A Raisin in the Sun

On par with great American works like "Death of a Salesman", "Raisin in the Sun" gives readers a dramatic and unflinching look into American life. While some readers may find reality hard to swallow, most readers we see a reality that is too true.

The Younger family is a typical post World War II black family in America. They are grateful for the end of slavery, yet the younger generation is thirsty for more freedom. As Walter sees it, this freedom comes with wealth. When Walter's father passes, the family has a chance at financial wealth through the late father's insurance policy. But a foolish investment leaves the family right where it started, in poor financial shape. Walter does have an opportunity to amend for his foolishness with the price of submitting to a white man. Walter's ulimate choice is between pride and wealth.

While this play is a tense drama, few people recall the humor in this show. There are many points when I found myself laughing out loud. By any standard, this is a classic and American standard in theater and literature.

In many ways, this play was in itself a Civil Rights Movement. Written by Lorraine Hansberry, a black woman living in the segregated and tense Chicago of the 1950's, this became the very first play written by an African-American for the Broadway stage. It was a smash hit, enjoyed and appreciated by both blacks and whites at the time for its realism, its powerful family drama and its sentimentality. Hansberry drew from her own experiences in Chicago. Her father was a landlord in the slums of Chicago and she experienced racism when she first moved to an all-white neighborhood much like the Younger Family in the play.
This play is groundbreaking. It depicts something 50's audiences were not used to. For blacks, it was like seeing a slice of real life, though in some ways this play is a tad romanticized. Some of the lines are awfully real. Mama and her daughter's conversations are rather believable. The character of Beneatha is colorful and nuanced. She is an optimistic intellectual, with much pride in herself and in her African heritage, as she attests by dating Asagai, a student hailing from Nigeria. This play was first popularized by stage renditions and film with the incomparable Sidney Poitier as Walter. This play is one of the top plays of all time and deserves to be taught in English classes at the High School or College Level. Excellent.

"A Raisin in the Sun" portrays a black American family through real life struggles and financial burden. Ongoing generations of marital conflict and racism is witnessed through the eyes of the Younger household. Mama is the faithful and benign character who clearly ranks title as matriarch of the family. Mama's veracious spirit sets a tone of warmth and compassion which cannot be compared to her moronic and harebrained son Walter. Throughout the play you witness Walter complain to his wife about living a life absent of solitude and his get rich quick schemes of becoming rich.

The Younger household all agrees that nobody will stop them from carrying out Mams's dreams for a better future for her kids despite the ongoing racism they are expected to endure. Mama continues to take pride in her family and her admirable spirit of hope will touch every reader and remind them of their own dreams and ongoing struggles of life.

Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun" is a social realism drama depicting the inter-family and social struggles of an African American family living in Chicago during the early Civil Rights movement. It follows the life of Walter Younger, his family, and his mother who is forced to make a decision about what to do with the $10,000 she inherited from her late husband--a decision that will dramatically effect the lives of the entire family.

Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun" provides an in-depth view of a family struggling to achieve their dreams. It shows how a person's dreams can oftentimes be the only glue that holds a family together. The Younger family lives in a world of poverty in post World War II Chicago. Their cockroach infested home and inability to provide basic funds for the child's education really pull you into their world.

To the credit of Hansberry, I found myself very frustrated at times in this novel. It seems as if every time the family grows close to escaping their situation, unfortunate events cause their dream to be "deferred" as the opening poem of the novel suggests. Every time I would begin to root for one of the characters who seem to be making strides toward improvement, they fall very short of their goal. I found the character of Walter to be the most troubling because of his inability to devise and execute a plan to provide for his family. Though I certainly do not find Walter to be a treasured literary character, he did allow me to better relate to the struggles and pressures of men who are unable to provide for their family. Walter, however, does undergo a somewhat dramatic transformation which really served to redeem him in my eyes. Raisin's imperfect cast really makes this novel a gem because of the humanity of the characters.

This book is an easy read and can be well-understood by any high school student or above. I would strongly recommend this book for people who enjoy books on civil rights struggles, but more importantly to those who treasure books about the strong bond of a family's dreams.