Introduction
A Raisin in the sun is a play written and directed by an African American woman and produced on stage. The play was produced for the first on stage in 1959 to depict the struggles of African American in the struggle to claim the American dream of the 1950s. The cast is made up of a young family living in Washington Park of Chicago’s neighborhood. The main characters in the play are Walter Younger, Ruth Younger, Travis Younger, Lena Younger, Beneatha Younger, Joseph Asagai and George Murchison among many others. The plot is a mixture of African American culture and the white culture as depicted by the characters in the play. The play was set at a time when very few rights existed for the African American people in the United States. The play was produced in the first place in Broadway which was mostly frequented by whites. The play audiences increased after its first initial cast in the American theater although it had only one white cast member while the rest were African Americans (Mays 1165). The play was set in the struggle for increased freedom and rights among African American Citizens and women rights. It was among the very first plays written by an African American woman by the name Lorraine Hansberry to cast in Broadway. The play was not initially destined for success due to racial segregation and abuse the African American citizens encountered in America. The play capture s the racial dynamics of the 1950s as depicted by the Younger family in Chicago as they tried to achieve the American dream and acquire jobs to sustain them and their families. Lorraine’s work is very articulate as it tries to capture the direction of the Black community or the African American families during the 1950s and how their lives would be transformed subsequently (Loos 1911).
Character analysis
Beneatha Younger is a female character in the play A Raisin in the Sun as portrayed by Lorraine Hansberry’s play work. She is a black woman or what is nowadays referred to as An African American. The young lady is a sister to one of the main characters in the play by the name Walter Younger. The character of Beneatha Younger is that of an African American in the 1950s whom hungers for education. This unique character is portrayed by the quest for intellectualism as revealed when her mother Lena requests Walter to give her sister a sum of the total insurance money paid to her. She is portrayed as an ambitious woman who wishes to attain her education goals and earn a job in one of the leading companies in the country.
She undergoes hardship while trying to attain her quest as some of the money Walter needed to invest in the liquor business escapes him. This discourages Beneatha Younger as she was waiting to finish her education. During the 1950s in America women had few enjoyable rights, education and working was not one of them but Beneatha being an African American woman wishes to attain her education goals despite all odds. The Youngers’ family is not well off and they try to make ends meets by working and dreaming big as portrayed by the American Dream (Mays, 1165).
Beneatha Younger has a character of individuality. This character is manifested by the way the young lady wishes to excel in education and acquire a well-paying job. Her relationship with the well-educated Joseph Asagai who is an exchange student in Canada and is from Nigeria shows how the young lady is individualistic in character. She wants to excel alone despite all odds during her time. Her dream of becoming a doctor hits a snag after Walter loses her education money in an investment in a liquor business. She feels very sad after her dream of becoming a doctor are shattered by her brother and the family decision to move into an all-white neighborhood as proposed by Karl Linder. She tries to object to the idea of moving into the new neighborhood as the social cultural factors of the time did not allow it. Beneatha Younger decides to have an afro which at the time was a more
African hair style as influenced by her Nigerian Boyfriend. She at times incants some phrases that have an African Origin and language. The lady is portrayed as materialistic after her several quest to attain her doctor dream and make money. Her relationship with the well-educated Joseph Asagai is a move to relate with the educated and the rich in the society. In Act 2 scene 1 she refuses to kiss George even after the young man reveals his love and compassion for her. Her mother Lena does not understand why she does not want a relationship with George. Her role in the play is a clear guideline of how women in the society have been able to overcome some struggles in life and ended up successive. It’s a clear show of the strength of a woman and an indicator of how women can also succeed in their quest (Mays 1165).
Throughout the play, Karl Linder is portrayed as a white man who wishes the Younger family to move to an all-white neighborhood in Clybourne Park. Mr. Karl Linder is depicted as one of the few characters in play who are from a white race that have dominated the country and show racial prejudice to the African American races in the 1950s. His role in the play is to act as the majority people in the country that have divided the country so segregate against minority races like the African American. His relationship with the Youngers’ family has been attributed by the Lena Younger insurance payment that has led her to purchase a house in Clybourne Park which is an all-white neighborhood in the city. Mr. Linder has formed a committee that will welcome the African American Family comprised of the Younger family into Clybourne Park.
At first the character of Karl Linder is polite as he tries to convince the Younger family to move into Clybourne Park by acquiring a house there through the help of the insurance money. Mr. Linder has formed a committee that welcome new neighbors into the area and he ties to argue that people of different races should be free to sit together and reason together by putting away their racial issues aside and solve problems together for the good of the society and the country (Hansberry 1189). The idea of a ‘black’ community moving into Clybourne Park is un-welcome among many committee members and the action of Karl Linder to convince them to is depicted as hostile. The whites during the 1950s regarded the ‘blacks as a weaker race and this led to racial prejudice against the African Americans in the country and this has been depicted by the committee hostile treatment of the Younger family in Clybourne Park.
Karl Linder later changes his tactics and objects to the idea of the Younger family moving in to the all-white neighborhood in Chicago (Hansberry 561). The character of Karl Linder has been used to depict the character of the white race in the 1950s and the role they played in racial prejudice against the African American and other minority races in America. The whites were the majority in the country and they controlled much of the country and thus they segregated other races through racism.
The play depicts Ruth younger as the wife of Walter Younger whom together they have a son by name Travis Younger. They are both African American citizens; living in Southside Chicago. She is portrayed as a typical housewife during the 1950s where she indulges in cleaning the house, making breakfast and taking care of her husband and son. She does not go out in the town and work and prefers to stay at home and take care of the family. Her character revolves around the family and her husband. She can be depicted as being dependent on people around her. Her relationship with her mother in law is a beneficial one as she is given advice on family matters as its common at the time. She is very dependent on her husband as she relies on her salary as a limo driver to take care of the family.
She refuses to go and work like other women of her time and chooses to stay at home and become a typical housewife (Bernstein 1911). She always tells and comforts her husband Walter that she is not in to riches and prefers to staying and home and taking care of the family which includes Walter, Travis, Lena and her sister in law Beneatha. As times change and the financial turmoil hits the Younger’s family she is forced to go out and work for the rich white families. Her quest to satisfy her family’s income is at times taken toll on her emotional side as she at times yells at her son Travis when he asks for money to pay for his school. Her character has been very much been used to depict the problems that the working class women encounter as they try to substitute their family income.
Ruth is opinionated as she at times tells her husband off when he acts like a jerk in the house and she refuses to become a doormat in the house. Her character has revealed an African American woman and wife who at times sink into despair as the family suffers financial difficulty. When she finds out that she is pregnant again she considers abortion which at the time would have been dangerous and illegal. Her reason is because her family is financially crippled and another child would worsen the situation. In later stages she has been portrayed as a strong African American woman who has tried to balance her work and family. She support the family move to the all-white neighborhood as she works to pay the house mortgage and even has to deal with racial discrimination in the white neighborhood (Rugg & Harvey 1123).
Conclusion
The play shows the struggles that the African American went through to get their share of the American Dream in the mid years of the last century. The script presents these issues through the characterization of the cast in the play that includes Walter Younger, Ruth Younger, Travis Younger, Lena Younger, Beneatha Younger, Joseph Asagai and George Murchison among many others. The audience is able to identify with the American Dream and the struggle of African Americans to acquire it through the emotions, and personas of these characters in the play.
Work cited
Bernstein, Antje. Womanism in Lorraine Vivian Hansberry's "a Raisin in the Sun" - Beneatha and the Triple Oppression of African American Women. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH, 2011. Internet resource.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry: A Lively Learning Guide. Sunnyvale, Calif.: Shmoop University, 2010. Internet resource.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage Books, 1994. Print.
Loos, Pamela. A Reader's Guide to Lorraine Hansberry's a Raisin in the Sun. Berkeley Heights, N.J: Enslow Publishers, 2007. Print.
Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to Literature. , 2013. Print.
Rugg, Rebecca A, and Harvey Young. Reimagining a Raisin in the Sun: Four New Plays. Evanston, Ill: Northwestern University Press, 2012. Print.
