A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Family, Assimilation, Racism and American Dream

The book, “A Raisin in the Sun,” was written by Lorraine Hansberry, and tells the story of an African American family living in impoverished, predominantly African American area of Chicago’s Southside, in the 1950s. The Youngers family had five members: Mama, Walter, Ruth, Beneatha, and Travis, and they all lived together in a crowded one bedroom apartment. The story is based on individual conversations with each family member and revolves around the question of what to do with ten thousand dollars insurance money, which was left as inheritance by Big Walter. Each character in the story has its own opinion on how to use the money, but all their thoughts depicted problems and issues which related to family, assimilation, racism, and American dream. Under Lorraine Hansberry’s writing, all four of main characters were somehow indicated as examples for each issue.

At the beginning of scene one of Act one showed the Youngers family’s living room was taken care with love and deliberation, and it was a symbol of their attention to their family; otherwise they would not spent time to clean their living place in that uncomfortable apartment. Lorraine Hansberry successfully described Mama, mother of Walter and Beneatha, as caring mother and ambitious woman, and Mama was an incredible character that represented for a caring family person in the A Raisin in the Sun. When she received the insurance money, she immediately thought about her children, her family instead of herself even though she had a right to use all of them. She already had her own plane about using money sufficiently. Mama even rejected to use that money for her own pleasure such as traveling when Ruth, Walter’s wife, suggest...

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...ly was very fundamental basement for every people, but Mama found herself difficulty to keep her family and support her children. Assimilation was not directly mentioned because Beneatha stood again it, and the author tried to deliver her message through Beneatha’s action that African American should be first connected to their African root and only then be assimilated in American society. Radical discrimination always happened to African American, and this was case that black American was threatened if they moved into white neighborhood. Each Youngers family’s members had their own dreams, but it was not easy to achieve because they even goaled to high like Walter’s liquor store, or they simple did not have a voice to speak for their dream like Ruth. However, Ruth’s dream was not her own idea even though she wanted it so much, it was all based on Mama’s decision.