A Raisin in the Sun

Setting
The setting is a cramped apartment in a tenement in the Southside of Chicago in
the mid-nineteenth century.

Character
Protagonist: Walter Younger
Antagonist: Walter's Inner Conflicts; Racial Prejudice
Walter Younger - can be really hard to get along with. For most of the first act
, he's nasty to just about every other character in the play. He picks fights wi
th his sister, Beneatha. He says all kinds of mean things to Ruth, his wife, and
is even short with his long-suffering mother, Lena.
Lena Younger - a.k.a. Mama, totally rocks our world. She's a down-to-earth, hard
-working black woman who doesn't suffer fools. Mama has dedicated her life to he
r children and struggles to instill her values in them with mixed results. One o
f Lena's most poignant moments might be when she admits to Ruth that sometimes h
er children frighten her. This is one of those sad and beautiful moments that ma
ke her character seem truly human.
Joseph Asagai, Beneatha's Nigerian boyfriend, calls her "Alaiyo," which means so
mething like "One for Whom Bread Food is Not Enough." Beneatha is very touched b
y this, because it shows that he really understands her. She wants more than to
just get by; she wants to find ways to truly express herself. The other Youngers
tease her about her journey of self-expression, but Beneatha remains determined
to broaden her mind
Ruth is in some ways like a typical housewife of the 1950s. She makes breakfast,
cleans the house, supports her husband, and keeps her own desires to herself. U
nlike the stereotypical 1950s housewives, though, she also goes out into the wor
ld and works her butt off. Not only does she struggle to maintain her own househ
old, but she goes out to work in the households of rich white people as well. Th
e Youngers' financial difficulties make it impossible for Ruth to just work in h
er own home. As a character, then, Ruth exposes the difficulties of being a work
ing-class mother.
Travis Younger - By far the youngest member of his family (stage directions desc
ribe him as ten or eleven years old), Travis represents the future of the Younge
r family. Hansberry drops some not-too-subtle symbolism on us when we hear that
one of Travis's favorite pastimes is playing with rats. This symbolism definitel
y doesn't slip by Lena and Ruth. It kind of sucks when your "future" is hanging
out with vermin. Mama and Ruth understand that if they stay living in their crap
py apartment, Travis is destined to always settle for less than he deserves. Sym
bolically, the Younger family will never escape the slums.
Joseph Asagai - really works the Nigerian thing to get ahead with Beneatha. Know
ing that Beneatha has a longing for identity and roots, he tells her all about A
frica and gives her African records and a robe. If Asagai had his way, she'd be
a straight-up African woman, instead of an African-American one. He even goes so
far as to suggest her straightened hair is a sign that she is "assimilated" int
o white American culture.
George Murchison - is Asagi's competition for the affections of the lovely Benea
tha. He's really good looking and his family has tons of money. None of this imp
resses Beneatha, however. George really doesn't stand a chance against the much
more socially-engaged Joseph Asagi. Murchison gets bored when Beneatha wants to
talk about politics, and he believes that the point of higher education is to ge
t a good job definitely not what Beneatha believes.
Karl Lindner - seems like a nice enough dude at first. He says he represents a k
ind of "welcoming committee" from Clybourne Park, the predominately white neighb
orhood where the Youngers are planning to move. Lindner is really polite at firs
t and implies that if people of different races would just sit down and talk to
each other a lot of problems could be resolved.
Mrs. Johnson - is totally hilarious. She's like the nosey neighbor in almost eve
ry sitcom that ever aired. Much like Kramer on Seinfeld, she has a real skill at
getting free food out of her neighbors, the Youngers. She's only onstage for a
few minutes and she manages to bum some coffee and a piece of pie.
Bobo - is Walter's buddy. Just like Walter, he gets ripped off by Willy Harris i
n the great liquor store catastrophe. Poor Bobo only gets one extremely short sc
ene so we never learn much about him. He pretty much just shows up, gives Walter
the bad news, gets throttled by Walter, then shuffles off.
Willy Harris - never shows up onstage, but he plays a significant role in the Yo
ungers' story. And by "significant," we mean, "very, very negative." After convi
ncing Walter that investing in the liquor store is a great idea, Willy takes Wal
ter's money and runs. It is because of the thieving Willy Harris that Walter's d
ream is deferred.

Plot
A Raisin in the Sun portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African
-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. When the play
opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. This m
oney comes from the deceased Mr. Younger s life insurance policy. Each of the adul
t members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with t
his money. The matriarch of the family, Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfill a
dream she shared with her husband. Mama s son, Walter Lee, would rather use the mo
ney to invest in a liquor store with his friends. He believes that the investmen
t will solve the family s financial problems forever. Walter s wife, Ruth, agrees wi
th Mama, however, and hopes that she and Walter can provide more space and oppor
tunity for their son, Travis. Finally, Beneatha, Walter s sister and Mama s daughter
, wants to use the money for her medical school tuition. She also wishes that he
r family members were not so interested in joining the white world. Beneatha ins
tead tries to find her identity by looking back to the past and to Africa.
As the play progresses, the Youngers clash over their competing dreams. Ruth dis
covers that she is pregnant but fears that if she has the child, she will put mo
re financial pressure on her family members. When Walter says nothing to Ruth s ad
mission that she is considering abortion, Mama puts a down payment on a house fo
r the whole family. She believes that a bigger, brighter dwelling will help them
all. This house is in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighborhood. When the
Youngers future neighbors find out that the Youngers are moving in, they send Mr.
Lindner, from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to offer the Youngers
money in return for staying away. The Youngers refuse the deal, even after Walt
er loses the rest of the money ($6,500) to his friend Willy Harris, who persuade
s Walter to invest in the liquor store and then runs off with his cash.
In the meantime, Beneatha rejects her suitor, George Murchison, whom she believe
s to be shallow and blind to the problems of race. Subsequently, she receives a
marriage proposal from her Nigerian boyfriend, Joseph Asagai, who wants Beneatha
to get a medical degree and move to Africa with him (Beneatha does not make her
choice before the end of the play). The Youngers eventually move out of the apa
rtment, fulfilling the family s long-held dream. Their future seems uncertain and
slightly dangerous, but they are optimistic and determined to live a better life
. They believe that they can succeed if they stick together as a family and reso
lve to defer their dreams no longer.

Theme
Dreams, Hopes, and Plans
Race
Pride
Family
Poverty
Suffering
Dissatisfaction
The Home
Gender
Choices
Sacrifice

Conflict