Lorraine Hansberry's Play - a Raisin in the Sun

The characters in Lorraine Hansberry^s play are very significant in understanding the play. The characters are examples of they way Lorraine lived day by day her live when she was a kid. The success of the play was brought out by the characters and her way of keeping our interest with each one of them. They characters are very critical in understanding the play. There were four main characters that made the play a sellout, Lena, Ruth, Beneatha and Walter Lee. Each one of these characters had a dream to try to accomplish. The Characters portray the plays meaning in the way the play evolved into a masterpiece. Lorraine Hansberry studied African history while working on A Raisin in the Sun. She incorporated her knowledge of the history and wanted to bring it over in to her play. Beneatha a character in A Raisin in the Sun knows much about her African past. Mama is very proud of her African heritage and believing it^s importance. During the stage directing of the play Lena has the ^noble bearings of the women of the heroes of the Southwest Africa , but she totally ignores her African past and does not care much about it either^ (Cheney 59). Asagai Beneatha^s acquaintance talks allot about his African past and believes deeply in his culture and heritage. He is from Nigeria where there is a lot of poverty.

A Raisin in the Sun is a quiet celebration of the black family the importance of African roots, the equality of women, the vulnerability of marriage, the true value of money, the survival of the individual and the nature of mans dreams (Cheney 55).

Africa is a great part of the play because it brings out good and humorous elements in the Younger family, such as Walter yelling out ^Hot Damn!^ ^Flaming Spear!^ as Beneatha walks out in her Nigerian robes (Cheney 60). Africa becomes a symbol of heritage and a troublesome but hopeful future (Cheney 56).

With the help of Paul Robeson, W.E.B Dubois and Frederick Douglass she created the play A Raisin in the Sun. Paul Robeson was a famous baritone singer. He inspired her to write A Raisin in the Sun. She loved his voice and the songs he sang. Hansberry learned from him ^...the way that most blacks lived, and the dangers of being an artist^ (Cheney 45-46). W.E.B Dubois was an original thinker and a sociologist. Hansberry ^...gained admiration for black intellectual, socialism, and black leadership^ (Cheney 40). Frederick Douglass was a another writer. Hansberry learned about slavery and its psychology. She also learned a ^...invaluable lesson that the sufferings of a people may be presented truthfully in ways that rise above propaganda to the level of art^ (Cheney 36-37). A Raisin in the Sun is a very interesting play about the Younger^s, a family that lives in the Chicago south side ghetto. The characters in the play are Ruth her husband Walter, their son Travis, also Beneatha and Lena. The family is poor and very much so hopeless in finding a new home. Lena is lucky though she found a very nice home in Clyborne Park in a white neighborhood. In the beginning of the play the family is waiting for a 10,000 dollar check. Each family member has there own thoughts on what they should do with the money. Lena wants a new home and so she could support the family, Walter wants to invest the money in a liquor store, and Beneatha wants the money so she could pay for medical school. According to Lorraine Hansberry, Joseph Asagai was her favorite character to create. He is a Nigerian student who is Beneatha^s confidant. Mama is a very good example of a black matriarch trying to keep her family in line. Mama is a very religious women. She is up set and smacks Beneatha when Beneatha tells her that she does not believe in God. Mama tells her that if she lives in her house she must believe in God. Henry Hewes opinion was that ^the play contained dramaturgical implications which were brought out by Walter^ (Hewes 212).

Theophilus Lewis notion was ^the drama had a great sense of spiritual conflict in the area of Walter Younger^s soul with an obbligato of social awareness^ (Lewis 216). According