Choose one of the plays included: A Raising in the Sun, Trifles, or A Doll’s House.

[Student’s Full Name]
[Professor’s Full Name]
[Subject]
[Date]
Race, and Racial Dynamics in “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry Analysis
The play is part of a broad literary movement whose primary concern was to show the lives of the working-class African-Americans. This genre, called American Realism, intends to show the authentic lives of people, without any looking glass. A Raisin in the Sun fits that description. In the play, we see that, dreams; hopes; money, and love. The core of many people’s lives. Another important thing we can rescue from such as the issue of race, and the racial dynamics in the play. Hansberry is able to accurately capture the racial dynamics of her time. It is possible that the experiences we see in the play are part of the author’s own experiences. Strictly speaking, the book is about the Younger family, but that family is also Hansberry’s (Ghani 610). For instance, she was subject to segregation, and that shaped the way she saw things. That is why she could create a play that featured, although veiled, a Civil Rights focused agenda.
In this essay, we shall speak about how race and racial dynamics play an important part in “A Raisin in the Sun.” First, we shall talk about the places in the play where racism appears. Then, we shall discuss these dynamics in the form of symbols and themes in the play.
RACISM IN “A RAISIN IN THE SUN.”
As we said, the play is dull about race and racism. Although it is not about race, it is thoroughly intertwined with it.

For instance, here “Them houses they put up for colored in them areas way out all seem to cost twice as much as other houses. I did the best I could.” (Hansberry II, 1). In this quote, we can see how racism shows through real estate and proprieties. Lena is awestruck by the difficulties that will pose to her, an African-American woman to acquire a propriety. In the same way, the woman intends to raise a family out of the poorest part of Chicago, no matter what, even if it goes against her children’s will (Gomes 90). What Hansberry intended with Mama’s lines was to show the difficulties of leaving the poor slums, and actually achieving wellbeing. This was true not only for Hansberry but for many African-Americans in the country. In that way, the play also served as a mirror of the situation many people suffered. That is why theater turns into a weapon against discrimination, because it shows the realities of life, through a looking glass. “…most of the trouble exists because people just don’t sit down and talk to each other…That we don’t try hard enough in this world to understand the other fellow’s problem. The other guy’s point of view” (Hansberry 2.III). This quote shows the issue of racism but directly displayed as the question of how a white man tries to change buy them out of their home. He is not offering a bargain to another person, in his actions we can see how the man thinks he is offering a great thing to illiterate people. His actions are not those of a man talking to an equal, in his actions, he was speaking to an inferior individual.
In the same way, symbols such the roaches and cockroaches are used to exemplify the poverty they live in, and they are occasionally sprayed throughout the play as a way to show the differences between white people and African-Americans. Besides, here “(looking off): Is there —is there a whole lot of sunlight?” (2, I) where Ruth asks if the new apartment will have light, as if the last one did not. The symbol of the sun has been extensively used in literature for centuries and featuring the Sun, Hansberry shows that the family still had hope to keep going. Also, the issue of concerns. When Walter started chauffeuring a wealthy man, he begun to see riches around him. Those perceived riches made him wonder how would be rich be, and he intends to change his luck by investing in a liquor store. Nevertheless, his dreams turn into nothing as his partner cheats him and steals the money. At that moment, the author intended to show how hard it can be for an African-American to leave poverty. In the figure of his partner, Hansberry showed how American society crushes black people’s aspirations and hopes. Walter feels that the American Dream is out of his hands, and he feels confined to the existence. However, Walter still keeps falling victim to what society dictates he should have (Ghani 612). The family struggle is almost unbearable, as the audience suffers how the conflict affects each member of the family throughout the play. The family’s happiness and sadness exist on the base of how near or far they are from attaining their dream. That is why the symbol of the house is so important. They struggle to get a house because the real meaning of the home is the union, as, without it, the family might disintegrate.
Often plays are looked as light entertainment, but A Raisin in the Sun portrays how rough the lives of African-Americans are. It is hard for many people to overlook what happens to them, but the play shows the inner lives of a family with such finesse that we cannot help but to sympathize with them. It is undeniable that Hansberry used the play as a way to display the struggles of the black population, and the fact that the game turned to be really satisfied only proves that the truths hurt less when they are not said straight to the face.
Works Cited
Ghani, Hana’ Khalief. “I Have a Dream —Racial Discrimination in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun.” TPLS Theory and Practice in Language Studies (2011). Web. 8 July 2015.
<http://ojs.academypublisher.com/index.php/tpls/article/viewFile/0106607614/3131>.
Gomes, Lizandra. “The Visions of Lena Younger Created by Lorraine Hansberry in A Raisin in the Sun.” Undergraduate Review 6.18 (2010). Bridgewater University. Web. 7 July 2015. <http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1159&context=undergrad_rev>.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun: A Drama in Three Acts. New York: Random House, 1959. Print.