Character Analysis: A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry

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Naive. Determined. Ambitious. Will going against the norms of society cause life to be different for an African American girl? In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry shows a young, ambitious black girl breaking the conformity of black women's social standards in the 1950’s. Beneatha Younger, a young and naive independent thinker, goes against society’s social specifications of women in the 1950s. Also being treated as a child in the family, Beneatha struggles to find her identity while juggling with her family problems. The Youngers, a middle-class black family, live on the Southside of Chicago, Illinois in an overcrowded apartment. The family of five will be receiving a life insurance check from their deceased father. Widow Mama (Lena) Younger has a dream of buying a house. Beneatha’s brother, Walter Lee, dreams of owning a liquor store and his dream dominates the storyline of the play. Walter’s wife, Ruth, agrees with Mama’s decision on buying a house because she wants a better life for her son. Bennie has high hopes that she will receive the money to help with her medical schooling. One of the themes of the story involves Beneatha’s defiance against stereotypes. In the 1950’s, black women were seen as uneducated housewives. She breaks this convention by going to college, …show more content…
Her role in the play, A Raisin in the Sun, is to show how a young African American woman can break stereotypes of society by following her dreams and not caring what anyone else believes. While handling with family problems, Beneatha still focuses on her dream of becoming a doctor and becomes more interested in learning about her African roots. Beneatha’s ambition to follow her dream, drives the family to work hard and wonders them believe that life can be different for them. Beneatha’s character shows that the support of family is important and that a black family in the 1950s can have The American
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