The Theme Of Family In “A Raisin In The Sun“

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The Theme of Family in A Raisin in the Sun
by Lorraine Hansberry

“A Raisin in the Sun” is a play set in the 1950’s, as was the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. Despite critics, the play received rave reviews. It dealt with issues that would divide Americans during the 1960’s. A Raisin in the Sun can be viewed as a celebration of the African-American family. Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” demonstrates the strong family unity that is essential in the play.
Hansberry wanted to honestly portray a black family’s life in all its variety (Tripp 65). The family in her play, the Youngers, grew up as she did, on the south side of Chicago, Ill. Hansberry based A Raisin in the Sun on her knowledge of life in Chicago’s black ghetto and the families to whom her father, a successful real estate broker, rented low-income housing (Leeson 1). Three generations of the Younger family depicted in the play differ in dreams, speech patterns, and religious, musical, and stylistic preferences (Carter 45). One can understand this situation because it is likely to happen in their own families, no matter the race.
The play begins as Lena, also known as Mama, learns that she will be receiving a check of $10,000 dollars from her late husband’s insurance.

The Youngers all have their own ideas on how to use the money, which causes conflict among each other. To help her family, Mama wants to make life for her family better by taking them out of their small cramped apartment and getting a new home. Lena wants to provide the possibility for change in their lives through the legacy of her late husband, Big Walter, and his insurance money (Scanlan 112). Beneatha, her daughter, wants to use the money for medical school and Walter, her son, wants to open a liquor store, believing that by opening his own business, the family would prosper and it would also boost his confidence by providing for his family like a man shou...