A Raisin in the Sun

By: Lorraine Hansberry

A Raisin in the Sun is centered around the persistent deferral of the Younger family’s dreams.
The Youngers are a working-class Black family with various dreams of upward mobility. Walter
wants to take control of his life, restore his sense of masculinity, make his family proud, and
eventually take on a new role as head of the Younger household. Beneatha wants to finish her
education and become a doctor, and in the meantime to figure out what kind of a woman she
truly is. For their part, Mama and Ruth each want to provide a suitable, comfortable environment
in which the entire Younger family can thrive.
However, everyday realities of economic hardship and racial prejudice threaten to stall each of
these dreams. Even at the end of the play, when the family finally gets to move into the new
house in a better neighborhood, the future remains uncertain. Thus, the play implicitly repeats
the questions included in the Langston Hughes poem from which Hansberry took her title: “What
happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / Like a raisin in the sun?”
The play begins with a sense of exhaustion and frustration, with everyone bickering and
struggling to carry on. Although the anticipation of the insurance check arriving in the mail
infuses the Younger family with a renewed sense of energy, the check itself fuels further
conflict. $10,000 may be a substantial sum, but it isn’t enough to go around. That is, there isn’t
enough to move the family out of the slums and pay for Beneatha’s education and fund Walter’s
liquor store venture. The sense of competition and entitlement increases the tensions among
the Youngers.
To compound the fighting further, several events occur that inspire yet more uncertainty. First,
Mama puts a down payment on a house. Although it had indeed been the plan to move into a
better neighborhood, Mama invests in a house located in a white, middle-class neighborhood.
Given the widespread racism in Chicago (as elsewhere in the United States), as well as Mrs.
Johnson’s ominous news that a Black family in another white Chicago neighborhood just got
bombed out of their new house, the idea of moving into Clybourne Park gives all the Youngers
pause.
Second, and as if to confirm the Youngers’ fears, a white representative of the Clybourne Park
Improvement Association pays the family a visit. Lindner has been sent to convince the family
not to move into their house after all. He claims that “Negro families are happier when they live
in their own communities,” and he makes veiled threats against the family’s safety should they
not allow the Association to buy the house back from them.
Third, Mama entrusts the remaining insurance money to Walter, effectively making him the head
of the Younger household. Mama’s gesture of trust enlivens Walter and gives him confidence.
However, he immediately hands the money over to Bobo, who in turn gives it to Willy to take to
Springfield, bribe government officials, and secure a liquor license. Instead of carrying out the
plan, Willy runs away with the money, leaving Bobo, Walter, and the rest of the Youngers to
face financial crisis.
Finally, in the midst of these unfolding challenges, Ruth discovers that she is pregnant. This not
only means another mouth to feed, but also that Ruth soon will not be in a condition to work and
contribute to the family financially. An already difficult economic situation threatens to get worse.
Ruth seriously considers getting an abortion. Even though this act might prevent an added
financial burden, it also causes spiritual discord in the family. Mama objects strenuously for
religious reasons, and Walter seems equally horrified.
All of these compounded crises come to a head at the end of Act II. The Youngers appear to
reach the very depths of despair, and Mama laments that her husband’s legacy will now come
to nothing. As it happens, however, the events of the third act indicate that the Youngers have
further to fall. Walter, who begins Act III in a state of shock, eventually emerges from this state
with a new scheme. He wants to summon Lindner back to the apartment and put on a
degrading show in order to squeeze the maximum amount of money out of the Clybourne Park
community. When Lindner arrives, however, Walter abandons his plan and refuses Lindner’s
offer to buy back the house. This gesture restores Walter’s sense of dignity and honor of his
father’s legacy. In the end, the Youngers move out of the apartment and into the new house.
Although their choice to move indicates a sense of hope, none of the other complicating issues
have actually been dealt with by the end of the play, so the family’s future remains uncertain.

Full Title A Raisin in the Sun

Author Lorraine Hansberry
Type Of Work Play
Genre Realist drama
Language English
Time And Place Written 1950s, New York
Date Of First Performance 1959
Date Of First Publication 1959
Publisher Random House
Indepth Facts:
Tone Realistic
Setting (Time) Between 1945 and 1959
Setting (Place) The South Side of Chicago
Protagonist Walter Lee Younger
Major Conflict The Youngers, a working-class Black family, struggle against economic
hardship and racial prejudice.
Rising Action Ruth discovers that she is pregnant; Mama makes a down payment on a house;
Mama gives Walter the remaining insurance money; Walter invests the money in the liquor
store venture.
Climax Bobo tells the Youngers that Willy has run off with all of Walter’s invested insurance
money; Asagai makes Beneatha realize that she is not as independent as she thinks.
Falling Action Walter refuses Mr. Lindner’s offer to not move; the Youngers move out of the
apartment to their new house in the white neighborhood; Beneatha finds new strength in
Asagai.
Themes The value and purpose of dreams, the need to fight racial discrimination, the
importance of family
Motifs Racial identity, the home
Symbols “Eat your eggs,” Mama’s plant, Beneatha’s hair
Foreshadowing Mrs. Johnson’s news that a Black family’s house has been bombed
foreshadows the objections that the Clybourne Park Improvement Association will raise to the
idea of the Youngers moving in; Walter’s hints to Travis that he is investing the insurance
money foreshadow the disappearance of the money.