What do you make of the characters in the play who aren’t part of the family: George Murchinson, Joseph Asagai, Karl Lindner, and Mrs. Johnson?
This powerful play is set in the heart of Chicago’s Woodlawn Neighbourhood and focuses on the interplay between black family members and their friends. The family forms an important part of the play and the other characters do feel sort of excluded as the play continues to develop. George Murchinson whos is the suitor of the family’s daughter is treated with suspicion from the outset. The same goes for Joseph Asagai who also moves around rather skulkily and with a certain mysticism although he does have some noble dreams for the Younger daughter, especially the fact that he would like her to study in Africa with him. Asagai is an important character in the sense that he is the link between what happens in Africa and the African Americans in the United States. In this sense he wishes to leave the US and start a new life amongst his roots. On the other hand, Murchison is blind to the problems of race and does not really care on the actual implications of the racial tensions which are present in the Younger family.
Karl Lindner and Mrs Johnson are also important characters in the film and they are also treated with suspicion by the Younger family. Money is an important leitmotif in all of this as it creates a sense of anxiety and unhappiness although dreams could be achieved with the cash. The whole play is a rather powerful experience and brings the problems of the 1960’s African American to the fore.
