A Raisin in the Sun, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1959, became one of the most significant texts about African Americans in the 20th century. The play raises both social problems existing at that time and personal issues. It represents the injustice of segregation and the American dream, the characters’ search for a better life and freedom, and their way to maturity. The play depicts the story of an African American family living in Chicago in the 1950s.
The family lives in poverty and faces racism and injustice. Walter, one of the main characters, shares a small apartment with his wife, son, sister, and mother and works as a chauffeur of a white, wealthy man. Walter hardly makes a living and dreams about a better future. When his mother gets insurance for ten thousand dollars after his father’s death, he decides to take a risk and invest a part of the money in a liquor store. He gives money to his prospective business partner, who disappears with it. After that, Walter decides to sell the house that his mother bought for another part of the insurance check. At the end of the play, he changes his mind, and the family starts a new life in their new home.
This paper will discuss Walter’s personality and his decisions regarding a liquor business and housing. His actions are not so straightforward as they appear at first sight, and it is necessary to investigate them deeper. Although Walter’s behavior seems selfish at some points of the story, his motives can be called an attempt to become a hero, and he eventually becomes a hero at the end.
To analyze Walter’s character, it is necessary to discuss the concept of masculinity. Masculinity refers to the perception of men, their roles, and actions in a patriarchal picture of the world. Pirkis et al. identify common characteristics of masculinity, such as “stoicism, invulnerability, strength, independence, ability to provide for a family, drive, a “gogetter” ago-getterand success in chosen endeavors” (3). The constant expectations of such behavior can negatively affect men’s personalities. As Veal notes, “ideas of masculinity create unrealistic pressures on men,” which destroys “the human side of them” (3). However, it is necessary to point out that black masculinity, in addition, does not always allow a man to realize the mentioned expectations. According to Majors and Mancini, African Americans are “impotent in the economic, political, and social arenas that whites have historically dominated”qttd. in Veal 3). In this regard, it is possible to agree that Walter experiences pressure both from the side of masculine ideals and from racial restrictions existing at that time.
Walter feels guilty and frustrated as he cannot earn enough money for the good lifforof of his family. He talks about himself: “I’m thirty-five years old; I been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in the living room and all I got to give him is stories about how rich white people live” (p. 535). Walter wants to possess wealth, status, and authority, but in the world in which he liven, these goals are much harder to be achieved by a black man. In addition to the concept of masculinity, Walter is probably influenced by the idea of the American dream.
The American dream is a well-known belief that through hard work and risk-taking, anyone regardless of their class, origins, and gender can achieve success. Walter’s desire to have not just a well-paid job but his own business correlates with the principles of this concept. He believes that when becoming wealthy, he will solve all his problems. However, as Kochar notes, the American dream became “a nightmare for blacks in America” (p. 378). The researcher points out that even being hard-working, diligent, and honest, it was almost impossible for them to realize this dream (p. 378). When facing the opportunity to achieve success, Walter also meets disapproval from his family.
His wife, Ruth, does not feel excited about Walter’s idea to invest money. Walter complains: “There you are. Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs” (p. 535). His sister Beneatha also tells him that the money belongs to their mother, and it must be her decision about how to spend them. Walter becomes aggressive and exclaims: “He was my father, too!” (p. 537). In Behaves even been manipulative and sexist with his sister, trying to convince her to give up her dream. He says: “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor?…go be a nurse like other women — or just get married and be quiet” (p. 537). Walter is desperate that he is not getting any support from his relatives and wants his interests to be in the first place. In addition, such a manipulative and sexist attitude is also caused by masculine principles he absorbed.
His mother also disapproves of the idea of a liquor store. In addition, she does not believe in the concept of business itself: “We ain’t no business people, Ruth. We just plain working folks” (p. 539). Mama expects Walter to become the head and provider of the family. This statement may be supported by the fact that Lena entrusted Walter a part of the ith insurance money. These expectations, however, are connected more with the image of Walter’s father. His father was working all his life for a better future of his children, sacrificing his health. He was not thinking about himself but his family’s well-being. In this regard, insurance money became a symbol of all his labor and achievements.
Thus, Walter experiences pressure from several sides, including the influence of the masculinity concept and the idea of the Ame who RI, who can dr,eam and his family’s expectations and disapproval. In this regard, his investment in a liquor business can be considered as an attempt to become a hero. He describes his son a future he dreams about, where his wife has Cadillac and Travis studies in one of the best schools of America (p. 566). If Walter had had success, he would have fulfilled his mission in terms of masculinity, achieved his American dream, and proved to his family that he was right.
Unfortunately, his way to success ended without even starting, which made him desperate. When he gets bad news about money, he says in frustration: “That money is made out of my father’s flesh” (575). Mama also painfully perceives Walter’s failure and not because he lost the money itself, but as if it became a loss of another part of her husband. Mama says: “I seen him grow thin and old before he was forty… working and working and working like somebody’s old horse… killing himself… and you — you give it all away in a day” (p. 576). Walter, however, decides to take another desperate step to get more money.
When Lena buys a house in a white neighborhood, the neighbors send a representative with the buyout offer. Walter sees new hope in this money and wants to accept this offer. This attempt may be called selfish as, by this action, he would give up the dreams of his parents, sister, and wife. However, he finally changes his mind, which is highly significant not only for his family but for the development of his personality.
When Walter rejects the neighborhood representative’s offer, he protects both the heritage of his father and the dignity of his family. He tells the representative: “…we come from people who had a lot of pride. I mean — we’re very proud people” (p. 585). He overcomes his living principles and changes the perception of his future. This step becomes rather difficult for him and, taking into account Walter’s personality, this action even may be called heroic. According to Matek and Poljak Rehlicki, “it is only when he acknowledges and appropriates his legacy that he can understand the value of home and family, thus becoming a father, a husband, and — a man” (p. 299). Thus, this decision becomes fundamental for the formation of maturity in Walter and, by this action, he accepts real values instead of those that were imposed on him.
A Raisin in the Sun vividly represents the problem of segregation existing in that period in Chicago. It is a true example of discrimination when white people feel Negativland the potential neighbors only because of the color of their skin. For a deeper understanding of the importance of Walter’s action, it is also worth discussing the actual life experiences of black families. Chicago of that time was racially segregated, and even when having money, African Americans were facing difficulties and restrictions, trying to buy a new house. According to Simon, black people were often becoming victims of predatory lending schemes, hidden fees, and high-interest rates (p. 146). In addition, white people were usually reacting with aggressiveness and hostility in case a black family was trying to move into their neighborhood. This injustice in the real estate market was playing a great role in the dispossession of African Americans.
Lorraine Hansberry included some autobiographical issues in her play, as her family also faced housing discrimination. In 1938, when her father Carl purchased an apartment in Washington Park where only white people lived, their family was met with hostility by neighbors. People were highly aggressive, threatening them, and even throwing bricks in their windows. It led Carl Hansberry to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1940. This situation inspired Lorraine to write A Raisin in the Sun. Taking into account her family’s experience, Walter’s decision to fight back and reject the buyout offer appears as a significant and even heroic action.
One may conclude that A Raisin in the Sun represents a character’s way to his maturity. Dreaming about the world of wealth and authority, Walter forgets about the real value uusthat he has. The attempt to enter this world leads him to failure. However, at the end of the play, he understands what is right and awakens the proud of who he is, becoming a hero in the eyes of his family.
References
- Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Web.
- Kochar, Shubhanku. “African American Dream: A Reading of Mulatto and A Raisin in the Sun.” Language in India, vol. 18, no. 2, 2018, pp. 377–388.
- Matek, Ljubica, and Jasna Poljak Rehlicki. “Going Home: Narrating Maturity and Safety in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and Nick Hornby’s How to Be Good.” Umjetnost Riječi: Časopis Za Znanost o Književnosti, vol. 60, no. 3–4, 2016, pp. 291–306.
- Pirkis, Jane, et al. “Masculinity and Suicidal Thinking.” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, vol. 52, no. 3, 2017, pp. 319–327.
- Simon, Julia. “Predatory Lending, Contract House Sales, and the Blues in Chicago: Eddie Boyd’s “Five Long Years” and Muddy Waters’“You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had”.” Journal of American Culture, vol. 40, no. 2, 2017, pp. 145–154.
- Veal, Aliyah D. I AM A MAN: How Legacy and Inheritance Bear a Heavy Burden on Black Masculinity in A Raisin in the Sun, Barbershop, and Creed. 2018.