A Raisin in the Sun – Context
Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago on May 19, 1930, the youngest of four children. Her family lived, at the time, on the Southside, in a neighborhood that was entirely black. During this era, segregation–the enforced separation of whites and blacks was still legal, and widespread throughout the south. Northern states, including Hansberry’s own Illinois, had no official policy of segregation, but were generally self-segregated along racial and economic lines. Chicago was a striking example, carved as it was into strictly divided black and white neighborhoods. As a child, Hansberry’s family became one of the first to move into a white neighborhood. When their neighbors rebelled, both with threats of violence and legal action, the Hansberrys defended themselves; Hansberry’s father successfully brought his case all the way to the Supreme Court. Lorraine Hansberry wrote that she always felt the inclination to record her experiences. Her writing–including A Raisin in the Sun–is recognizably autobiographical.
Hansberry was one of the first playwrights to create realistic portraits of African-American life. When A Raisin in the Sun opened in March of 1959, it was met with great praise, from white and black audience members alike. Hansberry was awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play of the Year–she was the youngest playwright, the fifth woman, and the only black writer to have won the award by then. Her promising career was cut short, though, when she died from cancer at the age of thirty-four.
The Essay on Rising Of Spirit In Lorraine Hansberrys Play A Raisin In The Sun
Rising of Spirit in Lorraine Hansberrys play A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry in her play A Raisin in the Sun, written in 1959 raises the questions of racism and racial segregation in the contemporary society. The theme of physical, social and moral confinement is one of the major topics arisen by the play A Raisin in the Sun. The action of the play is set in the small apartment in the poor ...
Raisin in the Sun was a watershed because it touched on so many issues important during the 1950s in America. The fifties are widely mocked in modern times as an age of placidity and conformism, well symbolized by the growth of the suburbs and commercial culture that began in the decade. Such a view is superficial at best. Beneath the economic prosperity that characterized post- WWII baby-boom America roiled growing domestic and racial tension. The stereotype of 50s America with its happy housewives and almost non-existent blacks resulted in an up swell of social resentment that finally found public voice and recognition in the civil rights and feminist movements of the sixties. Raisin in the Sun, performed in 1959 on the brink between the fifties and sixties, explores both of these vital themes.
List of Characters For A Raisin in the Sun
Ruth Younger – Walter Lee’s wife and Travis’ mother, Ruth tends the Youngers’ small apartment and works as a cook. Her marriage to Walter has faded, but she hopes to rekindle their love. She is about thirty, but in her weariness seems older.
Walter Lee Younger (Brother) – Walter Lee is a dreamer. He wants to be rich, and he spins up schemes to becomes so with his friends, Willy Harris in particular. When the play opens, he wants to invest his father’s insurance money into a liquor store.
Lena Younger (Mama) – The matriarch of the family, Mama is the mother of Walter Lee and Beneatha. Mama is religious and maternal. She wants to use her husband’s insurance money as a down payment on a house with a backyard for her family.
Beneatha Younger – Mama’s daughter and Walter Lee’s sister, Beneatha is an intellectual. About twenty years old, she attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family. She dreams of being a doctor and struggles to determine her identity as a well-educated black woman.
Travis Younger – Travis is the ten-year-old son of Walter Lee and Ruth.
Joseph Asagai – Often called Asagai, he is the Nigerian boyfriend of Beneatha. She hopes to learn about her African heritage from him. He eventually proposes marriage to Beneatha.
The Essay on Walter Lee Family Play Mama
A Raisin in the Sun is a classic tragedy. Through struggle the Younger's all experience some hardship in learning the value of money and equality. I will have to say that the play was very interesting yet hard to watch. My first impression was that the stage was slanted. I'm still not sure why the stage was slanted and would love to ask the director of why it was slanted. Secondly, the actors were ...
George Murchison – A wealthy, African-American suitor of Beneatha. The Youngers approve of him, but Beneatha dislikes his willingness to submit to white culture and forget his African heritage.
Mr. Karl Lindner – The only white man in the play. He arrives at the Youngers’ apartment from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He offers the Youngers a deal to reconsider moving into his (white) neighborhood.
Bobo – One of Walter Lee’s partners in the liquor store plan. He comes to tell Walter Lee that Willy Harris has run off with their money.
Willy Harris – One of Walter Lee’s partners in the liquor store plan. He runs off with the money.
Mrs. Johnson – The Youngers’ neighbor. She leeches off of their hospitality and warns them about moving into a white neighborhood. Her character and scene were left out of the original production of the play.
A Raisin in the Sun – Summary
A Raisin in the Sun portrays a few weeks in the life of the Younger family, an African-American clan living on the Southside of Chicago in the 1950s. When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for 10,000 dollars. This money came from the life insurance of the patriarch in the family, now deceased. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea what they would like to do with this money. The matriarch of the family, Mama, wants to buy a house, a dream she shared with her husband. Mama’s son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. Walter’s wife, Ruth agrees with Mama, however, and hopes that she and Walter can provide more space and opportunity for their son, Travis. Finally, Beneatha, Walter’s sister and Mama’s daughter, wants to use the money for her medical school tuition; at the same time she wishes that her family members were not so interested in joining the white world.
As the play progresses, these dreams battle each other. Ruth discovers that she is pregnant but fears that if she has the child, she will put more pressure on the members of her family already alive. When Walter has nothing to say to Ruth’s 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, which is an entirely white neighborhood. When the Youngers’ future neighbors find out that they are moving in, they send over Mr. Lindner to offer the Youngers money in return for staying put. The Youngers refuse the deal, even after Walter loses the rest of the money ($6500) to Willy Harris, who convinces Walter to invest in the liquor store and then runs off with his cash. In the meantime, Beneatha rejects her suitor, George Murchison, who she believes to be shallow and unthinking about the problems of race. Subsequently, she receives a marriage proposal from her Nigerian boyfriend, Joseph Asagai, who wants Beneatha to attain a medical degree and move to Africa with him. Beneatha does not decide what she is going to do before the end of the play. Ultimately, the Youngers move out of the apartment, the longest-held dream fulfilled.
The Essay on Family Walter Money Mama
... problems, but he is rarely successful with money. Walter often fights and argues with Ruth, Mama, and Beneatha. Far from being a good listener, he ... there is one character in this play that sticks out in my mind and that is Walter. Living in this small apartment ... a poor black family living in a small apartment. This play shows you what it was like to live in their ...
A Raisin in the Sun – Analysis/Themes
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun was a radical work for its time. Through the Younger family, she created one of the first honest depictions of a black family on an American stage. Before this play, African- Americans had largely been portrayed in broad ethnic stereotypes, usually in small, comedic roles. Hansberry’s play shows an entire family in a realistic light. In addition, she sketches out the dilemmas of African-Americans living in a white-dominated society. She does not skirt the issues, but tackles them head on. Her play explores not only the tension between white and black society, but the stresses within black society itself about the relation it wants to have with the white society that has so long held it in thrall. Should blacks want what white society has, or in desiring such a thing are blacks betraying their own heritage. Through the character of Joseph Asagai Hansberry reveals a trend toward celebrating African heritage. As he calls for native revolt in his homeland, she seems to predict the anti-colonial struggles in African countries of the next decades. Ultimately, the play foretells of both the inevitability and necessity of integration.
The Term Paper on Walter Lee Dream Family Money
... but to his family. Mama was tired of listening about Walter Lee wanting to invest in a liquor store. Walter Lee's dream to own the ... is he going to live? On the roof?" Beneatha felt that if Ruth had another baby the already strenuous living situation would ... family member. She also felt that the baby would have been brought into a world of fighting. Beneatha also had influence on Ruth's ...
Hansberry also tackles feminist issues in the play. Through Beneatha, Hansberry proposes that marriage is not necessary for women and that women can and should have ambitious career goals. She even seems to advocate a pro-life opinion in an era when abortion was illegal. Of course, one of her most radical statements was simply the writing and production of the play by herself: a young, black woman of the 1950s.
All of this idealism about race and women’s issues boils down to a larger point: dreams are crucial. In fact, Hansberry’s play is primarily about dreams. All of the main characters are guided by their dreams. These dreams function in positive ways, by lifting their minds from their hard work and tough lifestyle, and in negative ways, by creating in them even more displeasure with their present states. Mostly, though, the negative dreams come from placing emphasis on materialistic goals, rather than on familial pride and happiness. Hansberry seems to argue that as long as people attempt to do their best for their families, they can lift each other up.
A Raisin in the Sun – Act I, Scene i
Summary
It is morning at the Youngers’ apartment. Their small dwelling on the Southside of Chicago has two bedrooms–one for Mama and Beneatha and one for Ruth and Walter Lee. Travis sleeps on the couch in the living room. The only window is in their small kitchen. They share a bathroom, which is in the hall, with their neighbors. The stage directions indicate that the furniture, though apparently once chosen with care, is now very worn and faded. Ruth arises first and rouses Travis and Walter Lee as she makes breakfast. She and Walter do not seem happy, and they keep mentioning a check. Travis asks them for money–he is supposed to bring fifty cents to school–and Ruth says that they do not have it. Walter Lee, however, gives his son the money while smirking at Ruth. Walter reveals that the check that he and Ruth have been talking about is insurance money–$10,000–from his father’s death. He wants to use it to invest in a liquor store with a few of his friends.
Beneatha gets up next and trades barbs with Walter. He thinks that she should be doing something more womanly than studying medicine, especially since her tuition will cut into the insurance check. Walter then leaves for his job as a chauffeur–having to ask Ruth for money to get to work because he gave Travis his car fare. Mama enters and goes directly to a small plant that she keeps just outside the kitchen window. She discusses with Ruth what to do with the money. For once, Ruth seems to be on Walter’s side: she wonders if Mama might give him some money so that he might regain his happiness and confidence. Mama, though, wants to move to a house with a lawn for Travis to play in. Owning a house had always been a dream she had shared with her husband, and now with his death it was a dream she nurtured even more powerfully.
The Essay on Family Dream Mama Walter
... her own hopes and dreams. Walter had his chance to be big and important with his liquor store; Beneatha wanted to become the ... put through. Before the money came, the family began to have their own dreams, and Mama listened. They varied, of course, but they ... She just wants the best for them. Ruth understands that responsibility of a family doesn't fall to just one person; rather, it ...
Conversation turns, and Mama and Ruth begin to tease Beneatha about the many activities that she tries and quits. Beneatha claims that she is trying to “express herself,” an idea which Ruth and Mama make fun of. Then, they discuss the boy that Beneatha has been dating, George Murchison. Beneatha gets angry as they praise George. Beneatha leaves for school, and Mama goes to the window to tend her plant. Behind her, Ruth swoons and passes out.
Commentary
In the introductions to the characters, we see that they all have dreams as yet unrealized. These dreams mostly involve money–Mama has always wanted a house, Walter wants to have spending money, and Ruth wants more space for her family. In other words, although this family seems to be divorced from white middle- class culture, they harbor the same materialistic dreams. After all, in the fifties, the stereotypical American dream was to have one’s own house with a yard, a big car, and a happy family. Essentially, the Youngers seem to want to become a part of that dream.
Mama’s plant acts as a symbol of her dream. With her house, she desires a garden that she can tend. The small potted plant acts as a temporary replacement for her true dream. Her relentless care for the plant represents her protection of her dream. In such a cramped living situation with a lifetime of hard work, the continual focus on her dream has kept her active. Still, no matter how much Mama works, the plant remains feeble, because there is so little light. Similarly, her dream remains frail because it is so hard to see beyond her family’s present situation.
The Essay on Dissapointments In Mama & Walter Lee (A Raisin In The Sun)
... Beneatha and Mama, Walter doesn’t see himself like the average black man working as a laborer all his life, he aspires and dreams ... role in society. The problem with the Younger family is that they don’t fall into the ... are finally moving out what Ruth calls the “rat trap”. Though Mama deals with the most disappointments ... a black Chrystler, and he will buy Ruth a Cadillac convertible to go shopping in. ...
Beneatha’s dream differs from those of her family members. In her desire to “express herself,” and to become a doctor, Beneatha is an early feminist. When the play was written, feminism was largely ignored; Beneatha seems a prototype for the more enthusiastic feminism of the 1960s and 1970s. Beneatha not only wants to have a career–a far cry from the June Cleaver stay-at-home-mom role models of the 1950s–but also desires to find her identity, a quest virtually unheard of at the time. She even indicates to Ruth and Mama that she might not get married. The other two are astonished by this possibility.
A Raisin in the Sun – Act I, Scene ii
Summary
The next day, Saturday, the Youngers are cleaning house and waiting for their check to arrive. Ruth returns from a doctor who has told her that she is two months pregnant, and reveals this information to Mama. Ruth calls the doctor “she,” which arouses suspicion in Mama: their doctor is a man. Joseph Asagai visits Beneatha, bringing her Nigerian clothing and music as gifts. He teases her a bit about being very serious about finding her identity, particularly her African identity, through him. Finally the check arrives.
Walter Lee returns home and wants to discuss his liquor store plans. Ruth wants to discuss her pregnancy with him and becomes upset when he will not listen. She shuts herself into their bedroom. Mama sits down with Walter who is perturbed by his poverty, his job as a chauffeur, and his entrapment within this life. Finally, Mama tells him that Ruth is pregnant and that she fears that Ruth is considering having an abortion. Walter Lee does not believe that Ruth would do such a thing, until Ruth comes out of the bedroom to confirm that she has made a down-payment on the service. Walter Lee leaves the apartment without saying anything to Ruth.
Commentary
The interaction between Beneatha and Asagai reveals how serious Beneatha is about finding her identity. Beneatha does not want to assimilate or become successful in the dominant, white culture of the 50s. Yet while she wants to break free from conforming the white ideal, she still wants to participate in educated American life. This dilemma is one explored by many African-American intellectuals and writers, particularly in the 1960s. Therefore, Beneatha’s character seems somewhat ahead of her time. Indeed, her turn to Africa to forge her identity (even though her family has been in America for five generations) precedes the New African movement of the 60s. In this movement, African-Americans embraced their racial history, stopping their attempts to assimilate, even in appearance. Asagai hints at what is to come by telling Beneatha that by straightening her hair she is “mutilating” it. In his opinion, her hair should be as it is naturally: she should stop straightening it to look like white hair and wear what has come to be called an “afro.” Unsure of her identity as an African-American woman who is joining an overwhelmingly white world, Beneatha turns to Asagai to see if he can supply a lost part of her self.
This scene also reveals the growing restlessness of Walter Lee, as well as the desperation with which Ruth is trying to hold her family together. Ruth does not want to have an abortion, contemplating the act only because she sees it as the only way to keep the family together. It is possible that Lorraine Hansberry is attempting to make a bold feminist statement with this plot twist. During the 1950s, abortion was illegal. But, through Ruth’s pregnancy, we can see why a mother might not want to keep a baby. Ruth is not an immoral or evil woman, she simply wants to do the best for the family that she already has.
Through the announcement of Ruth’s pregnancy, we can see the power that Mama wields as the matriarch of the family. She is at the center of her family’s life, and she controls many of the interactions of the members of her household. Actresses seem to play Mama in primarily two ways. First, women depict her as a folksy relic of an earlier time, hoping one day to have a garden in the sun. Second, a more recent interpretation sets Mama up as a hard-working, powerful, all-knowing matriarch. Mama, here, seems to be both. She reminds the family of the importance of family and history, and she holds the power to make economic decisions (she, in fact, literally holds the insurance check in this scene).
A Raisin in the Sun – Act II, Scene i
Summary
Later on the same Saturday, Beneatha emerges from her room cloaked in the Nigerian clothes that Asagai brought her. She dances around the apartment, claiming to be performing a tribal dance while shouting “OCOMOGOSIAY” and singing. Walter Lee returns, drunk. He sees Beneatha all dressed up and play acts tribal rituals with her, at one point standing up on a table and pronouncing himself “Flaming Spear.” Ruth looks on wearily.
George Murchison arrives. Beneatha removes her headdress to reveal that she has cut off most of her hair, leaving only an unstraightened “afro.” She and George fight about the importance of their African heritage. Beneatha goes to change for the theater and Walter talks to George about business plans. George dismisses him offhand and Walter gets angry, laying into George. George and Beneatha finally leave, and Walter and Ruth fight about Walter going out, spending money, and interacting with people like Willy Harris. They do begin to make up, though, by acknowledging that a great distance has grown between them.
Mama comes home and announces that she has put a down-payment on a house with 3,500 dollars of the insurance money. Ruth is pleased, but Walter is upset. They all become worried when they hear that the house is in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighborhood. Mama asks for their understanding–it was the only one that they could afford. She feels she needed to buy the house to hold the family together. Ruth regains her pleasure, but Walter feels betrayed. His dream, after all, has been swept under the table.
Commentary
Beneatha’s exploration of her African heritage continues. Indeed, her entrance in an “afro” and Nigerian garb was perhaps the first on an American stage. Hansberry has created a very radical character in Beneatha, in that she will not willingly submit to what she calls “oppressive” white culture. Since the audience for this play was mostly white, such a threat to their dominance was extremely revolutionary. In addition, Beneatha’s fight with George and the rest of her family represents a larger battle within the black community: whether to enhance and celebrate their differences from whites or whether to join white culture and try to elevate their status within it.
Ruth and Walter Lee’s conversation reveals that they do have love left in their marriage, and that they have both been beaten down by their circumstances. Their entrapment–in the ghetto, in their jobs, in their apartment–and its results–a need to leave physically, to escape mentally through alcohol, and to lash out at those involved in the entrapment–forms one of the major themes of the play. One way for them to escape this entrapment, though, seems to be relying on each other. Yet, often, circumstances are so difficult that they cannot do even that.
Mama’s down-payment on a house reveals her belief that to be a happy family, the Youngers need to own space and property. Her dream, therefore, is a perfect example of an adoption of the quintessential American dream. Part of her dream is the simple desire for consumer goods. She believes, like many in the post- World War II consumer culture, that ownership can, to some degree, provide happiness. Therefore, although she means only to find the best for her family, she also succumbs to the powerful ideas behind consumer culture. Still, this desire is also radical, because in America during this period, African-Americans had largely been left out of depictions of the American dream. Only white families populated suburban television programs and magazine advertisements. Therefore, Hansberry is performing a radical act in claiming the general American dream for African-Americans.
The radical nature of the Youngers wanting to participate in the American dream does bring along some hardship. Ruth and Walter Lee’s concern about moving into an all-white neighborhood shows that even in the Northern states, there was great tension, and often violence, in any interaction between the races. Their concern foreshadows later plot developments, including the arrival of Mr. Lindner, who reveals that the white people of Clybourne Park are just as Wary of the Youngers as the Youngers are of the white people.
A Raisin in the Sun – Act II, Scene ii
Summary
On a Friday night a few weeks later, Beneatha and George Murchison return from a date. He wants to kiss, but she wants to talk about the plight of African-Americans. Mama comes in as Beneatha kicks him out. Beneatha tells her mother that George is a “fool,” to which Mama replies, “I guess you better not waste your time with no fools.” Beneatha appreciates her mother being on her side.
Mrs. Johnson visits, eats the Youngers’ food, and tells them that a black family has been bombed out of their home in a white neighborhood. She is generally insensitive and insults much of the family as a “proud-acting bunch of colored folks.” Then, she quotes Booker T. Washington, a famous assimilationist African-American. Mama, in retaliation, calls him a “fool.”
Walter Lee’s boss calls, telling Ruth that her husband has not been to work in three days. Walter explains that he has been wandering all day (often way into the country) and drinking all night (at a bar with a jazz duo that he loves).
Mama feels guilty for his unhappiness. She gives him the remaining 6,500 dollars of the insurance money, telling him to deposit 3,000 dollars for Beneatha’s education and to keep the last 3,500 dollars. Walter suddenly becomes more confident and energized. He talks to Travis about his plans: he is going to “make a transaction” which is going to make them rich. Walter Lee’s excitement builds as he describes their future house and cars, as well as Travis’ potential college education.
Commentary
In Beneatha and George’s conversation, Hansberry shows two sets of values regarding education. Beneatha believes in education as a means to understanding and self-fulfillment through knowledge and wisdom. George sees education as a means to an ends, a diploma that will help him to get a good job. The difference in their views about education displays deeper differences between the two, one of idealism versus pragmatism. Beneatha believes that society must be changed through self-knowledge, and thus through consciousness and celebration of one’s heritage. George and his family, however, believe that they should become wealthy and perhaps achieve respect through their economic status, which demands a certain degree of assimilation into the dominant, white culture. Though Mama originally is impressed by George’s wealth and bearing, she eventually comes round to Beneatha’s way of thinking.
Indeed, in the episode with Mrs. Johnson it becomes clear that Mama agrees with Beneatha far more than one might expect. It is one thing to disagree with George, quite another to insult Booker T. Washington, a hero of much of black society who preached assimilation into American culture as the great goal. Though of great stature in the first half of the twentieth century, public opinion was beginning to turn against Washington. Even so, the insults Hansberry directs at him through the voice of Mama were radical. After all, the Civil Rights movement had not even gotten under way. Furthermore, by expressing these anti-assimilationist ideas through Mama as well as through Beneatha, Hansberry indicates that perhaps these notions had been around for a long time. Still, the chapter closes with Walter Lee describing their materialistic future to Travis–he still wants to be a part of the culture that excludes him.
A Raisin in the Sun – Act II, Scene iii
Summary
On Saturday, a week later, it is moving day. Ruth shows Beneatha that she has bought curtains for the new house. Then, she tells her that the first thing she is going to on reaching their new house is to take a long bath in their very own bathroom. Ruth comments on the changed mood around the household. Last night, she and Walter Lee even went out to the movies and held hands. Walter Lee comes in and dances with Ruth. Beneatha teases them about being stereotypes, but she does not really mean any harm. Ruth and Walter understand and join in the lighthearted teasing, Walter claiming that Beneatha talks about nothing but race.
A middle-aged white man, Mr. Karl Lindner, appears at the door. He is a representative from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He tells the Youngers that problems arise when different kinds of people do not sit down and talk to each other. They could not agree more, until he gets to the heart of what he is saying. He and the neighborhood coalition believe that the Youngers moving in would destroy the community of Clybourne Park. They are all white, working-class people, and they do not want anything to destroy the dream that they have for their community. Mr. Lindner tells the Youngers that they are prepared to offer them more money than they paid for the house in exchange for not moving to Clybourne Park. Ruth, Beneatha, and Walter Lee all become very upset, but control their anger. Walter Lee tells Mr. Lindner in no uncertain terms that they will not accept the offer.
When Mama comes home, she supports their decision. Then, as she is making sure that her plant is well packed for the trip, the rest of the family surprises her with gifts: gardening tools from Ruth, Walter Lee, and Beneatha, and a huge gardening hat from Travis. Mama has never received presents other than at Christmas and is very touched. Just as the whole family is celebrating, Bobo arrives. He, after some stumbling, announces that Willy Harris has run off with all of the money that they invested in the liquor store deal. It turns out that Walter Lee invested not only his 3,500 dollars, but also the 3,000 dollars intended for Beneatha’s education. Mama becomes absolutely livid and begins to beat Walter in the face. She then becomes weak, thinking about the hard labor her husband endured in order to earn that money for them.
Commentary
The incident with Mr. Lindner of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association reveals the power of realized dreams. None of the members of the Younger family become intimidated by this man. Instead, they know that they are about to achieve some of their dreams and are not going to let anyone get in their way. Mama’s careful packing of her plant when she hears of the incident shows that she is proud of her fortitude in holding onto her dream. She knows that she will need a reminder of the power of her dream when she faces hardship in the all-white neighborhood. Therefore, this plant does not just symbolize her dream of escaping from their poverty-stricken life in the Southside; it also represents a dream for equality of treatment and acceptance into the general culture. In addition, this episode shows that Mama’s dream, as symbolized by the plant, is as important as its realization. That dream had kept her pushing on for years before her family actually had the possibility of a move.
When Bobo arrives and announces that the money is gone, Walter Lee says, “That money is made out of my father’s flesh.” As Walter said earlier, all of life is about money. While Mama had protested earlier, now she seems to agree, talking about watching her husband wither from hard work. In the face of this adversity, then, Mama seems to falter in her idealism about family. Suddenly, Mama realizes that her husband’s life had boiled down to a stack of bills. And, she turns on Walter as if he had killed his father himself.
A Raisin in the Sun – Act III
Summary
One hour later on moving day, everyone is still melancholy. Even the light in the apartment is supposed to look gray. Asagai arrives to find Beneatha questioning her dreams. She no longer believes that she can help people. Instead of feeling idealistic about demanding equality for African-Americans and freeing Africans from the French and English colonizers, she is focusing on the misery beyond legal equality and independence. Asagai reprimands her for her lack of idealism and her attachment to the money from her father’s death. He gets her excited about reform again and asks her to go home with him to Africa, saying that eventually it would be as if she had “only been away for a day.” He leaves her alone to think about his proposition.
Walter Lee rushes in from the bedroom and out the door amidst a sarcastic monologue from Beneatha. Mama enters, then, and announces that they are not going to move. Ruth protests. Walter Lee returns: he has called Mr. Lindner and invited him to the apartment. Walter Lee intends to take his offer of money in exchange for not moving to Clybourne Park. Everyone protests at this point, arguing that they have too much pride to accept not being able to live somewhere because of their race. Walter Lee, very agitated, does an act, imitating the stereotype of a black male servant. When he finally exits, Mama declares that he has died inside. Beneatha decides that he is no longer her brother, but Mama reminds her to love him, especially when he is so low.
The movers and Mr. Lindner arrive. Mama, seeming to have given up, tells Walter Lee to deal with Lindner, who is laying out contracts for Walter Lee to sign. He starts hesitantly, but soon we see that he has changed his mind about what he is going to do. His speech builds in power: the Youngers, he says, are hard working and proud and will move into their new house. He tells Lindner that they are not trying to stir up trouble but that they will be moving into his neighborhood. Lindner appeals to Mama, who defers to Walter’s statement. Ultimately, Lindner leaves, papers unsigned. They all finish packing up as the movers come up to take their furniture. Mama is the last to leave, bringing her plant with her.
Commentary
Though this act begins in despair, as it plays out the Youngers regain and realize some of their dreams. Asagai renews Beneatha’s courage and pride. His discussion of colonial Africa and his stated belief that the ruling powers must fall, in fact, predicts the unrest that was to occur in those countries over the next decades. His claim that when she arrives in Africa she will feel as if she has been gone for only a day is also significant. It is a claim that America can never be home to blacks, no matter how long they have lived there. Asagai’s radicalism, which seems to be endorsed by Hansberry and the play, is somewhat problematic. As an extreme pole of anti-assimilationism, it ultimately seems not that different from self-segregation. What is ultimately different about Asagai’s desire to leave white America in favor of Africa, and Mr. Lindner’s desire to keep blacks out of his neighborhood?
While Hansberry seems to use Asagai and Beneatha to make a radical point about race, she also returns Beneatha to a conservative position in terms of her feminism. Whereas Beneatha once claimed that she might not marry, Asagai’s marriage proposal sweeps her off of her feet. She mentions it to her mother, “[g]irlishly and unreasonably trying to pursue the conversation” (according to the stage directions).
From a feminist standpoint, Hansberry seems to have backed off.
Walter Lee’s dream for money and material goods remains unrealized. However, it also has changed. While he almost succumbs to accepting money to stay out of a white neighborhood, his family convinces him that they have worked too hard to have anyone tell them where they can and cannot live. In other words, his pride, work, and humanity become more important to him than this dream of money. Walter Lee finally “come[s] into his manhood,” as Mama says, recognizing that being proud of his family is more important than having money. For Walter Lee, then, the events of the play are a rite of passage: he must endure challenges in order to arrive at a more adult understanding of the important things in life.
In moving, Mama’s dream has, at last, become a reality. Yet, her last moment in the apartment and her transporting of her plant show that although she is happy about moving, she does cherish the memories of her life and appreciate the hard work that went into this new opportunity. And implicit in the sense of her memories is her husband, who did not live to see his dream fulfilled.
