Essay on Beneatha in 'A Raisin in the Sun'

The primary aim of this essay is to highlight the character of Dana and to relate it to one or two of the issues or themes written by various authors Harriet Jacobs and/or Hannah Crafts, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Zora Neale Hurston, Lorraine Hansberry, and Audre Lorde. The primary study under consideration is the Kindred novel by Butler. The primary target of Butler in this novel is modern African-American life and it compares it with old or traditional African-American life.

Harriet Jacobs was a girl who escaped slavery. The work of Harriet Jacobs in this regard is an Abolitionist work. The work highlights the incidents of a slave girl and the study raised some issues or challenges raised in this regard. The story has a relationship with the character of Dana in the sense that she was a slave herself. Harriet Jacobs highlights the concept of chattel slavery in this work.

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Dana lives with her husband in Los Angeles and her husband is a white male. She and her husband do not consider their racial difference in their relationship. She is living happily and she has equal opportunities in life in the United States. However, the primary issue in this regard is that Dana is facing some issues regarding her modern African-American life. Butler used the slave narrative to examine modern African-American life through the life of Dana in her novel.

The most important thing in this regard is that Harriet Jacobs represents slave culture in her work stating that the slave culture is still dominant in modern African-American life in the sense that people are having a good life in modern Africa but they have to face racism and other related issues in the contemporary modern world. The most important thing in this regard is the job opportunities for black people in modern African-American life. No doubt, they are given equal rights in the country but they still have to face this culture and they are less paid in modern African-American life and they have fewer chances of success in this regard.

The most significant aspect of modern African-American life is the treatment of this culture with black women in particular. Black women have fewer rights than white women in modern African-American life. The best example in this regard is that black women get low wages for the work they do same as that of white women. Moreover, law enforcement agencies in modern African-American life have issues with the black community and cases of murder of black people dominate the society.

The theme of the work of Harriet Jacobs is identical to that of Butler in this context. Harriet Jacobs describes the life of a slave girl in her work and Butler is doing the same in her novel through the character of Dana. Both works make it clear that black women in modern African-American life have to face various issues or challenges regarding their race and identity. They do not have equal rights in modern African-American life and in the same manner, most of the people in modern African-American life consider black women as slaves and they do not respect them.

The theme of the work of Ida B. Wells-Barnett is to protect the rights of African Americans. She was an African American journalist along with an abolitionist and feminist. She was the leader of an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1980s. The primary aim or mission of Ida B. Wells-Barnett was to protect the rights of black women in modern African-American life.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett targeted various issues or challenges faced by black women in modern African-American life such as racism, sexism, and violence. The most important thing in this regard is the inequalities in working conditions for black women in particular and for black people in general in modern African-American life.

The primary issues raised by Ida B. Wells-Barnett include racism, sexism, and violence and Dana is dealing with these issues through her struggles for black females in the country. Dana functions as a descendent of other black female characters as well.

For instance, in the novel Hannah in The Bondwoman's Narrative. Hannah is a young black girl who has a desire to learn things and to get an education. Hannah lives on a North Carolina plantation and she has an utmost desire to get an education and learn things but society is not allowing black girls to take education.

However, a kind old couple decided to teach Hannah and they broke the laws because no person in the society was allowed to teach black women. In the same manner, that couple converted Hannah to Christianity but the actions of that couple were revealed and it was sent to jail. It means that black people especially black women do not have rights in the country like other communities (Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God. 1937, 1990).

This is the case for Dana as well. Butler is trying to reveal this thing in her novel through the character of Dana who is facing the same issue Although, she has married a white person they do not discuss this issue in their relationship. The primary reason behind this context is that her husband and Dana know that racism is still present in modern African-American life and people are not willing to accept their relationship and give equal rights to Dana in the novel (Hurston, Sweat., 1997).

Moreover, Dana functions as a descendent of other black female characters such as Delia in Sweat in which she works for hours washing the clothes of white people she works as a maid in their homes and offices but her husband Sykes does not work and he is unemployed and uninsured (Hurston, Sweat., 1997). Delia sits under a chinaberry tree waiting for her husband to die and she is not willing his pleas to aid. In the same manner, the husband of Dana is not working (Hurston, Sweat., 1997).

It means that she has married a white person who has no insurance and he is jobless. He has married Dana for his survival and she is an earning woman. However, she is aware of the fact that her husband is using her and he has nothing to do with her. The characters highlight a dark side of modern African-American life in which white people do not respect black women (Hurston, Sweat., 1997).

They are not ready to accept them as the wives in true sense. Most of the white folks in modern African-American life are using black women as their bread and butter. The black women earn and the white folks enjoy their lives at their expense. Moreover, such people are not willing to give equal rights to women in society.

The next work of the author under consideration in the study is Zora Neale Hurston. The story of Zora Neale Hurston was published in 1926. The primary theme of this story is that it highlights the domestically abused, religiously devout laundress of her deadbeat husband. In simple words, the theme of this story is good versus evil (Hurston, 1990). In other words, the major theme of this story is hard work versus laziness and fate.

The most significant work of Zora Neale Hurston is Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) and African American folklore Mules and Men (1935) (Hurston, 1990). The theme of Zora’s work is the personal journey of the African American woman. The essence of her work is the injustice faced by black women in the country and in their families (Hurston, 1990).

The primary issue raised by Zora Neale Hurston in Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) is the pathetic life of a black woman who was brutally beaten and thrashed by her husband (Hurston, 1990). It was the time before the modern African American culture. However, the character of Dana in the novel makes it evident that the modern African American woman is not facing such issues.

Dana is having a good understanding with her husband in this case and they both are living happy lives. She faces various issues in modern African American life such as racism and the non-availability of equal rights and opportunities but she is not beaten up by her husband (Hurston, 1990).

Dana functions as a descendent of other black female characters as well. For instance, in the novel Beneatha in A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha is a young black woman and she has dreams of becoming a doctor.

She goes to college and she is open-minded, unlike her mamma. She wants to become a doctor but his brother cannot afford it. However, she has some different views from her mamma and it is the primary reason that she is not willing to hear from her mamma in some matters, as she believes that her mamma is conservative. Her family is the primary hurdle for Beneatha Younger (“Bennie”) and she is continuously looking for her identity in this play.

She has an independent feminist perspective and she is dating two men Joseph Asagai and George Murchison. Walter Lee Younger was against Beneatha Younger (“Bennie”) in the sense that he believed that Beneatha Younger (“Bennie”) was going to college and it was a waste of money. Dana shares the same idea as Beneatha in A Raisin in the Sun because she is also working as a free woman and Beneatha is dating two men Joseph Asagai and George Murchison while Dana has a white husband.

In simple words, both women are young and they have modern thinking in which black women have relationships with white males and vice versa.