Social Shift In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

In the twentieth century the United States went through a large social shift that lead to a completely new way of living for the African American community. They were given freedoms and opportunities that the previous generation had never dreamed of even though the new, younger generation seemed to take them for granted. Characters such as Mama and her husband lived in an era were racial prejudice was acceptable and encouraged. During this time period blacks were given few opportunities to realize and achieve their dreams. Mamas children could never fathom this sort of world, even though they face certain financial hardships and discrimination it would never be to the same caliber as what Mama experienced in her life. In the play Mama makes

We can see this social shift in the way that Mamas' children, Beneatha and Walter, strongly hinge their identities on their monetary success and place in society. Walter seems to view money as the only means of measuring success in life and even goes so far as to say He later states that he is nothing without money and that his is unable to call himself a man if he can't that she so desperately deserves. However Walter does not realize that his wife does not want pearls. Instead she simply wants to know that he loves her and supports her through tough times. Walter's sister, Beneatha, has a much more entitled view of money than her brother as shown through her series of frivolous pursuits. She is constantly picking up random menial hobbies that costs her family money that they really do not have to waste on her search to . Beneatha puts an even heavier financial burden on her family when she decided to attend medical school to become a doctor, a practice which was not common in her time. Unlike her children though Mama never allows money to determine her identity and even goes as far as to say In fact it was Mama belief that if the family was not in such desperate need for it she would give it away to some worthy cause. Mama understands that the very check that was suppose to save her family is actually tearing it apart. In a desperate move to give her family the sense of identity they so desperately crave Mama decides to spend the money on something that could be passed down, an actual house. A house that Mama tells Travis, her grandson, will one day be his when he's a man and gives everyone in the house a sense of hope in their seemly bleak situation. () In "Kaffir Boy" Mark also realizes the power of money and what it can do for him since his