a doctor. Beneatha was a very pretty, nice, and a thoughtful person. She didn’t care about others and what they thought of her. Beneatha try's everything she can to be a doctor. "I am going to be a doctor, I'm not worried about anything else" (Hansberry 50). She values her family's views but her desire is to become a doctor first and live happy. Although, she is trying to chase her dreams she try's new things. She also shows how understanding she is when

Identity is also another major theme in The Comedy of Errors and The Brothers Menaechmus. While the plays are obviously about misidentification, even before the actual misidentification occurs do we see discussions on the nature of identity. In this play, it is seen that identity is determined, in part, by one’s relationship with other people. The loss of the family comes a loss of identity because of the importance of familial relationships. With the loss of his wife, Egeon loses his identity as a husband; with the loss of his twin, Antipholus S. loses his identity as a brother. They no longer have these relationship to determine their identities. In fact, the split between Egeon’s past and present states can be seen in the states of his sons,

It was in this sort of mood that Beneatha formulated an idea about the sheer stupidity and cruelty of nature in general and people in specific: "Don't you see there isn't any real progress, there is only one large circle that we march in, around and around, each of us with our own little picture in front of us- our own little mirage that we think is the future"(Hansberry. Raisin). Misery and stupidity are always present: man does not seem capable of eliminating them once and for all. Their existence conspires to thwart dreams, and Beneatha decided that she was tired of the struggle, tired of deluding herself with an unworkable vision, tired of having to fight against the unchangeable facts of life- a view she might have kept, as many have, if it were not for Asagai's gentle reasoning.

Not only is she black but she’s a woman so in the 1950s the whole world was against her. “I know―because that’s what it says in all the novels that men write. But it isn’t. Go ahead and laugh―but I’m not interested in being someone’s little episode in America[...] (page 64)” Beneatha is a feminist and a resilient character but every male figure in her life treats her dream like a joke and a phase. She is belittled by her own brother who tells her to just be a nurse. She is belittled by George Murchinson her boyfriend who tells her that she’s too pretty for thoughts and that her dream is just a girlish fantasy. Even Asagai treats her as lower to himself. But Beneatha has dreams. After seeing a child named Rufus get his face split open and thinking he’d never be put back together, she saw him later all fixed up by doctors. This was a life changing moment. From then on Beneatha wanted to be a doctor and she is working as hard as she can to get there. This money is crucial for Beneatha. In order to become a doctor she needs to go to medical school but in order to go to medical school she needs money. Half of the insurance money was supposed to go towards her college education but instead her brother lost it

As we see from her first entrance, Beneatha is a loud and outspoken character. She is a single young female living in a home with Ruth and Mama. Quite similar as characters, they share traditional values and believe women should care for the wellbeing of their family. Ruth and Mama take pride in doing domestic service work as their source of income and are continuously seen putting their children’s needs before theirs. Hansberry uses Beneatha’s character to contradict these values and introduce a character with modern feminist views. Beneatha fiercely fires back to anyone who questions her life goals. She is constantly found bickering with Walter about her dream of becoming a doctor. She is reminded by him that “girls” shouldn’t be doctors. Beneatha voices her feelings on male dependency when she mentions to Mama and 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”, and they respond with a shocked “if!”(50). The idea of a woman not wanting to get married was shocking to Mama and Ruth. Beneatha feels that she does not need to be dependent on a man; she has one goal, to become a doctor. She does not need a man in her life, she feels perfectly

Beneatha, being somewhat of an outcast, understands that she does not have to follow the status quo of her society by becoming a housewife, so she decides to work hard in order to become a doctor. Beneatha wants to fulfill this dream because she realizes that she enjoys helping people, as she explains to Asagai after the money is stolen, “That was what one person could do for another, fix him up — sew up the problem, make him right again” (III.i.900). Beneatha wishes to help people by taking care of them and ridding them of their problems. She does not want to become the typical, by standing woman that is not able to help if there is a dilemma. Even after Willy runs off with all of the money, Asagai offers Beneatha a way to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor. Beneatha reveals this wonderful opportunity to Mama as they exit their apartment, “To go to Africa, Mama -- be a doctor in Africa”

However, unlike Mama Beneatha doesn’t let the “dominant. . . oppressive culture” chain her dreams. Beneatha, despite the

Walter struggles in understanding who he needs to be for his family. He wants to take his place as the patriarch of the family, but he feels incapable of providing them with the lifestyle they deserve. This concern is always at the forefront of his mind, and it affects his attitude and outlook. The anxiety that Walter is dealing with creates confrontation with his sister. He fears that her dream will interfere with his own agenda of making a better life for his family. The severity of the tension becomes more and more apparent with Walter’s unwise investment. Walter is dealing with the burden that he has let his family down, while Beneatha is flabbergasted by the reality that her future has been snatched away from her, and she had no control over it. While reflecting on the situation, Beneatha remarks, “ I sound like a human who just had her future taken right out of my hands! While I was sleeping….things were happening in this world that directly concerned me and nobody consulted me—they just went out and did things—and changed my life” (Hansberry 3.15). Walter and Beneatha’s individual issues with the outcome of the situation cause them to find fault with one another during a time when their family needs to pull together to get through such a financial hardship. Walter is in an emotional pit; his turning to alcohol and music instead of his family for support expands the

Beneatha is probably one of the most independent and individual characters in the play. She does not worry about the prejudice her community has about her. She is confident in herself, her abilities, and her intellect. She tries to be independent by not allowing anybody to help her. When she first hears about the insurance money she does not want any help from it. When Walter suggest that mama could use a little bit of the money to help Beneatha out with the cost of college, Beneatha responds by saying, “I have never asked anyone around here to do anything for me” ( Hansberry 281). Beneatha refuses help from others, because she feels that doing everything on her own will make her a stronger woman. She presumes that asking for assistance for anything in life will make her weaker. She does not understand how dependent she is on others until she starts dating George Murchison and joseph Asagai.

Asagai show’s Beneatha that listening to will not bring her happiness. Asagai continues to bring calmness and spirituality back to Beneatha,” Then isn’t there something wrong in a house in a world where all dreams, good or bad, must depend on the death of a man?” (page 135) is how Asagai tells Beneatha that her family arguing over the money from her father’s death is not right. Asagai enlightens her on how she too is slowly assimilating into the American culture

Asagai, I am looking for my identity!” (Hansberry 49). Thus, by revealing Beneatha’s interest in Africa to be genuine, coupled with her excitement, Hansberry then expresses a sense of pride in returning to one’s roots as well as encourages African Americans to embrace theirs. After all, by portraying an interest and yearning for knowledge involving African heritage in one of her characters, Hansberry transfers this idea to her audience as well.

Beneatha is an independent woman with great ambition. She always stands up for her beliefs and ideas no matter how contradict others. Beneatha is a fox, she is clever and, a quick thinker, she stays true to herself. When talking about her future Beneatha states, “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… I couldn’t be bothered with that. I am going to be a doctor, and everybody around here better understand that” (Hansberry, page 32). Beneatha is already sure of herself and what she wants to be in life. This encounter between her family is a defining moment for her character it shows how serious she is about her future. She also is not afraid to speak about her beliefs no matter the consequence. For example, ”God is just one idea I don’t accept. It’s not important. I am not going out and be immoral or commit crimes