A Raisin In The Sun Notes

A Raisin in the Sun- 1959

English Literature

Context

• The modern play is an agent for social change which captures the need for African expression and the inevitability and impossibility to do so due to American expression. It not only questions the strain in the society but the disparity between the society

• The play revolves around the matriarchy of the Younger family and how they face day to day conflicts which ignite from the disparity in the society. The author delves into various issues of the world and voices them out to the audience through the conflicts that the family faces. She throws a montage of conflicts and explores the themes of family, racial prejudice, assimilation, disparity between the rich and the poor and dreams vs reality. This makes it a revolutionary work with difficult questions. 

• The play stems from the harsh segregated life of Hansberry and thus involves autobiographical elements. Lorraine Hansberry grew up in an African- American middle class family with activist foundations. Being the granddaughter of a slave and the niece of an esteem professor allowed her to have keen awareness on the ongoing civil rights battle. In 1938, her family moved into an all white community and faced numerous attacks from her neighbours. This was because the community signed a restricted covenant to exclude all black families. It went all the way to Supreme Court which gave the verdict in their favour. 

• She pursued her interest in social activism and writing making her the first female African American playwright to hoist a play to broadway. 

• The sheer strength of the characters and the uniqueness of the plot set it apart from the rest of the plays selling full houses. It captured the essence of the universal theme of the right to dream which gives a unifying message to the audience. She explores different issues of the world in strong African flavours making it one of the most realistic enactments of the African American lifestyle.

Title and Epigraph

• The epigraph of the play sets the atmosphere, mood , genre and foreshadows the action of the play. It is the poem, Harlem by the revolutionary writer, Langston Hughes. 

• The epigraph of the play connects to the plot as each member of the Younger family has a dream, however lack the support to implement it. Harlem discusses the state of the dream when it lacks support. 

• Harlem describes the different stages a postponed dream would go through. Since the first step is lack of nourishment, he compares it to a Raisin in the sun which is where the title was inspired from. A postponed dream might dry you without any nourishment, spread around trying to convince everyone, might be bitter sweet or loads of regret. At the end, he hints and foreshadows that it might explode also which allows us to anticipate the ending

• Throughout the play, each character has a dream and would go lengths to fulfil it. The suspenseful question is that will it dry up or bloat against the sun’s prowess. 

Setting, Style and Genre

• The genre of the play is social realism and family drama. The African American classic is set in the South side of Chicago and unfolds in the Younger family household. 

• The Younger family’s apartment is portrayed to be the living proof of the harsh conditions of poverty they thrive in. “Weariness, has in fact won over this room” shows the clutches of poverty and what it can do to a place. The place was called a “rat trap” and “beat up hole” several times by the characters. It shows the living conditions of the poor, low class and how they cope up everyday. 

• Hansberry uses black vernacular and the African dialect to bring out the authenticity of the play. She describes their lifestyle and actions through stage directions and since it is a drama, their dialogues provide an insight in character and plot development. 

Walter Lee Younger

• Walter Younger is portrayed to be the protagonist and antagonist of the play. He is the representative of everyman in the mid-20th century in African American’s perspective. He is introduced as “mismated, erratic speech habits and quality of indictment”. He also enacts as the belligerent brother of Beneatha, the ambitious son of Mama and the defiant husband of Ruth. 

• He is defined by his flaws, his ambitious personality and his mistakes which hurt the family greatly, however in the end acts as the “rainbow after the rain”. He is torn between the African lifestyle of providing importance to family and love and the American obsession of materialistic success. 

• He is the protagonist who is constantly searching for his manhood and believes that the key to success and happiness is money itself. So he intertwines both the American and African values and chases his dreams. 

• He wants to serve as the breadwinner of the family and is ashamed that he cannot provide for them or lift them from this pitiful lifestyle. He wants to keep his family happy and healthy however, fails to do so.Thus searches for a way to have overnight success
• The reason why the women of the family does not trust him is because actions speak louder than words and his actions were not according to his words. His carelessness and laid-back attitude clashes with his desire for money. So, it is portrayed as it he does not want to work hard for the money. 

• He is a typical exemplar of the men in the 90s as he does not understand why Beneatha wants to “express herself” or have a thirst for education. Another reason between the sibling rivalry is that both of them have strong dreams that they want to pursue. With Walter wanting to open a liquor store and Beneatha wanting the become a doctor, the only way to achieve their dreams is the money that they both are competing for. Their personalities clash which also adds fuel to the fire. 

• He is also the representative of all the youth with ambitions and dreams, however without action it cannot be true. Far from being a good listener, he is constantly arguing with the members of the family thus, shows that he does not know what they want. He stresses himself with the burden of lifting them from poverty. However, when he goes to extreme measures to ensure this occurs, he loses the trust and the money he gained, making him an antagonist. Towards the end, he finally becomes the man of the family by standing up to Linder. 

Themes

1. The disparity between the society: Poverty vs Affluent
2. Racial prejudice 
3. The importance of family
4. Pride and Race 
5. Dreams and Hopes
6. Gender, generation and assimilation

Important quotes

1. “Not scrambled”
2. “moaning and groaning all the time” “this beat up hole” “rat trap”
3. “See there, that just goes to show what women understand about the world.”
4. “Your eggs is getting cold” 
5. “We, one group of men tied to a race of women with small minds”
6. “Express herself”
7. “mutilated hair”
8. “Assimilationism is so popular in your country”
9. “Let’s face it baby, your heritage is nothing but a bunch of raggedy assed spirituals and some grass huts”
10. “So you butchered up a dream of mine”
11. “You sure are one proud acting bunch of coloured folks”
12. “That I ve been doing to you, what the rest of the world been doing to you”
13. “you just name it son, and I hand you the world”
14. “i put my life in your hands”
15. “that money is made out of my father’s flesh”
16. “Then, isn’t there something wrong a house- in the world where all the dreams, good or bad, depend on the death of a man?”

In the face of the loss of the money, Mama’s idealism about family falters.

Willy remains a faceless symbol for Walter’s negligence and risky handling of the money. 

Symbols

1. Willy Harris 
2. Beneatha’s hair
3. Insurance payment
4. Mama’s plant

The home is a galvanizing force for the family, one that Mama sees as crucial to the family’s unity.

Questions

• How does Walter change from the beginning of the play towards the end?
• How is Beneatha different from other Younger family members?
• How is the theme of assimilation and entrapment treated in the play?
• What are the greatest strains on Walter and Ruth’s marriage?
• In what ways is Hansberry challenging stereotypes of African Americans in the play?
• What does the new house signify to each of the Youngers?
• Who is the main character in the play?
• The play was written and produced over 40 years ago. To what extent do you think that conflicts and issues presented in the play are still relevant?
• To what extent do you think Hansberry is critiquing traditional sex roles in the play?
• The play is prefaced by a Langston Hughes poem. How does the play illustrate the theme of the poem?
• How is idea of Africa and Heritage perceived in the play by different characters
• What is the role of Asagai and George in shaping Beneatha’s character?
• The American dream means something different to each character in A Raisin in the Sun. Discuss these differences and how they conflict with one another.
• What are the dreams of the main characters—Mama, Ruth, Beneatha, and Walter—and how are they deferred?
• What does Mama’s plant represent, and how does the symbol evolve over the course of the play?
• How does the description of the Youngers’ apartment contribute to the mood of the play?
• Within the Younger household, there are three generations of women. Compare and contrast how the characters each form their unique identities.
• The role of minor characters and gender roles