A raisin in the sun is a play which portrays the life of a lower class black family residing in the slums of Chicago. The play describes their struggle at different fronts at same time. They are struggling economically, socially, for their own identity and to fulfill their dreams. The story refers to the period of post world war when the American society was not very helping for the blacks and approach of the people was biased. The play is well acclaimed and highlights the set of mind of a socially and economically weak family and their different kinds of problems. In the beginning, of the play mama, an old lady appears on the stage, she is actually waiting for a check from the insurance company after the death of her husband and the whole play is focused on this $10000 insurance amount and how the members of family are dreaming and willing to expend this money for their plans. In this paper we would analyze the roles of various characters and other aspects of the play.
Walter lee younger
Walter is a thirty five year old son of mama, a caring father of Travice, defiant husband of her wife, Ruth and Beneatha’s brother. Walter is in the center of this story and as a typical family man thinks always for his family. Walter works as chauffeur and keeps making new plans to improve the economic condition of his family, irrespective of the fact that he fails every time. He believes that money is the only thing that can solve all the problems of his family. He is desperate to provide a good living to his family and in this course he wants to utilize the money to open a liquor shop but does not get support from his mother. Sometimes he seems to be protagonist and antagonist of the play because of his acts and behavior.
Lena Younger (Mama)
Mama is the head of the family and mother of Walter and Benetha. Mama has lost her husband recently but being a careful mother she has overcome with the sad story and is living to see her family happy. She is a good caring mother for her children and a responsible head of the family. She loves Walter and his wife Ruth, daughter Beneatha and her grandson Travice. She is a god fearing lady who believes in ethics and has optimal faith in the god. She rejects the demands of Walter when he proposes to open a liquor shop by saying that liquor shop is not a good business, is against her ethics and against the principles of Christianity. She also becomes very worried and disappointed when Ruth informs her about her plans of abortion and convinces Ruth to think again and not to do it. Mama consoles Ruth when Walter quarrels with her and she loves Travice more than anything. She also advices Beneatha on several issues and discourages her when she argues on religious issues and not shows respect to elders. She always thinks for the welfare of her family and always dreamt for a beautiful house where she could see all the family members happy but she is not ready to compromise with her ethical values and principles for anything.
Beneatha Younger
Beneatha is a college student and wants to be a doctor. She is young, and has her thoughts on any issue, she advocates rights for females and express agony for the bad conditions of women. She is not ready to follow her mother’s advices which are illogical in her eyes. Beneatha argues with her brother on different issues and argues for her rights. She wants her share in the money that her mother received from the insurance company to realize her dream to be a doctor. She thinks herself a very modern and independent kind of girl and has a number of dreams regarding her life. She has dated two guys but happy with her boyfriend Asagai who has Nigerian roots. Asagai criticizes her for having independent thoughts and for her wish to not to quit America.
Asagai
Asagai is a college student and boyfriend of Beneatha. He has great love for his country Nigeria in his heart and wants to go back his homeland after his study. He wants to do many things for his country and wants to change the current situation and improve it. He loves his heritage and also convinces Beneatha to respect her heritage and to live according to the norms of their society. Asagai criticizes Beneatha for her independent thoughts but he never had any ill intention and always wanted to see her happy.
The play is an excellent work and has enough strong story lines that an audience would appreciate. It also informs the audiences of the contemporary society, people and the different kinds of problem the people used to face. Today it is not possible to think through those difficulties that people of that time used to face.
Works Cited
A Raisin in the Sun. Dir. Daniel Petrie. Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Stephen Perry, John Fiedler, Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett, Joel Fluellen, Roy Glenn and Louis Terrel . 1961.
Lorraine Hansberry, Margaret B. Wilkerson and Spike Lee. A Raisin in the Sun: The Unfilmed Original Screenplay. New York: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated, 1995.
"Shmoop." shmoop. 9 November 2011
