Issues Addressed in A Raisin in The Sun Essay -- Lorraine Hansberry

Black and White In the words of Jim Cocola and Ross Douthat, Hansberry wrote the play A Raisin in the Sun to mimic how she grew up in the 1930s. Her purpose was to tell how life was for a black family living during the pre-civil rights era when segregation was still legal (spark notes). Hansberry introduces us to the Youngers’, a black family living in Chicago’s Southside during the 1950s pre-civil rights movement. The Younger family consists of Mama, who is the head of the household, Walter and Beneatha, who are Mama’s children, Ruth, who is Walter’s wife, and Travis, who is Walter and Ruth’s son. Throughout the play the Youngers’ address poverty, discrimination, marital problems, and abortion. Mama is waiting on a check from the insurance company because of the recent passing of her husband. Throughout the play Walter tries to convince Mama to let him invest the money in a liquor store. Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor while embracing her African her itage, and Ruth just found out that she is pregnant and is struggling to keep her marriage going. The Youngers’ live in a very small apartment that is falling apart because of the wear and tear that the place has endured over the years. Mama dreams of having her own house and ends up using part of the insurance money for a down payment on a house in an up-scale neighborhood. The Youngers’ meet Mr. Lindner, who is the head of the welcoming committee. Mr. Lindner voices the community’s concerns of the Youngers’ moving into their neighborhood. Is the play A Raisin in the Sun focused on racial or universal issues? Some say that this play is racial in that the family is black, and what the family is going through could only happen to people of that race. One prominent racial is... ... have a garden. This play is more universal in that the majority of the issues the characters face are easily related to people of all races. Most people want to be able to provide for their family, own a home, and find out where they come from. Most couples argue and bicker about money or children and not being able to provide for them. Everyone has dreams, big and small, no matter what race, and there is something that anyone can relate to. A Raisin in the Sun is universal because the play communicates problems in the play and conveys them in a way that everyone can relate. â€Æ' Works Cited Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Norton. Ninth. Ed. Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, Kelly J. Mays. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005. 1942-2002. Cocola, Jim and Douthat, Ross. SparkNote on A Raisin in the Sun, 16 Sep. 2008. .