Theme Of Poverty In A Raisin In The Sun

A Raisin in the Sun is an autobiographical play written in 1950 by Lorraine Hansberry, an African American writer. The main characters are the Younger family; Mama, her son Walter Lee, her daughter Beneatha, Walter Lee’s son Travis, and Walter Lee’s wife Ruth. The play dramatizes a conflict between the main characters’ dreams and their actual struggles in life with poverty and racism. The characters’ lives as a low income working black family contribute to their feeling of entrapment by poverty and racism. The work you do identifies who you are in society. The Younger family’s day to day lives in poverty struggle continues, since one’s work defines who you are. I would like to believe each individual chooses the work to do as work is part

Throughout the play each character and individuals in the reality nowadays struggle with whom they are because of the career or work one has chosen. Each one fights the poverty and circumstances in which they live. In the play, Walter Lee confronts Mama about him wanting to be a liquor store owner, but she does not agree and says “there ain’t going to be no investing in no liquor stores” (1.2.1175). On the other hand, Beneatha does not have a job but according to her friend Asagai she ignores her African roots when she straightens her hair because she is not comfortable with her afro hair. Nevertheless, Walter Lee and Beneatha cannot change who they are and become a store owner or a doctor because they need money. Walter Lee does not have the money to invest in a liquor store and Beneatha has no money to attend medical school and become a doctor. Thus, Mama gives the rest of the insurance money to Walter Lee to share the money with his sister for her school costs, but one of Walter Lee’s friends run off with the rest of the insurance money. Now with no money, Walter Lee and Beneatha ares not able to change who they are, to become someone else with different career or work and therefore unable to gain a new identity in

However, they decide that the family’s welfare, moving to a house in a white neighborhood is more important than changing their lives, becoming rich quickly or becoming a doctor. Walter Lee uses these words while talking to Mr. Lindner, chairman of the welcoming committee, “We have decided to move into our house …We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, but we will try to be good neighbors” (3.1.1206). To obtain the house, they do not accept the bribe from Mr. Lindner to not want to move to the white neighborhood. Ignoring the racist treatment, the family moves to a new house in the white neighborhood with Mama bringing her plant with