‘A Raisin in the Sun’ is a play written in 1959 by Lorraine Hansberry about a family struggling with oppression and discrimination as they try to improve their financial situation with an insurance payout following the death of Walter and Beneatha’s father. The play deals with several different themes. The three biggest themes are the value of dreams, racial discrimination, and the importance of family, and this is important because, without these controversial themes, the family would not have been as strong as they are. Each theme changes the family’s views and opinions on life and their circumstances.
‘A Raisin in the Sun’ is mostly about dreams as the main characters struggle in their everyday lives to deal with their oppressive and discriminatory circumstances. Everyone in the Younger family seems to have their own dream or perspective about what they would like to do with the insurance payout. Beneatha wants to put the money towards medical school. Walter wants to invest the money into a liquor store with his friends and thinks it will solve all the family’s financial problems. Mama wants to move houses to fulfill her dreams with her husband. Walter’s wife, Ruth, agrees with Mama, although she hopes Walter can provide an opportunity for more space for their son, Travis. The whole Younger family struggles to obtain their dreams throughout the whole play, and a lot of their emotions contribute to the attainment or failure of these dreams and values. By the end of the play, the Youngers realize that the most important dream they have is buying a house because it unites the whole family and brings everyone closer. They all realize even though life is hard with all the oppressive circumstances, if they have each other, everything will be okay. They come to understand that family is more powerful than their money or financial situation.
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Racial discrimination is another major theme that Hansberry uses in this play as it was written in 1959 so racial tensions and segregation were high. The Younger family deals with and handles this in several different situations, but the most prevalent situation is when the Clybourne Park Association sends Mr. Lindner to try to persuade the family not to move into an all-white neighborhood. Mr. Lindner and the people of the association he represents do not see the Youngers as people, they only see them by the color of their skin. He tries bribing the family not to move in and then threatens to tear the whole family apart and the values and dreams for which it stands. Walter considers taking the money at one point, but the Youngers do not back down and they come back with more defiance and strength. The whole play shows us how to deal with racial encounters and discrimination. The Younger family shows the reader that they must stand up to discrimination because you cannot let someone take your dignity just because the color of your skin is different. They overcome the color of their skin by letting Mr. Lindner know that you do not have to be black to live in a white neighborhood. Even though the family cannot agree on anything or what they should do with the money, they all agree that racism is terrible and no one should oppress them just because of the color of their skin. The family comes together to take a stand against racism as they figure out they are way stronger as one instead of single individuals.
The importance of family is perhaps the strongest theme in the play because it is fundamental to the growth and development of everyone’s life. The Youngers do a good job of showing us this because even throughout everything going on in their lives, they stay strong together. In the end, they realize their dream is to buy a house and be a strong family together. Mama strongly believes in family and she tries to teach the rest of the family this as she struggles to keep them from falling apart. Beneatha and Walter learn this lesson about family towards the end of the play when Walter must deal with the loss of the stolen insurance money and Walter’s sister, Beneatha, then denies him as her brother. Even when facing this hard trauma, the family unites and overcomes Mr. Lindner’s racist remarks and actions. They are all strong individuals, but now they are individuals that function as a family, they work together as a whole to become stronger. When they begin to put the other people in the family before them, we realize that family is stronger than anything. By the end of the play, they all figured out how to work together and support each other because they are stronger together instead of single individuals. They all figure out that they will have everything they want in life if they just have each other.
In conclusion, family is all we have, and the Youngers do a good job showing us the importance of family because even in their roughest times, they stuck together as they each made sacrifices for each other. In the beginning, everyone in the family held different values and dreams as they all wanted to do something different with the money, but by the end, they realized that it has nothing to do with the money at all, because it’s not about how rich you are, it's about family and being there for the ones you love most, because without family, everyone is nothing. They also take a stand against racial discrimination as they figure out that it does not matter what color your skin is and you do not have to be white to live somewhere. The Younger family mutually agrees that racism is bad and should not be tolerated.
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