Untitled Essay Research Paper A Raisin in

Untitled Essay, Research Paper

A Raisin in the Sun

The characters in Lorraine Hansberry^s play are very significant in

understanding the play. The characters are examples of they way

Lorraine lived day by day her live when she was a kid. The success of

the play was brought out by the characters and her way of keeping our

interest with each one of them. They characters are very critical in

understanding the play. There were four main characters that made the

play a sellout, Lena, Ruth, Beneatha and Walter Lee. Each one of these

characters had a dream to try to accomplish. The Characters portray

the plays meaning in the way the play evolved into a masterpiece.

Lorraine Hansberry studied African history while working

on A

Raisin in the Sun. She incorporated her knowledge of the

history and wanted to bring it over in to her play. Beneatha a

character in A Raisin in the Sun knows much about her African past.

Mama is very proud of her African heritage and believing it^s

importance. During the stage directing of the play Lena has the ^noble

bearings of the women of the heroes of the Southwest Africa , but she

totally ignores her African past and does not care much about it

either^ (Cheney 59). Asagai Beneatha^s acquaintance talks allot about

his African past and believes deeply in his culture and heritage. He

is from Nigeria where there is a lot of poverty.

A Raisin in the Sun is a quiet

celebration of the black

family the importance of African

roots, the equality of

women, the vulnerability of marriage,

the true value of

money, the survival of the individual

and the nature of

mans dreams (Cheney 55).

Africa is a great part of the play because it brings out good and

humorous elements in the Younger family, such as Walter yelling out

^Hot Damn!^ ^Flaming Spear!^ as Beneatha walks out in her Nigerian

robes (Cheney 60). Africa becomes a symbol of heritage and a

troublesome but hopeful future (Cheney 56).

With the help of Paul Robeson, W.E.B Dubois and

Frederick

Douglass she created the play A Raisin in the Sun. Paul

Robeson was a famous baritone singer. He inspired her to write A

Raisin in the Sun. She loved his voice and the songs he sang.

Hansberry learned from him ^…the way that most blacks lived, and the

dangers of being an artist^ (Cheney 45-46). W.E.B Dubois was an

original thinker and a sociologist. Hansberry ^…gained admiration

for black intellectual, socialism, and black leadership^ (Cheney 40).

Frederick Douglass was a another writer. Hansberry learned about

slavery and its psychology. She also learned a ^…invaluable lesson

that the sufferings of a people may be presented truthfully in ways

that rise above propaganda to the level of art^ (Cheney 36-37). A

Raisin in the Sun is a very interesting play about the Younger^s, a

family that lives in the Chicago south side ghetto. The characters in

the play are Ruth her husband Walter, their son Travis, also Beneatha

and Lena. The family is poor and very much so hopeless in finding a

new home. Lena is lucky though she found a very nice home in Clyborne

Park in a white neighborhood. In the beginning of the play the family

is waiting for a 10,000 dollar check. Each family member has there own

thoughts on what they should do with the money. Lena wants a new home

and so she could support the family, Walter wants to invest the money

in a liquor store, and Beneatha wants the money so she could pay for

medical school. According to Lorraine Hansberry, Joseph Asagai was her

favorite character to create. He is a Nigerian student who is

Beneatha^s confidant. Mama is a very good example of a black matriarch

trying to keep her family in line. Mama is a very religious women.

She is up set and smacks Beneatha when Beneatha tells her that she does

not believe in God. Mama tells her that if she lives in her house she

must believe in God. Henry Hewes opinion was that ^the play contained

dramaturgical implications which were brought out by Walter^ (Hewes

212).

Theophilus Lewis notion was ^the drama had a great sense

of

spiritual conflict in the area of Walter Younger^s soul

with an

obbligato of social awareness^ (Lewis 216). According to James Baldwin

he thought this play was ^excellent and never before in the entire

history of the American theater had so much of the truth of Black

peoples lives been on stage^ (Baldwin 55).

Many critics thought that the characters had most to do

with

the play an how the play was perceived. Jordan Y. Miller

thought ^A Raisin in the Sun is one of the greatly enhanced by well

ordered revelation of the events which are so important in the lives of

the characters^ (Miller). Also Lorraine Hansberry kept our interest by

developing

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