Good Example Of Home In A Raisin In The Sun And Blues For Mr. Charlie Essay

The issue of racial divide has long been one of the most significant issues in the United States of America. A difference in color of skin has translated to a difference in economic possibilities, social relations and opportunities of various kinds, including academic and labor. Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun is one of the most influential in making people aware of these issues, mainly through the theme of the home, ever present in this story, yet always representing the racial divide that African-Americans have suffered in America.
The two main homes that are important in the play are those that the main family lives in. First, they own an apartment in an African-American ghetto, completely apart from white society. Here, one can see the complete divide between the races, as blacks are relegated to a circumscribed space. Nevertheless, the family then moves to another home in a privileged white neighborhood in order to find a better life for them and their children. They believe that escaping the black ghetto will provide them with the opportunities that they would not have there. This house represents a dream of progression for the family, even though it may have great costs.
The whole tale develops in the confines of the African-American home and its relationship to white America. This is similar to James Baldwin’s Blues for Mr. Charlie, in which the plot revolves around domestic relationships, while white people are only referenced as the outside, the other. Interestingly, this may represent the strength and importance of the black family when compared to the white social unit. Furthermore, it could represent the unity of the African-America community as a whole, fighting against the Caucasian oppressive norm.