A Raisin In the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry accomplished much in her 35 years of life. She was not only the first black writer to win the Best Play of the Year award in New York City, she was also the youngest playwrite to earn that recognition. Handbury's parents were well-off and strong advocates of complete integration of african-americans into American society. Lorraine carried these ideals into her adult life and into her writings.
Hansbury's play A Raisin in the Sun was met with great praise. It was the story of an African-American family trying to live the American dream. All the Younger family wanted was to have a nice home where they could live in peace. The story began with a typical day in the Younger household. The mother, Ruth, is getting her son, Travis, and her husband, Walter, up to go to school and work respectively. Their apartment is small and cramped-young Travis has to sleep on the sofa in the living room-and they are trying to beat the neighbors into the shared bathroom. While they are getting ready there is talk of money that is to arrive the next day. This is to be their ticket to freedom. Lena Younger (the mother of Walter) is expecting a settlement from the death of her husband, and the whole family has grand plans for the money. Walter wants to use it to start a liquor store, Beneatha (his sister) wants to go to medical school so she can become a doctor, and Ruth and Lena both want to buy a house so they can have a home to call their own.The next day the money comes and Lena goes out to find a house. Later she returns with the news that she put a down payment on a nice place in a nice neighborhood. The only problem was that it was in white neighborhood. The play progresses and a man named Karl Lindner stops by to try and persuade the family not to move. He says it would just be better for all parties if the family stuck to their own kind. This attitude was very popular among the people of Hansbury's time. Equal but separate was the social norm. I feel this was the most important message of the play. That this idea needed to be challenged and abolished was Hansbury's most prominant theme of the story.

I also watched the movie made from this play and was very happy with how the story was kept intact and not convoluted as many works are when transformed for the big screen. Sydney Poitier gave a top-notch performance as Walter, and the rest of the cast was very good as well. If any of my classmates did not watch this movie I would highly recomend that they do so because it was a very accurate portrayal of what was going on at the time of its production, and it helped me see the true nature of the story. It really gave it life.