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A RAISIN IN THE SUN

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A Drama Research Project

Presented to
Mrs. Horn
Tri-City Christian School

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In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Class
Junior Honors American Literature

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By
Justin Russell

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October 17, 2013Table

of Contents

Biography Essay3

Characterization.....5

Summary7

Analysis.....8

Historical Background.11

Works Cited..12

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Biographical Essay: Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry is an auspicious African American playwright and author. Her
Best known play was A Raisin in the Sun, which is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on
Broadway in 1959. A Raisin in the Sun sheds a light on the problems of Blacks in the inner city
of Chicago, and also the hate and racism that they received when trying to better their lives. In
1960, A Raisin In The Sun was nominated for four Tony Awards; one of these included Loraine
Vivian Hansberry for best play of the year.
Lorraine Hansberry was the granddaughter of a freed slave, and the youngest by seven
years of four children. She was born on May 19, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois. Her father was a real
estate broker, and her mother was a teacher. In 1939, The Hansberry family moved to an allwhite neighborhood. They were violently harassed, however they refused to move. This situation
escalated to the Supreme Court in the famous Lee vs. Hansberry case. (Alison, "Remembering
Hansberry v. Lee.")
Hansberry attended the University of WisconsinMadison, but was uninterested in her
studies, so she moved to New York City to become a writer. During her time in New York, she
went to the New School for Social Research, she also worked for an African American
Newspaper called Freedom, she worked there as an article writer and an editor. While working
for the newspaper, she also maintained various part time jobs such as a cashier and waitress.
Eventually, Loraine Hansberry quit these jobs so she could develop her full time to writing.
Once she was able to spend the majority of her time doing what she loved best,
Hansberry created her most famous play; A Raisin in the Sun. The play first debuted at the Ethel

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Barrymore Theatre on March 11, 1959. It generated a lot of success and was eventually played
on Broadway. Loraine Hansberry holds the record as the first African American to have a play
featured on Broadway, and she is also the youngest person to have a play on Broadway.
Hansberry was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1964, the same year which her play
The Sign in Sidney Bruseins Window opened. She passed away on January 12, 1965. Loraine
Hansberry has passed on a legacy of free thinking and racial justice which can still be
experienced today by her written works.

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Characterization
There are many dynamic characters in A Raisin in the Sun, each one with his or her own
contributions towards the story. The protagonist of the story is Walter Lee Younger, the patriarch
of the family. However, this story focuses on the lives and struggles of the family as a whole, so
all the attention of the author is not focused on Walter Lee Younger.
Walter Lee Younger is always looking for a quick way to get rich. Walter plays the
protagonist in the story. He feels bad for the economic situation of his family, so he is constantly
preoccupied with finding a way to provide for his family. This quality however, proves to be a
flaw, when he loses a lot of the familys money in a scam when he is trying to invest in a liquor
store.
Lena Younger is the matriarch of the family. She is always caring and looking out for her
family. Mrs. Younger is very religious and concerned with morality. She wants to use the
insurance money as a down payment on a house in an all-white neighborhood. Mama is a foil to
Walter; she is much more caring and isnt obsessed with money like her husband.
Beneatha Younger, also called Bennie, is Walters sister and Mrs. Youngers daughter.
She is attending college and very well educated, unlike the rest of her family. Bennie wants to be
a doctor, and is troubled with societys view of African Americans and women. She is in a
relationship with Joseph Asagai, a Nigerian student who proposes to her and wants her to move
back to Africa with him. Benetha is a Stock character because she plays the stereotypical young
adult who struggles to find her place in society.

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Ruth Younger is Walters wife and Traviss mother. Her marriage with Walter has its
problems, however Ruth wants to amend their differences and improve their remarriage. Ruth
assumes the duty of taking care of the familys small apartment.
Travis Younger is Ruth and Walters son. Walter wants to protect his son and shelters
him. Travis likes spend time playing with the neighborhood kids. He doesnt have his own room,
so he sleeps on the couch. Travis could be seen as a confidant; he is sheltered and shares a close
relationship with his father.
The Antagonist of this play is a white man Mr. Karl Lindner who tries to prevent the
family from moving into their new house.

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Brief Summary
The exposition of the play A Raisin in the Sun gives you a glimpse into the life of a
family from South-Side Chicago in the 1950s. The Youngers just received a $10,000 insurance
check from the late Mr. Younger. They are a poor family and this money is very important to
them.
The rising action is when the family is deciding what to do with the money. The
matriarch of the family, Mrs. Younger (Mama), wants to use the money on a down payment for
a house. Walter, who is the son of mama, wants to use the down payment on an investment in a
liquor store. Also Ruth become pregnant, this causes even more chaos.
The climax of the play is when Mama goes and puts the money on a house as a down
payment. This is met with aggression from white residents of the neighborhood, Mr. Karl
Lindner is sent to try to persuade the family not to move into the neighborhood. He offers them a
bribe to not move into that neighborhood.
The falling action is when Benetha and her Nigerian boyfriend contemplate moving to
Africa. Walter loses a considerable sum of money to a scam. Also, instead fo taking the bribe,
Walter decides to do the right thing instead of the financially safe thing. Walter makes the
decision to move into the neighborhood.
The play is resolved when the family packs their bags, and moves out of their apartment.
The family is happy with Walters decision and is proud of him. They are ready to face the
challenges and the racism they know are ahead of them.

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Analysis
The play A Raisin in the Sun can be classified as a serious modern play. The characters
live difficult and complex lives. The Younger family is faced with a difficult economic situation.
The family also has to deal with the roadblocks that society puts up for blacks in the 1950s. This
play is a brief picture of the difficult lives of blacks living in the ghetto during the 1950s. The
Author bases this play of her life. She as well had the same situation of moving into an all-white
neighborhood. This struggle is vividly portrayed.
The values of this play are not clear cut. The character with the most religious and upright
moral values is Mama. Religion however, plays a small role in the lives fo these characters. They
feel as if God has forgotten them. The main driving force for the patriarch, Walter, is providing
for his family. He is upset that he cannot make a lot of money for his family. He is always
looking into get rich quick schemes. Walter seems to not be bothered by his wife getting an
abortion. He is thinking practical, unlike Mama. He realizes that another mouth to feed could be
too much for him to handle. On the other hand, Mama is deeply upset by the possibility of an
abortion. Realism plays a big part in Walterss attitude. However, he makes the moral decision
when he decides not to take the bribe, and he lets the family move to a new neighborhood.
The different characters in this play have different motives, and attitudes. You can see the
self-search that every young adult does in the character of Benetha. Benetha is trying to find out
who she really is in a seemingly hopeless world. Her character portrays being an outcast of
mainstream society. Being an educated black woman in the 50s is not easy. She faces discontent
from even her own family. However, she finds refuge in Joseph Asagai. He speaks if his

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homeland, where being black isnt something looked down upon. He tells her of African
traditions and values. She looks at Joseph as an escape from a white male dominated society.
Walters quest for self-worth is also portrayed in this play. Society says that being a man
is being able to provide for his family. Since Walter struggles with making enough money, he
feels self-conscious of his manhood and his inability to provide a lot of money for his family. He
is desperate to make monetary gains. He is constantly at work with get rich quick scams and
ways to make a quick buck. Walter puts his hopes and dreams in making a financial investment
in a liquor store. He sees this investment as a way to finally solve his familys money problems.
However, when he gets scammed out of his money, he decides to take the money offered by Mr.
Karl Lindner. When Mr. Linder comes over, Walter makes the decision to not take the money.
This decision ironically, even though not a financially beneficial choice, makes the Younger
family view Walter as a true patriarch. He stands up to the oppressor and chooses his familys
interest instead of money, which seems to have dictated Walters Life in the past. In this selfless
act, Walter proves his manhood.
The conclusion of this play shows A Raisin in the Suns true nature as a serious modern
play. The ending leaves the reader with many questions. Even though the family makes the
decision of moving out of the ghetto, the reader knows that the Youngers situation isnt going to
necessarily improve, it will just change. In fact, with the amount of racism that they will face in
their new neighborhood, their amount of problems might even increase.
This play leaves the reader with a vision of hard reality of a life that they might not have
ever witnessed or experienced before. There are no real happy endings, and life is hard,
especially if you are poor, black, and living in the ghetto. This seems to be the main, underlying

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message in this book. However some characters such as Benetha give hope. The whole family is
trying to escape the ghetto. But maybe if Benetha goes with Joseph to Africa, she will not face
the hard reality of racism that the rest of the Youngers will face. This is one of the many inquires
the reader is left with in this Modern play.

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Historical Background
The heavy influence of racism during the time of Lorraine Hansberry greatly influenced
her view on life, and the play A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine lived during the time of the Civil
Rights Movement. Hostility between whites and blacks were at an all-time high. This was a
pivotal point in American history.
Lorraine Hansberry experienced firsthand what the younger family had experienced in
the book. She, similarly to the Youngers, moved to an all-white neighborhood. Her family was
violently harassed in this new setting.
The case of Lee vs. Hansberry essentially ended lawful racial discrimination. The case of
the Hansberrys moved all the way up to the Supreme Court. There it left its mark as an
important victory against segregation. New housing areas were now legally open for blacks to
move in to.
From the 1930s to the 1950s there was a movement in the South-Side Chicago area
similar to the Harlem Renaissance of the Harlem District in New York. The African American
community, which was concentrated around the South-Side area, was producing a lot of
literature, culture, and intellectuality. This movement influence many young black writers at the
time including Lorraine Hansberry. (Clark, Mclusky, the Black Chicago Renaissance)
The era that Lorraine Hansberry lived in was filled with racial tensions. This was the time
of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. It was a new beginning for Black Americans.

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Works Cited
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print.
Hine, Darlene Clark, and John McCluskey. The Black Chicago Renaissance. 2012: University of
Illinois, Chicago. University of Illinios Press. University of Illinios. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
"Lorraine Hansberry Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
"A Raisin in the Sun Characters." Shmoop. Ed. Team Shmoop Editorial. Shmoop University, Inc.,
11 Nov. 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
Reid, Molly. "Universal Themes of 'Raisin in the Sun' Resonate 50 Years Later." The TimesPicayune. N.p., 29 Oct. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
Shay, Alison. "Remembering Hansberry v. Lee." Publishing the Long Civil Rights Movement
RSS. University of North Carolina, 12 Nov. 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.