Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Assimilation: The Mutilation of Dreams

In a Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry shines a spotlight on Beneatha who reinvigorates the belief that freedom is life, and while the Younger family may be free in some ways, society still attempts confine them in others. Throughout the play we see the restrictions that society has placed on the hopes and dreams of the family specifically those of Beneatha, Walter, and Mama. Thus, Hansberry conveys that assimilating into society is negative because by assimilating one is submitting oneself to the limitations society attaches to one’s labels.

Thus we see that assimilation and the beliefs of society are directly responsible for the deference of dreams. Society is responsible for instilling disillusion

Walter is also not bound by the constraints of society as he dreams of owning a business and becoming wealthy, something that is characterized as outlandish by society due to his ethnicity. Hanberry again highlights the dastardliness of assimilation, as the rest of Walter’s family, constrained by the beliefs of society, discourage his pursuits. However, Walter does not submit himself to society either, Hanberry hints at this when she has Walter join Beneatha in her African, “anti-assimilation” dance. Although unlike Beneatha Walter’s dream and the persistence of his hope not only impact himself, but his son, Travis, as well. Through Walter Hansberry emphasizing how one’s assimilation, and submission to society impacts others negatively as well. In Water’s case this is because, through his dream, as he explains to Travis, he wants to “hand you the world”, instead of “stories about how rich white people live”. He wants his son’s hopes and dreams not to be limited by societal constraints associated with Travis’s ethnicity. He wants Travis to believe that dreams are realistic and attainable. Thus even in his in his despair faced with the bribery and persuasion of Linder to sell the new house Mama, his son's presence cause him to not sell the house. Because if Walter sold the house he would be giving in to the villainy of assimilation, surrendering to society’s restrictions on mixed-race residency. He would be telling his son to confine his dreams to the limitation set by society, that his son is not allowed to dream freely simply because of the color of his skin. Here Hansberry reveals the true vileness of assimilation, as it can cause the destruction of a child’s hopes and dreams. Thus through Linder Hansberry presents the Younger family with the malignance of assimilation as the all unanimously agree against assimilating and decide to move into the house to prevent