Brumfield 1

Savannah Brumfield

ENGL-150-01

Dr. Liam O’Loughlin

Essay 2

13 October 2022

Lindner As a Symbol of the White Majority

Rarely has it been discussed the reality of living in the North during the Great Migration,

a period coinciding with Jim Crow in the South and mirroring many of the same ideologies and

beliefs. Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun features the reality of residential segregation

and racial prejudice in Chicago during the Great Migration, which is seen through the character

development of Karl Lindner and the analysis of contextual excerpts from Wright, Gruenberg,

and Samuels. Hansberry’s symbolism through Lindner can be seen through her use of

characterization, descriptive stage directions, dialogue, and allusion.

To begin, Lindner’s appearance in the play is minimal, but it is significant in illustrating

how white individuals felt superior to African-American individuals or families during this time

period. To start, he is the only white character in the play. It should be noted that Willy Harris

was also white, yet he never made an appearance and only existed in conversation among other

characters. Nevertheless, both characters fractured the Younger’s dreams of starting a better life.

Next, he is dressed in a business suit and carries a briefcase, which exemplifies his higher class

and embodies Walter’s dream of being a businessman. Lastly, Lindner’s behavior demonstrates

how white people acted around African-Americans at the time; acting timid and reserved as he

“digs” through his briefcase and exchanges a “curious quick glance” at the Younger members as

Beneatha calls for them, which can be seen in the stage directions on page 1600 (Hansberry). His
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discomfort seems to be intensified by the immense greeting expressed from the Younger’s when

he is described as upset after being offered a beer by Walter and frustrated when Ruth offers him

more comfortable seating. This frustration continues until he feels as though he has won the

attention and interest of the Younger’s, where the atmosphere is quickly replaced with tension.

This kind of behavior is analyzed in Richard Wright’s Twelve Million Black Voices: A Folk

History of the Negro in the United States (1941), where Wright writes “When they see one of us,

they either smile with contempt or amusement… When they see six of us, they become

downright apprehensive and alarmed. And because they are afraid of us, we are afraid of them,”

(Wright, 1624). The readers can see Lindner as apprehensive in his disorganized behavior: he is

visibly uncomfortable while sitting and holding onto or rummaging through his belongings. His

dialogue is also specific and coordinated, either establishing his power through an educated voice

or as a way to confuse the Younger’s. He could have been alarmed that he was speaking to

multiple family members, perhaps planning to be more scornful had it just been a singular, black

woman he was talking to, but he had to restrategize the interaction when it was her children who

answered the door. He was also not afraid of the Younger’s until he recognized the hostility in

their faces after offering to buy the house, which is where he begins to leave. He does remain

respectful and empathetic to the Younger’s, redirecting when he could and apologizing

hypocritically for the outcome of the conversation. To condense, Lindner’s characteristics

described through the stage directions and dialogue illustrates the superiority demonstrated by

the white majority during the Great Migration, which was explained more detailedly in Wright’s

work.

Moreover, Hansberry utilizes the dialogue of Lindner to display how racism was

expressed by white individuals to conserve segregation and preserve their superiority in the
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North. One thing to note of his dialogue is that he takes a good deal of breaks or pauses while

speaking. This could indicate him thinking before he speaks. His choice of words are more

educated than casual, and he refers to titles and organizations related to Clybourne Park as if the

Younger’s are knowledgeable of them. Additionally, like stated earlier, Lindner’s dialogue in the

play is well-coordinated and sophisticated, and while his delivery was complicated, it is

organized strategically well. He offers to buy the house back, essentially telling the Younger’s

that although their efforts to afford a home in Clybourne Park are acknowledged, they are not

welcomed there. Complications arrive when he first tells the Younger family that “most trouble

exists because people just don’t sit down and talk to each other,” (Hansberry, 1601), implying a

fair conversation, yet he tells the Younger’s soon after that the commmitee believes “race

prejudice simply doesn’t enter into it…for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro

familieas are happier when they live in their own communities,” (Hansberry, 1602). Instead of

addressing the issue immediately to persuade the Younger’s, he goes on a rant on how mindful

conversations between both parties can end in a peaceful resolution, which he continues to

elaborate on as he notices their attention and focus drawing on him. Hooking them by creating a

sense of understanding, he begins to explain his “non-prejudicial” reasoning as to why they do

not belong in Clybourne Park before he proposes the financial arrangement, which he quickly

reveals once Walter and Beneatha begin expressing dissatisfaction. The reasoning Lindner

provides is almost parallel to quotation from Gertrude Samuels’ Even More Crucial Than in the

South, where Samuels’ discusses the actuality of the North’s segregation and discrimination

against African Americans, which Samuels’ recites “‘In the South, the whites say ‘I don’t care

how close you get but don’t get too high.’ In the North, the whites say, ‘I don’t care how high

you get but don’t get too close,’” (Samuels, 1631). Lindner does not want to be perceived as
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racist, which is why they first offer to buy the house, but he makes it clear that their presence in

Clybourne Park would not be welcomed. In closing, Lindner’s educated vocabulary and

organized speech represented from his dialogue focuses on how white individuals perpetuated

the cycle of segregation.

Lastly, Lindner alludes to destruction and harassment directly to the Younger’s, which

can be analyzed in-depth with Robert Gruenberg’s Chicago Fiddles While Trumbull Park Burns.

Lindner tells the Younger’s before he leaves “What do you think you are going to gain by

moving into a neighborhood where you just aren’t wanted and where…people can get awful

worked up when they feel that their whole way of life and everything they’ve ever worked for is

threatened,” (Hansberry, 1602). In Gruenberg’s excerpt, he discusses the harassment faced by the

Howard family after moving into Trumbull Park, a white neighborhood, and the reaction from

the public. Before moving in, Trumbull Park had minimal fires, but it only took a few weeks for

the whole development to erupt in flames and for riots to ensue. These could be actions that

Lindner alludes to, since there is a parallel quote in Gruenberg’s excerpt where he recites, “the

moving in of Negroes ‘an encroachment on our right,’” (1628). The whites did everything they

could to prevent families of color from moving into their neighborhoods, and Linder’s first

arrival is the first step of this. Lindner directly tells the Younger’s that they are intruding on the

white families rights of controlling Clybourne Park's dynamic. He toys with the Younger’s by

explaining how the association will not tolerate the behavior that has been exhibited in Chicago

when African-American families move into white neighborhoods by simply not allowing the

Younger’s to, and as he is leaving, he mentions it to the Younger’s again but as a threat. The only

agreeable solution to prevent those actions is for the Younger’s to sell the house. Hansberry does

not continue this storyline in the play once the Younger’s have finished packing their home, yet
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the audience can infer that it was not an easy transition. When Lindner returns at the end of the

play to discuss the Younger’s moving, he seems to be relieved at first that the Younger’s possibly

reconsidered, which was replaced with disappointment after Walter tells him they will be moving

into Clybourne Park. To summarize, there were small allusions Lindner made to the Younger’s

regarding the response from white families to African-American families moving into their

neighborhoods that Samuel’s excerpt illustrates upon, helping the audience analyze and

understand the residential segregation during the times of the Great Migration.

In conclusion, Karl Lindner–as the only white character in Hansberry’s A Raisin in the

Sun–is a symbol of the North’s segregation and racial prejudice of African-Americans during the

Great Migration. Hansberry’s in-depth stage directions, diction, characterization, and allusions

reveals this representation of Lindner. Wright, Gruenberg, and Samuels’ contextual excerpts

allows the audience to have a better understanding of Hansberry’s play by describing personal

accounts or true stories of segregation and discrimination in the North. With these deeper

interpretations, all of Lindner’s behaviors are better identified by analyzing his purpose to the

play.
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Work Citations

Gruenberg, Richard. “Chicago Fiddles While Trumbull Park Burns.” The Norton Introduction to

Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, Norton, 2022, pp 1627-1629

Hansberry, Lorraine. “A Raisin in the Sun.” The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by

Kelly J. Mays, Norton, 2022, pp 1556-1619.

Samuels, Gertrude. “Even More Crucial Than in the South.” The Norton Introduction to

Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, Norton, 2022, pp 1629-1632

Wright, Richard. “Twelve Million Black Voices: A Folk History of the Negro in the United

States (1941).” The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, Norton,

2022, pp 1623-1627