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Segregation In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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“What happens to a dream deferred?” (Hughes Poem). "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry follows the Younger family, a Black family living in a cramped apartment in Chicago's South Side during the 1950s. The family receives a life insurance check following the death of the patriarch, and each family member dreams of a better life. Mama wants to buy a house to fulfill her late husband's dream, while her son Walter Lee dreams of investing in a liquor store. Tensions rise as they grapple with racism, poverty, and conflicting desires, forcing them to confront their individual aspirations and the realities of their circumstances. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorriane Hansberry, Hansberry uses literary elements such as imagery and the …show more content…

The line, "They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes," serves as a powerful metaphor for the segregationist practices that denied African Americans access to public spaces and relegated them to inferior status. Hughes's portrayal of being banished to the kitchen during gatherings vividly illustrates the dehumanizing effects of segregation, emphasizing the pervasive sense of otherness and exclusion experienced by African Americans. Walter says, “.Just tell me where you want to go to school and you’ll go. Just tell me, what it is you want to be – and you’ll be it.Whatever you want to be – Yessir! (He holds his arms open for TRAVIS) You just name it, son. (TRAVIS leaps into them) and I hand you the world,” (Hansberry 109). This is what Walter tells Travis. After Travis says that he wants to be a bus driver, Walter wants his son to dream bigger and wants him to be able to give Travis a good life and flexibility when he is older. This quote also highlights how Walter had planned for his money to be spent on and that everything would change when he started making profit from the liquor store, he wanted to invest in. This poignant imagery not only evokes empathy, but also serves as a rallying cry for equality, urging society to confront and dismantle the oppressive systems of segregation that undermine the dignity and rights of African

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The conflict between Walter and Ruth is shown earliest in the play, perfectly demonstrating what happens when two people do not respect one another. Hansberry shows the married couple’s disconnect through an interaction with their son Travis. Being the morning that Travis is “supposed to bring … fifty cents to school,” he asks his mother for the money, only to be told that she “ain’t got no fifty cents this morning” (Hansberry 4).

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This quote highlights Mama’s unconditional love for her son, even when he is at his lowest point. Author William Murray writes on Mama’s relationship with her family, “Throughout the play, Mama demonstrates a pride in her family’s legacy of survival and dignity, and she works to share this view of the past with her children.” (Murray 278). Her unwavering loyalty to her family is an example of the importance of family relationships in A Raisin in the Sun. Another relationship highlighted in the play is that between Walter Lee and his family.

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When Walter asked his son, Travis, what he wanted to be when he grows up Travis said that he wants to be “a bus driver” (Hansberry 757). Walter thinks that “ain’t nothing to want to be” when he grows up (Hansberry 757). He wants Travis to inspire to be something bigger. Walter wants to be able to give Travis anything he wants. The way Walter plans to do this is with the money his mother is getting for insurance that she is getting from Walter’s father’s death.

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