The Importance of Family in A Raisin In The Sun Essay

A Raisin in the Sun

The title comes from the opening lines of "Harlem", a poem by Langston Hughes ("What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?") Throughout the play, the idea of deferred dreams is a prominent theme, as each member of the Younger family attempts to find his or her place amidst a number of difficult situations. the best play of 1959, and it ran for nearly two years and was produced on tour. Hansberry noted that it introduced details of black life to the overwhelmingly white Broadway audiences, while director Richards observed that it was the first play to which large numbers of blacks were drawn. The New York Times stated that A Raisin in the Sun "changed American theater forever."]The play is mainly about the Youngers, as they dream of leaving behind the run-down tenement apartment where they have lived for 15 years. The son, Walter, a chauffeur, dreams of making a fortune by investing in an alcohol store but foolishly gives his money to a con-artist. His sister, Beneatha, a college student, tries to find her identity and embraces the back-to-africa philosophy of a Nigerian friend, Joseph Asagai. The family's matriarch, Lena, dreams of buying a house, and does so with money from her late husband's insurance policy, but the house is in an all-white neighborhood. Their racist future neighbors send one of their members, a man named Karl Lindner, as a "welcoming committee" to try to buy them out to prevent the neighborhood's integration. Walter Lee, suffering the reverses of having been swindled, initially contemplates taking the money, but ultimately refuses to be intimidated or bought out. ARAISIN IN THE SUN portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. This money comes from the deceased Mr. Youngers life insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money. The matriarch of the family, Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with her husband. Mamas son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. He believes that the investment will solve the familys financial problems forever. Walters wife, Ruth, agrees with Mama, however, and hopes that she and Walter can provide more space and opportunity for their son, Travis. Finally, Beneatha, Walters sister and Mamas daughter, wants to use the money for her medical school tuition. She also wishes that her family members were not so interested in joining the white world. Beneatha instead tries to find her identity by looking back to the past and to Africa.As the play progresses, the Youngers clash over their competing dreams. Ruth discovers that she is pregnant but fears that if she has the child, she will put more financial pressure on her family members. When Walter says nothing to Ruths admission that she is considering abortion, Mama puts a down payment on a house for the whole family. She believes that a bigger, brighter dwelling will help them all. This house is in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighborhood. When the Youngers future neighbors find out that the Youngers are moving in, they send Mr. Lindner, from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to offer the Youngers money in return for staying away. The Youngers refuse the deal, even after Walter loses the rest of the money ($6,500) to his friend Willy Harris, who persuades Walter to invest in the liquor store and then runs off with his cash.

In the meantime, Beneatha rejects her suitor, George Murchison, whom she believes to be shallow and blind to the problems of race. Subsequently, she receives a marriage proposal from her Nigerian boyfriend, Joseph Asagai, who wants Beneatha to get a medical degree and move to Africa with him (Beneatha does not make her choice before the end of the play). The Youngers eventually move out of the apartment, fulfilling the familys long-held dream. Their future seems uncertain and slightly dangerous, but they are optimistic and determined to live a better life. They believe that they can succeed if they stick together as a family and resolve to defer their dreams no longer.

A Raisin in the Sun is essentially about dreams, as the main characters struggle to deal with the oppressive circumstances that rule their lives. The title of the play references a conjecture that Langston Hughes famously posed in a poem he wrote about dreams that were forgotten or put off. He wonders whether those dreams shrivel up like a raisin in the sun. Every member of the Younger family has a separate, individual dreamBeneatha wants to become a doctor, for example, and Walter wants to have money so that he can afford things for his family. The Youngers struggle to attain these dreams throughout the play, and much of their happiness and depression is directly related to their attainment of, or failure to attain, these dreams. By the end of the play, they learn that the dream of a house is the most important dream because it unites the family.

The character of Mr. Lindner makes the theme of racial discrimination prominent in the plot as an issue that the Youngers cannot avoid. The governing body of the Youngers new neighborhood, the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, sends Mr. Lindner to persuade them not to move into the all-white Clybourne Park neighborhood. Mr. Lindner and the people he represents can only see the color of the Younger familys skin, and his offer to bribe the -Youngers to keep them from moving threatens to tear apart the Younger family and the values for which it stands. Ultimately, the Youngers respond to this discrimination with defiance and strength. The play powerfully demonstrates that the way to deal with discrimination is to stand up to it and reassert ones dignity in the face of it rather than allow it to pass unchecked.

The Importance of Family

The Youngers struggle socially and economically throughout the play but unite in the end to realize their dream of buying a house. Mama strongly believes in the importance of family, and she tries to teach this value to her family as she struggles to keep them together and functioning. Walter and Beneatha learn this lesson about family at the end of the play, when Walter must deal with the loss of the stolen insurance money and Beneatha denies Walter as a brother. Even facing such trauma, they come together to reject Mr. Lindners racist overtures. They are still strong individuals, but they are now -individuals who function as part of a family. When they begin to put the family and the familys wishes before their own, they merge their individual dreams with the familys overarching dream.

The Younger apartment is the only setting throughout the play, emphasizing the centrality of the home. The lighting seems to change with the mood, and with only one window, the apartment is a small, often dark area in which all the Youngersat one time or anotherfeel cramped. While some of the plays action occurs outside of the apartment, the audience sees this action play out in the household. Most of what happens outside of the apartment includes Traviss playing out in the street with the rat and Walters drinking and delinquency from work. The home is a galvanizing force for the family, one that Mama sees as crucial to the familys unity. The audience sees characters outside the familyJoseph Asagai, George Murchison, Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Lindner, and Boboonly when they visit the apartment. These characters become real through their interactions with the Youngers and the Youngers reactions to them. The play ends, fittingly, when Mama, lagging behind, finally leaves the apartment.