Analysis: "A Raisin in the Sun"

“A Raisin in the Sun,” by Lorraine Hansberry tells the story of the Younger Family, an African American family living in the South Side of Chicago in the 1950’s. The entire play takes place in the Younger’s small apartment with different characters coming in and out. The obvious conflict throughout the duration of the play is what the family is planning to do with the deceased Walter Younger’s life insurance of 10,000 dollars. Although, I believe the main central conflict is the fight between assimilation and pride in African culture. One of the main examples of this conflict is the character of Beneatha. Throughout the play Beneatha fights with herself, and her suitors, on whether she should continue to assimilate towards the American dream and way of life, or if she should accept her African heritage. Also, her suitors, George and Asagia, represent the two different opinions. George, an African American college student, represent assimilation with his way of thought and through wearing, literally, “white shoes”. Asagia represents pride in being from Africa, through his gifts to Beneatha and his overall opinions throughout the play. 

Although Beneatha is a very important character in “A Raisin in the Sun,” Walter Lee Younger is the protagonist of the play. Throughout the play, Walter struggles with living in a racist country and being known as just a driver for a white man. He feels less and less like a man as the play progresses. Walter only believes he can be a true man if he has money and other materialistic belongings, such as a car and a house. At the end of the play Walter finally feels like a man, but not because he has worldly riches like the white man. Instead, he refuses to move out of a house in an all white neighborhood that his mother purchased with his father’s insurance money. This action of standing up to a white man, Mr. Linder in this case, shows that Walter is finally proud of his family and his current situation, instead of always wanting more.The antagonist is not a single character but instead America and the white race as a whole during the 1950’s. The entirety of the play deals with the Younger family fighting against judgments of the white race and their own feelings of inferiority. 

My favorite aspect of the play was Lorraine Hansberry’s use of symbols. Two main symbols were Beneatha’s new haircut and Mama’s plant. In the middle of the play Beneatha decides to cut her hair, changing it from straightened to a small afro. The straightened hair represented Beneatha’s assimilation to white culture and the afro represented her decision to become more prideful in her African heritage and her identity as a black woman. Mama’s plant is a symbol of her dream for her family. In the beginning of the play she cares for the plant relentlessly with love, although stating the plant does not have enough room or light. This statement is directly similar to her family, as she loves them unconditionally, but she wishes they had more light and room. The light and room she longs for her plant could also be a symbol for the freedom and happiness she longs for her family.