Raisin In The Sun Act I

The play takes place over about a month.

-Furnishings are typical and undistinguished and clearly have been used by many people. -tired-looking -couch upholstery has a lot of doilies and couch covers -worn carpet that shows weariness, depressing uniformity -washed too often -small kitchen -living room serves as a dining room -one window -travis sleeps on the couch -mama and beneatha share a room

-Walter tells her that he wants eggs but not scrambled, Ruth scrambles them. -Ruth is very indifferent -Walter is quick to accuse Ruth for her and yells about her "attitude"...refers to her drily -gives Travis a dollar simply to spite his wife -Ruth watches Walter "with murder in her eyes" -It describes Walter as rising and coming to her and standing over her -her husband is described to have quick nervous movements and erratic speech habits--and always in his voice there is a quality of indictment and we see this through his actions -Ruth is more quiet, her demeanor is indifferent because she has lost hope. She will be a "settled" one in a few years and is disappointed in her life.

Travis sleeps on the couch and cannot get any sleep because his father, Walter, and his friends were talking after ten o'clock at night. He also wants to make money by carrying groceries because his family doesn't have and his teacher says he has to.

Mama is in control of the family, she controls the finances and because of her ages and position in the household (the house being hers).

Walter is saying that many women don't accept their husbands dreams and therefore should be blamed for their lack of success. Walter wants to go into the world and make bets but Ruth isn't supporting him in his dreams, she is simply telling him to dismiss those dreams, to go to work and eat their eggs before they get cold.

Walter believes that women don't help men with their dreams. He states that "we are one group of men tied to a race of women with small minds".

Beneatha is vilified for her education because she is blamed for wanting to be a doctor because medical school costs money. Walter claims that Beneatha shouldn't be spending her money on something that she won't achieve and should instead have Mama give it to him because his dreams are considered more important in his eyes. He says that she is selfish because she does not want to be a nurse and tells her to just get married and be quiet. Hansberry's statement shows how discriminatory society was towards women of color and the educational system. That any efforts to gain the same privileges as a man were considered selfish and unachievable. That women of color were just simply expected to conform to the role of being a wife and that anything other than that was non sense.

She compares her children to an old plant that never gets any sunlight but has spirit even without it. It represents the Younger family not being given any opportunities because of the discrimination at the time but like the flower, they are able to maintain hope because that is what was necessary for people of color during the time period in spite of all the hate and marginalization. It is the garden that mama used to see in the backyards of houses but was never able to get.

Mama's dream is for Beneatha to go to school, to get a two story house where there is a yard where Travis could play in the summertime and to have a garden in her backyard. Walter dream is to open up a liquor store so he will not have to comply to others demands anymore and spend money freely as he sees rich white men in store do. Beneatha's dream is to get an education, to become a doctor. These dreams are all influenced by money because in order for Mama to buy a new house, she has to spend money for it and get another job to pay for it. Walter needs to money to buy a liquor store and make an investment. Beneatha needs to money to pay for her medical school and education.

Mama is talking about Walter Younger, her husband. He was hard-headed and mean but he loved his children. It describes his struggle to achieve his dreams and to get anywhere despite them having lived through slavery but what made it all worthwhile was that he was given children to make living in such a world bearable, perhaps because they could have a better future than him.

Beneatha's interests embody Hanberry's take on the modern generation because just as it was then, men occupy most roles as doctors while it is believed woman are supposed to teach or be stay at home moms, but what we are seeing is that woman don't only want these roles, they can be doctors too which is what Hanberry is portraying through Beneatha's character. We see the disparity between the individual vs the family or the collective with Walter and Beneatha and Mama and Ruth. Walter and Beneathas dreams are solely centered around them and their wishes, while Mama and Beneatha's dreams are centered around the family. Ruth doesn't want to have a baby for fear that they will have to feed another mouth and it will live in a world of poverty and Mama simply wants the best for her family (backyard for Travis, education for Beneatha, and acceptance for Walter).

Mama slaps Beneatha because she is challenging her power. Mama repeatedly tells her to watch her mouth around her when referring to God in a negative way and she still does. Mama is still in charge of the family and Beneatha is disrespecting her through her defiance. She took them to church ever Sunday and seeing her have such a disregard for what Mama and her father taught her angered Mama.

Beneatha is alienated because she is made to feels isolated or enstranged from Walter. He makes her feels different because she wants to become a doctor. We also see marginality in the text through Beneatha and Walter, but also with Walter because he feels like he is insignificant because he says that he feels this way because he has a son that sleeps in the living room and all he has are stories about how rich white people live. He feels powerless when he sees the white men around his age sitting in restaurants and making deals worth "millions of dollars".

We sees the influence of Jazz on the narrative in Act I scene two when the Youngers are cleaning the house and "saxophone blues" are filling the house.

Mama's statement about little boy's not being as tough as roaches that have been living in the southside as long show that in Chicago in the 1950's, one who isn't disciplined hasn't lived long enough. That to be able to live, one must undergo strictness and hardship.

Beneatha's statements on page 57 reflect the audience's potential prejudices because it challenges the viewer's idea of Africa only being defined by what they've heard about it. Such as what they know about Tarzan or that they are all poor and heathens. When in reality, all they need is more salvation from the British and the French.

Mama is suspicious when she learns Ruth has been to a female doctor because in the 1950's abortions were for the most part, solely performed by women.

Asagai is meant to embody authenticity, an acceptance of one's self. Lorraine Hansberry is attempting to say that the African American experience meant not being allowed to be your authentic self for fear of being discriminated against or not having "white enough" characteristics.

Beneatha sees assimilation as such a bad thing because it means that after all her efforts to fight against going with the status quo, she is conforming to those who are oppressors. By choosing to straighten her hair, she is becoming a member of the culture.

The significance of Asagai calling Beneatha Alaiyo is that he means that simply living is not enough for Beneatha, she wants a life where she is truly living and attaining her dreams.

We see the disparity between Mama's dreams for her future vs. her son in Mama claiming that she simply wants the best for the family, for them to live a happy life where this is not enough for Walter, who wants to find happiness outside of the family.

Walter believes that money is life because he doesn't understand that for his mother and father, life was trying not to be lynched and getting to the North but to Walter, it is having power.

Mama calls Walter a "disgrace" at the end of this act because instead of talking Ruth out of having an abortion, he went out to drink. S

Walter's choice at the end of the act show that he regards poverty as something that can be solved by drinking and that he does not care for his father's legacy, because in one part he stays that they just simply wouldn't understand. That his father would have fought for their child even if they were living in poverty because he believed that family was happiness while Travis is more individualistic and looks for happiness outside of the house.