Historical Background of Lorrain Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
Lorrain Hansberry’s most successful play A Raisin in the Sun, on some level traces back, reconstructs and revives the reality of the playwright’s life itself. According to Michelle Gordon, a researcher known for her considerable contribution into the studies of the black culture and history in Chicago, the Hansberry’s once had to withstand an attack from their new white neighbors who came to their house to “convince the Hansberry’s of Chicago to abandon their new home” (Gordon 2). Growing up in the atmosphere of tension and still very persistent racial segregation, fundamentally shaped Lorraine Hansberry's self -consciousness, radical politics, and revolutionary art” (Gordon …show more content…
Gender struggles are closely intermingled with those of generational authority in the Younger family. According to Frank Ardolino, “the major theme in A Raisin in the Sun concerns generation in two senses— personal growth despite harsh social and economic opposition and family lineage” (Ardolino 181). In traditional white American society a patriarchal and even patrilocal family has always been considered an only instrument and guarantee of preparing children to function properly in this society while black families were notorious for their matriarchal structure. Women in this family make better decisions and behave with more dignity than Walter, the only grown man in the house. None of the women even thinks about accepting Mr. Lindner’s bribe while Walter, obsessed with ideas of wealth and money, is ready to take it on his knees. Beneatha calls him a “toothless rat” while Mama says that “death done come in this here house” (Mays 990). Mama obviously means that such corruptibility and total absence of dignity cannot be a characteristic of her son and he might as well be dead. Being a black woman herself, Lorraine Hansberry makes a fair accent on what role women generally play in family matters of black communities. The central character of the play is Mama, Lena Younger, who acts as a unifying force for the Younger family trying hard to provide the best for every inmate of her house. …show more content…
Inspired by an episode of Hansberry’s life, the play deals with the perplexity of the life the Younger family have to live. They struggle hard to preserve their identity, dignity and family relationship in the post-war America still soaked with hatred and discriminatory practices against African Americans. Each of the main characters represents one of the issues that the Youngers face in their difficult life. Beneatha claims that she aims to “express herself” through coming back to her African Origin. The character of Walter demonstrates that men in black families can often be weak and driven by women, while Mama symbolizes the dominant woman, caring and omnipresent, in the majority of matriarchal black families. She is also the keystone of family’s religious education and makes sure the name of God is not remembered in vain in her house. Hansberry’s play outlines the injustice inflicted upon the black families in America and implies that they will never stop fighting to get themselves a proper and dignified place in American
Lorrain Hansberry’s most successful play A Raisin in the Sun, on some level traces back, reconstructs and revives the reality of the playwright’s life itself. According to Michelle Gordon, a researcher known for her considerable contribution into the studies of the black culture and history in Chicago, the Hansberry’s once had to withstand an attack from their new white neighbors who came to their house to “convince the Hansberry’s of Chicago to abandon their new home” (Gordon 2). Growing up in the atmosphere of tension and still very persistent racial segregation, fundamentally shaped Lorraine Hansberry's self -consciousness, radical politics, and revolutionary art” (Gordon …show more content…
Gender struggles are closely intermingled with those of generational authority in the Younger family. According to Frank Ardolino, “the major theme in A Raisin in the Sun concerns generation in two senses— personal growth despite harsh social and economic opposition and family lineage” (Ardolino 181). In traditional white American society a patriarchal and even patrilocal family has always been considered an only instrument and guarantee of preparing children to function properly in this society while black families were notorious for their matriarchal structure. Women in this family make better decisions and behave with more dignity than Walter, the only grown man in the house. None of the women even thinks about accepting Mr. Lindner’s bribe while Walter, obsessed with ideas of wealth and money, is ready to take it on his knees. Beneatha calls him a “toothless rat” while Mama says that “death done come in this here house” (Mays 990). Mama obviously means that such corruptibility and total absence of dignity cannot be a characteristic of her son and he might as well be dead. Being a black woman herself, Lorraine Hansberry makes a fair accent on what role women generally play in family matters of black communities. The central character of the play is Mama, Lena Younger, who acts as a unifying force for the Younger family trying hard to provide the best for every inmate of her house. …show more content…
Inspired by an episode of Hansberry’s life, the play deals with the perplexity of the life the Younger family have to live. They struggle hard to preserve their identity, dignity and family relationship in the post-war America still soaked with hatred and discriminatory practices against African Americans. Each of the main characters represents one of the issues that the Youngers face in their difficult life. Beneatha claims that she aims to “express herself” through coming back to her African Origin. The character of Walter demonstrates that men in black families can often be weak and driven by women, while Mama symbolizes the dominant woman, caring and omnipresent, in the majority of matriarchal black families. She is also the keystone of family’s religious education and makes sure the name of God is not remembered in vain in her house. Hansberry’s play outlines the injustice inflicted upon the black families in America and implies that they will never stop fighting to get themselves a proper and dignified place in American