The American Dream As Revealed Through the Characters in Lorraine Hansberry’S a Raisin in the Sun

THE AMERICAN DREAM AS REVEALED THROUGH THE CHARACTERS IN LORRAINE HANSBERRY’S A RAISIN IN THE SUN

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

ANTALASI FEBRISA

Student Number: 034214102

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2008 THE AMERICAN DREAM AS REVEALED THROUGH THE CHARACTERS IN LORRAINE HANSBERRY’S A RAISIN IN THE SUN

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

ANTALASI FEBRISA

Student Number: 034214102

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2008

iii

For to me to live is Christ to die is gain (Philippians 1: 21)

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your God works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5: 16)

There is always something left to love. And if you ain’t learned that, you ain’t learned nothing. (Lorraine Hansberry)

I sincerely dedicate this undergraduate thesis to My beloved Father and Mother My beloved Aunt Herminta My beloved Sister Astrid and Brother Andri My beloved Opa Sukardi in the hope of a better future

vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank my living Savior Jesus Christ who gives me His love, blessing and guidance. He gives me the capability and the strength in accomplishing my thesis. I would not be able to finish this thesis without Him.

I would also give my deepest and everlasting gratitude to my dad, Drs.

Sapto Rahardjo and my mom, Rumiris Rotua Hasiolan Silitonga for their endless love, limitless support, patience and most of all, prayers, that have always been given to me. I would also give thanks and my appreciation to my aunt, Herminta

Rusmimariani Silitonga for her love, support, guidance and prayer. My huge thanks go to my sister, Astrid and my brother, Andri for their support and encouragement that have been given to me. To all my family members anywhere that I cannot mention here one by one: thank you for all your support and prayer in finishing my study. I would also give my deepest gratitude to my beloved Opa

Drs. M.J.U. Sukardi who gives me his love, support, guidance, advise, time and prayers during my study and thesis writing. Without you, I cannot finish my study properly. They are one of my main reasons that have motivated me to write this thesis. I love you all and may Jesus Christ always bless you.

I would like to thank my advisor, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum. for her support, corrections and suggestions in completing this thesis. I also would like to thank my co-advisor G. Fajar Sasmita Aji, S.S., M.Hum. for his suggestions, ideas and critical corrections. This thesis would never been done without the great help from them. I also would like to thank Dewi Widyastuti,

vii S.Pd., M.Hum., a generous academic advisor, all lecturers of the English Letters

Department who had led, taught and guided me through all teaching-learning process during my study at the university. To the staff members of English Letters

Department especially Mbak Nik who have given the best administration services, thank you very much.

I would like to use this opportunity to offer my deep gratitude and appreciation to YBO-PGI, my sponsors who are united in Ausbildungshilfe –

Christian Education Fund Kassel, Germany, the board of YBO and staff: Mr.

Johannes Tomasowa and Mr. Sumurung Lumbantoruan, board of

Ausbildungshilfe – Christian Education Fund: Rev. Eberhard Will and Mr.

Neville Williamson who have given me financial helps and prayers. Jesus Christ blesses you and let Jesus Christ Himself repays my sponsors’ kindness. Amen.

My thanks also go to my best friends: Dian, Lia, Amy, Anna, Ditha for their wonderful friendship, support and encouragement during my study. I also deeply thank my Man and Superman’s friends and crew for such a valuable experience. I am very grateful to all of my friends of the 2003 Class. It has been really great to know all of you, guys. I love you all, success and may God always bless you! I’ll be missing you. Thanks to others who I have not mentioned but, who of course, have given me certain supports.

The journey has just begun…

Antalasi Febrisa

viii TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ...... i APPROVAL PAGE ...... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ...... iii MOTTO PAGE ...... iv DECICATION PAGE ...... v ACKNOWLEDMENTS ...... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... viii ABSTRACT ...... x ABSTRAK ...... xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 A. Background of the Study ...... 1 B. Problem Formulation ...... 5 C. Objectives of the Study ...... 6 D. Definition of Terms ...... 6

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ...... 8 A. Review of Related Studies ...... 8 B. Review of Related Theories ...... 11 1. Character and Characterization ...... 10 2. Theory of American Dream ...... 14 C. Review on the Historical/ Biographical Background ...... 17 1. Racism/ Racial Discrimination in the 1950s ...... 17 2. Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s ...... 20 D. Theoretical Framework ...... 22

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...... 24 A. Object of the Study ...... 24 B. Approach of the Study ...... 25 C. Method of the Study ...... 26

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ...... 28 A. The Characterization in A Raisin in the Sun ...... 28 1. Lena Younger ...... 28 2. Beneatha Younger ...... 31 3. Ruth Younger ...... 35 4. Walter Lee Younger ...... 37 B. American Dream Revealed Through Each Character in A Raisin in The Sun ...... 41 1. Lena Younger ...... 41 2. Beneatha Younger ...... 46 3. Ruth Younger ...... 51 4. Walter Lee Younger ...... 54

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...... 60

BIBLIOGRPHY ...... 63

APPENDIX Appendix 1 ...... 67

x ABSTRACT

ANTALASI FEBRISA. The American Dream As Revealed Through The Characters in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.

A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry explores “American Dream”. This play depicts the lives of African-Americans in 1950s struggling to gain their dreams and the obstacles they had to face in pursuing their dreams. Each character in A Raisin in the Sun has her/his own dream of having a better life in various different aspects of life. Each character has to struggle to pursue the dreams, because they have to deal with the oppressive circumstances that defer the dreams. In the play, even though racial discrimination is faced by each African- American character, each character still lives with her/his “American Dream”. There are two objectives of the study. The first objective is to identify the characteristics of Lena, Beneatha, Ruth and Walter and how they are depicted in the play. The second one is to find out how the American Dream is revealed through the characters of Lena, Beneatha, Ruth and Walter in Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. In this thesis, the writer applies a socio-cultural historical approach which will enable the writer to see the social and historical background of the play. The writer can observe the problems and the situation experienced by African- Americans in United States to pursue their American Dreams - working hard results in success. This study finds that each of the characters - Mama, Beneatha, Ruth and Walter – has her/ his own target in applying American Dream by working hard. Mama and Ruth share the same dream that is living in a better house with a better environment. Beneatha dreams to be a doctor. Walter is ambitious to open a liquor store in order to overcome their economic problems. The American Dreams revealed through each character head to one aim that is to have a better life in various aspects of life such as; housing, education, job, financial condition and racial pride and assimilation. Since a strong racial discrimination and poverty still occurred at that time, some of the characters have to endure unequal opportunities and the disillusionments of all they have been dreaming of. It is not the pure “American Dream”; it is “American Dream” polluted by racial discrimination.

xi ABSTRAK

ANTALASI FEBRISA. The American Dream As Revealed Through The Characters in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.

A Raisin in the Sun yang ditulis oleh Lorraine Hansberry mengeksplorasi “Impian Amerika”. Drama ini menggambarkan kehidupan orang Amerika asal Afrika yang berjuang untuk mencapai impian mereka dan rintangan-rintangan yang mereka hadapi dalam mengejar impian mereka. Tiap karakter dalam A Raisin in the Sun mempunyai impian sendiri-sendiri yaitu: bagaimana memiliki cara hidup yang lebih baik dalam bidang kehidupan yang berbeda. Tiap karakter harus berjuang mengejar impiannya, karena mereka berurusan dengan keadaan yang menekan, yang menunda tercapainya impian mereka. Dalam drama ini, walaupun paham diskriminasi rasial mengancam setiap orang Amerika asal Afrika, setiap karakter tetap hidup dengan “Impian Amerika” masing-masing. Penelitian ini mengandung dua tujuan. Tujuan pertama adalah mengenali sifat - karakter Lena, Beneatha, Ruth dan Walter dan bagaimana mereka dilukiskan dalam drama ini. Tujuan kedua adalah untuk menyelidiki begaimana Impian Amerika terungkap melalui penokohan Lena, Beneatha, Ruth dan Walter dalam A Raisin in the Sun karya Hansberry. Dalam skripsi ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosial budaya dan sejarah yang akan membuat penulis mampu melihat latar belakang sosial dan sejarah drama ini. Penulis dapat mengobservasi masalah-masalah dan keadaan- keadaan yang dialami oleh orang Amerika asal Afrika di Amerika Serikat untuk mengejar Impian Amerika mereka - kerja keras menghasilkan kesuksesan. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa masing-masing karakter: Lena, Beneatha, Ruth dan Walter memiliki target sendiri dalam mengaplikasikan Impian Amerika dengan cara bekerja keras. Mama dan Ruth mempunyai impian yang sama untuk tinggal di rumah dan lingkungan yang lebih baik. Beneatha memimpikan menjadi seorang dokter. Walter mempunyai ambisi membuka usaha minuman keras untuk memecahkan masalah ekonomi mereka. Impian Amerika yang dinyatakan oleh tiap karakter menuju kesatu sasaran: menikmati cara hidup yang lebih baik dalam segi-segi kehidupan yang beraneka ragam, seperti: perumahan, pendidikan, pekerjaan, keadaan finansial, dan kebanggaan bangsa dan asimilasi. Karena pada saat itu rasa perbedaan bangsa dan kemiskinan masih kuat beberapa karakter harus sabar menderita keadaan yang tidak adil dan kekecewaan yang ada di mimpi mereka. “Impian Amerika” yang dipraktikan bukan ”Impian Amerika” murni, melainkan ”Impian Amerika” dicemarkan oleh diskriminasi rasial.

xii CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Every person in this world may have a dream - a long held ambition or ideal - in life and people will try to attain it. Wealth, position, prosperity and honors are the dreams those people want to get. However, those aspects alone do not determine someone’s success, because social aspect is also a success determiner. In other words, someone is considered successful if her/his achievement is acknowledged in society. Ralph Barton Perry states in

Characteristically American: “Success must not only be measurable, but observed, recorded, applauded and envied” (1949: 10).

Someone’s success does not come because she/he inherits money from her/his family but because she/he puts a lot of efforts and energy to attain it, known as “hard work”. However, hard work itself is not the only factor for getting success. Perry in his book says “Success is thought of as the fruit of a marriage between circumstance and action” (1949: 10). Even though we need to do a course of actions in order to make our dreams come true but we sometimes should pay attention to the “circumstances”, in which we are. This means that in some cases, the “circumstances” are more powerful than “actions”. Thus, if someone is unsuccessful he does not work hard. This is logical and acceptable because hard work is the first condition or the prerequisite for success. It is proper. But, even though a black person works hard, racism blocks her/his success. This is biased

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and not acceptable. It is improper. This is precisely explored in the play A Raisin in the Sun. A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry deals with African-

Americans who struggle to be successful in their life based on American Dream in the oppressive circumstances.

America is known as the place that gives many chances to fulfill people’s dreams. Degler in Out of Our Past mentions that between 1820 and 1920 great waves of Europeans flooded to America. He also adds that in that single country,

38 million people came to the United States. America had been the goal of those who were bold enough to take a second chance (1962: 274). Thus, America seemed to offer liberty and equality for all people any human being that live there to improve her/his fate. In A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature,

Guerin et al. also say that “There is a hope in creating a second paradise, and it is believed that America is the place as a land with unlimited opportunity where people that are poor, corrupt and suffering can have a second chance” (1999: 186).

The idea that everyone can have a successful life in America is called

“American Dream”. According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary,

American Dreams are “the US ideal according to which equality of opportunity permits only American to aspire to high attainment and material success” (1996:

44). In Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture, American Dream is defined as the idea that the United States is a place where everyone has the chance of becoming rich and successful (Gadsby, 1998: 35). American Dream suits courageous, energetic idealists. It bears that name because America (US) claims to be a free country. The idealists concentrate on the motto: if one works

hard, one will be successful. This was what was entrenched in the African-

American’s mind. The unsophisticated, unintellectual African-American was not aware of other influences, outside this idea.

In reality, not everyone has the equal opportunity to fulfill her/his dreams.

This is precisely the case, at that time the Whites looked down on the Blacks since in the past, profiteering Whites sent Black people to America to become slaves for the Whites’ own benefit. They did not treat them equally in every aspect of life. In other words, there was a strong racial discrimination.

In fact, as a concept “American Dream” does not cause contradiction in practice. But because of the interference of a natural sentiment among the Whites in that period –racial discrimination- the ideal of the ‘Dream’ was tainted and could not instantly be attained. Time is usually needed by the people to reach their ideal.

La Farge in his writing The Race Question and The Negro states that

“Racial problems are risky problem nowadays. Different races can make a big war among people in the world. If we look at the relationship of colored people and white people in America, for example, we find that the settled and organized policies, of social and legal, that are adopted by the white group towards the colored group are based upon the idea of “race”. The treatment of the white group by the colored is the response to such treatment” (1943: 11).

Racial discrimination is closely related to unequal treatment. White people, who had the authority, treated the Blacks as second class citizens. In Two

Cheers for the National Riot Commissions, Gary T. Marx also points out that

“The bitter fruits of racism are seen to be pervasive discrimination and segregation” (1970: 91). The Whites discriminate the Blacks in social, politic and economic sectors, because the Whites considered themselves as the superior group that has much more power and a lot of privileges than the other races.

Consequently, these conditions make the dreams of Whites and Blacks different.

What Blacks need is equality in all aspects of life as offered by nature so that they can realize their dream. The opportunities to be successful, to have freedom, liberty and equality are the dreams within the American Dream for African-

Americans. Clearly, there is no equality.

The American Dream finds its expression in literature, for example in the play. Guerin et al. say that “most American writers possess a certain distinctiveness and that distinctiveness can largely be distributed to the influence, both positive and negative, of the American Dreams” (1999: 186). In brief, the

American writers have the power and obligation in making the image of American

Dream through their works. Thus, Lorraine Hansberry by using this quality is applying her ‘distinctiveness’ in making the image of American Dream. She wants the readers to see the Dream through a different perspective, through the eyes of each character in A Raisin in the Sun. Moreover, the play also works as a mockery of the American Dream and seems to encourage the Blacks that they can also reach American Dream.

Brockett and Findlay say that “A Raisin in the Sun deals with the dreams and setbacks of African American family in Chicago and with the integrity and pride they affirm in the face of racism” (1991: 378-379). This play depicts the

lives of African-Americans in 1950s struggling to gain their dreams and the obstacles they have to face. Each character in A Raisin in the Sun has her/his dream of having a better life in various different aspects of life. Each character has to struggle to pursue the dreams, because no matter how hard the Blacks try, they have to deal with the oppressive circumstances that defer the dreams.

The African-American Dream to be equal and successful is always interesting to be discussed. It is interesting because in the nature of things everyone is equal and has the same right to be successful: the Blacks are not much more different from the other races. But in reality, since the Blacks are the minority, they often have to endure racial discrimination from the Whites, the majority. In the play, even though racial discrimination is faced by each African-American character, each character still lives with her/his “American Dream”. Based on this condition, this thesis is going to analyze the American Dream as revealed through the characters of the family.

B. Problem Formulation

Based on the previous explanation, the writer would try to answer these questions:

1. How are Lena, Beneatha, Ruth and Walter characterized in Lorraine

Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun?

2. How is the American Dream revealed through each character?

C. Objectives of the Study

The study is primarily conducted to obtain satisfying answers to the questions in the problem formulation. First, the writer tries to identify the characteristics of Lena, Beneatha, Ruth and Walter as they are depicted in the play and to find out the values of American Dream which exist in the play. In the end, this study also tries to see the connection between Lena’s, Beneatha’s, Ruth’s and

Walter’s characteristics and the American Dream, that is how Lena, Beneatha,

Ruth and Walter’s characterization in the play helps to reveal the values of

American Dream and how each character’s characteristics is affected by the idea of American Dream.

D. Definition of Term

American Dream

The term was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of

America which was written in 1931. He states: "The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”

(26 February

2008). Furthermore, Singh et al. state that the term of American dreams is originated from the early seventeenth century by Puritans of the Massachusetts

Bay colony who had given America one of its strongest images i.e. the myth of success. Most new Americans have believed in their myth of success in seeking new and improved lives in their country. Others who have lived in the US for

generations also believe in and have fought to cover themselves in the American dream that hard work will always lead to success and that life can always get better (1995: 10-11), meaning that through hard work one can have a better future in America since it has been a dream land for everyone.

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Reviews of Related Studies

In this chapter, the writer reviews some criticisms and comments about A

Raisin in the Sun that help the writer in the analysis of the study. David Scanlan states that a modern realistic play like A Raisin in the Sun is ”intended to give its audience a picture of life as it is. The ending of A Raisin in the Sun resolves conflicts within the Younger family, but the outside world is still a potential obstacle” (1998: 46). This statement shows that A Raisin in the Sun describes the solution of the problems of realistic life inside the Younger family but the family faces white society as the representation of the outside world.

Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature states that A Raisin in the

Sun was an insightful study about the stresses of a working class black family when it is presented with a chance for a better life (1995: 519). Mama, Ruth and

Walter work hard to get a better life.

“A Raisin in the Sun was a revolutionary work for its time. Lorraine

Hansberry creates in the Younger family one of the first honest depictions of a black family on an American stage, in an age when predominantly black audiences simply did not exist. Before A Raisin in the Sun, black plays usually were comedic. Hansberry, however, shows an entire black family in a realistic light, one that is unflattering and far from comedic”

(26 February 2008).

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According to Robert Nemiroff in The Explicator, Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun one of the plays that at deepest level are not about a specific situation but about the human condition, human aspiration, and human relationship –the persistence of the bonds and conflicts between men and women, parents and children, old ways and new, and the endless struggles against human oppression, whatever the forms it may take, and for individual fulfillment, recognition, and liberation –that are at the hearth of such plays (in Guth, 1997: 1587).

Another criticism of A Raisin in the Sun by David D. Cooper says that

Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun not only about distress, futility, and tragedy, but also about hope and pride and what kind of conviction and commitment it takes to bring hope out of hopelessness, courage out of fear, and idealism out of fatalism (1997: 1585).

The play tells not only about realistic life but also about moral values as is found in Oscar G. Brockett’s History of the Theatre. He says that A Raisin in the

Sun is a compassionate drama about a hard working black family in Chicago whose dreams are shattered but whose values mature in the process (1995: 583).

The statement from Oscar G. Brockett shows that A Raisin in the Sun not only tells about the black family whose dreams are hard to aspire but also tells how

Walter finally matures after he has lost the insurance money. He finds that a family is more important than money.

Paul Reuben on his site Perspectives in American Literature stated that

“Hansberry’s purpose was to show “the many gradations in even one Negro family.” The characters suffer, hope, dream, and triumph over the enormous

barriers erected by the dominant culture. Celebrated drama critic Brook Atkinson wrote: "She has told the inner as well as the outer truths about a Negro family in

Chicago. The play has vigor as well as veracity and is likely to destroy the complacency of anyone who sees it"

(26 February

2008).

Moreover, A Raisin in the Sun was written when ‘women’s movement’ appeared in the 1960s. “A Raisin in the Sun was written in a time where it

“presages the revolution in black and women consciousness” (introduction by

Nemiroff, 1988: 5).

Since Lorraine Hansberry was one of the feminist writers, the play also contains feminist issues. Emilie Browne in her article “The Aspirations of Women in A Raisin in the Sun” writes Hansberry as a writer, ahead of her time, challenging an American society that is generally happy to leave women in the kitchen (26

February 2008).

Besides, there is also gender issue in the play. Bell Hooks in Ain’t I A

Woman mentions that A Raisin in the Sun was a foretelling of future conflicts between black women and men over the issue of sex-role patterns. Black people no longer passively accepted that racial oppression has always forced the black female to be as independent and hardworking as black men; they were demanding that she be more passive, subordinate, and preferably unemployed (Hooks, 1981:

177-179).

Hansberry’s play portrays an African American working class family in

America, who is oppressed by white people. It shows the real condition of an

African American family in their daily life and through it, Hansberry presents the

African American family in general as seen through the characters who struggle in realizing their dreams.

Those above criticisms and opinions give the writer information from certain perspectives about the play. After reading those criticisms, the writer finds that there was no criticism that analyzes American Dream before. This makes the writer interested to discuss American Dream in the play. By analyzing American

Dream as revealed through the characters in A Raisin in the Sun, the writer hopes her analysis can give contribution in enriching the knowledge about American

Dreams in A Raisin in the Sun.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Character and Characterization

Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms defines characters as the persons presented in a dramatic and narrative work, who are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say -the dialogue- and by what they do –the action (1981: 20). Abram’s statement shows that the reader can know what kinds of persons the characters are through their dialogues and their actions. In The Concise Oxford Dictionary of

Literary Terms, Baldick points out that character is also a kind of prose sketch briefly describing some recognizable type of person (1991: 33), meaning that

character reveals what kind of person she/he is to the reader. From his opinion, the reader receives a benefit from the character’s appearance in literary work to recognize whether someone is good or bad.

Moreover, Milly J. Barranger in his book Understanding Plays states that characters in drama are traditionally defined by their physical characteristics, speech, and dress; their socioeconomic status; their psychological makeup; and their moral or ethical choices (1994: 339). It means that people in a drama are characterized by their appearance, speech and attitudes. Barranger also says that drama’s characters are images of active human beings. To be credible, their manners and dress must fit their period, place, and social class. Their speech must suit their age, sex, personality, class, and circumstances. Their actions must be rooted in situation (1994: 338). Since they convey important information about the work itself all those features show that characters in drama are significant elements in the literary analysis.

According to Wilfred L. Guerin in A Handbook of Critical Approaches to

Literature, the characters in drama comment upon themselves and others so that we can establish a tone peculiar to each and can evaluate speeches and actions by a kind of yardstick established by the play as a whole (1999: 83). From the characters’ speech in drama, the reader can get the information about other characters. Furthermore, he adds that the way the playwright poses his characters against each other (the kind of conflict established is the essence of any dramatic situation) and the sorts of the dialogue he puts into their mouths become keys to his attitude (1999: 83). In other words, through her/his characters the playwright

expresses her/his attitude. Characters then become the important points to understand her/ his point of view.

In Reading and Writing about Literature, Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H.

Woods Jr. say that characters have particular personalities and physical attributes that distinguish them from other characters. A character’s behavior must be consistent with his nature; a particular character put in a situation should react in a particular way. His actions must be motivated in terms that a reader can accept

(1971: 20). Some features in the characters such as; his personalities, physical appearance, and behavior help the writer to differentiate one character from another.

Barranger mentions several ways to approach understanding drama’s character. First, the readers observe what playwrights say about them in stage direction, and, second, they hear or read what characters say about one another in the dialogue. Third, the readers note general types – physical and psychological.

Fourth, they construe the moral or ethical choices that determine their destinies

(1994: 339).

According to Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literature, characters are categorized into static and dynamic ones. A static character is one who changes little if it all. The pattern of action reveals the character rather than showing the character changing in response to the actions. A dynamic character, on the other hand, is one who is modified by actions and experiences, and one objective of the work in which the character appear is to reveal the consequences of these actions (1980: 83).

Characters cannot be separated from characterization. Rohrberger and

Woods define characterization as the process by which an author creates a character (1971: 20). Also, Rohrberger and Woods divide two principals in this process. First, he can use Direct means to describe physical appearance. Second, he can describe the character’s intellectual and moral attributes or explain the degree of his/her sensitivity (1971: 20).

Holman and Harmon classify essential methods of characterization in fiction. They are:

1. The explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct

exposition, either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout

the work, illustrated by action.

2. The presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by

author, in expectation that the reader will be able to deduce the attributes of

the actor from the actions.

3. The representation from within a character, without comment on the character

by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions and the character’s inner

self, with the expectation that the reader will come to a clear understanding of

the attributes of the character (1980: 81).

2. Theory of American Dream

There was a fertile and free land, that people called the New World. It became the start of a new golden era and a new beginning for a new nation: the

American. People from many different countries came to the New World where

they could have a greater comfort. Ultimately, they found that this New World was the land of possibilities. It promised opportunities to reach a better life like what Leo Lemay says in An Early American Reader:

The very name calls the New World an idyllic myth, the start of a new golden age, a new beginning for a new Adam. The name conspired with the idea of nature to ensure that the prevailing myth of the New World would be that of a new Garden of Eden. The New World seemed to promise that mankind could recapture the innocence, joys, and eternal life, as well as the freedom from cares and labor that had existed in the Garden of Eden (1989: 1).

However, in the perspectives of immigrants the American Dream existed long before America itself was discovered. Spiller in Literary History of the

United States says that “As a state of mind and a dream, America had existed long before its discovery. Ever since the early days of civilization, peoples had dreamed of a lost Paradise, of a Golden Age …..” (1955: 192).

By the mid-sixteenth century, since Europeans found that the New World was not the age of gold but a land of gold, the people saw America as a Paradise.

People looked for what they wanted, especially for the mines of gold.

The Spanish found the New World to be a land of cities and golden treasures, where the natives would work for the colonists who could spend a few adventurous years in America before returning, landed with gold, to Europe (Lemay, 1989: 3).

The term American Dream had emerged since the early immigrants in the seventeenth century came to America. They came to the New World for economic, political and religious reasons, or sometimes for the adventure of beginning a new life in New England (Parillo, 1985: 110).

Lemay also stated “There was a myth that a hard workingman could become rich. And the fundamental materialist version of the American Dream was

the rags-to-riches story that all early Americans knew about it” (1985: 5). In other words, the myth that America gives chances for everyone including the poorest to be economically secure lured people to go to America.

Americans believe if they work hard, they will become successful. So, it is not because they are born rich as stated by Reuslow James Adams in The Record of America in the following quotation:

They have wanted to find and built a country in which they could be looked upon what they could make of themselves. They wanted a country in which the prizes and a good life would go to those who could win them and not just be given to those who happened to be born rich or titled or otherwise privileged. This is “the American Dream” (Adams, 1935: 4)

Moreover, according to Althen in American Ways, Americans believe that they shall have a freedom to do what they want to do, to make their own decision, to have their own ideas. Americans believe that all people are free to make up their own minds. They shall have their own private thoughts. Everyone has the same position, the same rights and the same opportunities to express his own opinions. Even very young children are given opportunities to make their own choices and to express their opinions (1988: 4-8). Thus, the writer has come to a conclusion that American Dream is the idea that America offers the opportunity and unlimited freedom for everyone to have a better life in various aspects of life through hard work.

C. Review on the Historical / Biographical Background

1. Racism / Racial Discrimination in the 1950s

Racism, according to Martin Luther King in his writing Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community is a philosophy based on a contempt for life.

Racism is the arrogant assertion that one race is the centre of value and object of devotion, before which other races must kneel in submission. Racism is the absurd dogma that one race is responsible for all the progress of history and alone can assure the progress of the future. Racism is total estrangements. It separates not only bodies, but minds and spirits. Inevitably, it descends to inflicting spiritual or physical homicide upon the out-group (1968: 83).

According to Joan Ferrante in her article Sociology: A Global Perspective,

“Discrimination is the unequal treatment whether intentional or unintentional, of individuals or groups on the basis of a group membership that is unrelated to merit, ability, or past performance” (1995: 232).

Harvey Sarles in his On Racism in America also says that racism can operate on two levels: (1) individual and/or group and (2) institutional. Individual racism simply means that one has racist views according to its definition. It is also supposed to be somewhat easy to eradicate so long as a “good” human relations approach is used to educate the racist and thereby prove to him that his fears and hostilities are unsound. However, institutional racism is far more subtle and very difficult to eradicate. It has been defined as the “operating policies, priorities, and functions of an on-going system of normative patterns which serve to subjugate, oppress, and force dependence of individuals or groups by establishing and

sanctioning unequal goals, objectives and priorities for blacks and whites, which forces inequality in status and in access to goods and services” (1970: 49).

All minority populations in US have experienced some degree of discrimination, however, among all those groups, those of African descent have experienced the most cruel and enduring discrimination (Roth, 1995: 232).

According to Robert Blauner in his writing The Question of Black Culture, racism is crucial to the cultural process of Afro-Americans because a continuing racist social structure has served to fix rather than to erase the distinctive experience of the past. He refers to two key characteristics of American social structure. First, that (aside from age and sex) the division based upon color is the single most important split within the society, the body politic, and the national psyche. Second, that various processes and practices of exclusion and subordination based upon color are built into the major public institutions (labor market, education, politics and law enforcement) with the effect of maintaining special privileges, power, and values for the benefit of the white majority (1970:

124-125)

American racism was the key condition that encouraged a black culture. It made inevitable and necessary group struggles to transform the social system and individual efforts to transcend its crippling effect on life, liberty, and the pursuit of opportunity (Blauner, 1970: 125).

Joseph S. Hines in his article Politics of Race states that African

Americans have operated within the caste-like racial structure in the United States that has relegated them to inferior status, relative powerlessness, material

deprivation, and socio-physic resentment. African Americans are considered as members of a racial category for life; they are generally cosigned to marry within their group; they are often avoided, and they experience limited opportunities

(1995: 233).

In the mid 1950s, for the first time in America history, more people worked in offices than in factories or in jobs requiring physical labor. This conformity also led to discrimination in many suburbs. For example, in many suburbs black families often could not buy homes. To some extent, the high cost of home in the suburbs was responsible, but discrimination against black families was even more important factor. Often, suburban residents refused to sell homes to black families in their communities even if blacks families could afford them.

Others in the suburban community made black families who did move there feel unwelcome (Wilson, 1985: 719).

According to Martin Luther King, problems of education, transportation to jobs and decent living conditions are all made difficult because housing is so rigidly segregated. The expansion of suburbia and migration from the South have worsened big-city segregation (1968: 234). By 1950 about 40 percent of the nation’s Negroes were residents of Northern cities. The residential segregation of

Negroes has resulted from the interplay of economic, social and political factors.

In the North, expect during periods when there was a large influx of southern

Negroes, economic and social factors rather than race have been chiefly responsible for residential segregation of Negroes (Wilson, 1985: 719).

Although African Americans and other minorities have made substantial gains since 1954, they still have not experienced a society that judges them based upon merit and ability. They also have not experienced a society that does not prejudge them at the basis of physical characteristics and stereotypes. It could be said that discrimination continues to be embedded in the social, political, and economic fabric of the United States. Employment and promotional opportunities are still strongly influenced by race (Roth, 1995: 233).

2. Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s

This is proof of what is said in page 3, in which people -a nation- needs times to reach their ideal. The theory shows the growth toward their ideal. The civil right movement grew stronger and spread rapidly during the 1950s. Black

Americans would no longer accept second-class citizenship. Oscar Theodore

Barck Jr. in Since 1900: A History of The United States in Our Times states that the civil rights movement fought for equal opportunities in jobs, housing and education. They fought not only against segregated school, buses, and trains but against separate facilities in restrooms, restaurants, hotels, libraries and hospitals

(1974: 661).

Segregation was still practiced in 1950s throughout the South, as well as in many border states and some areas in the North. Only with the 1954 decision was the entire range of public education brought under the ruling of the Supreme

Court. An important asset to Negroes in bringing these issues before the courts was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The NAACP made Negroes aware of their legal rights, encouraged them to use the courts when those rights were denied, and offered attorneys and financial aid to when necessary (Rapp, 1963: 311).

Mary Beth Norton in A People and A Nation: A History of the United

States points out the trend toward judicial support of civil rights had begun in the late 1930s, when the NAACP established its Legal Defense Fund. She also adds at the time the NAACP was trying to destroy the separate but equal doctrine by insisting on its literal interpretation (1982: 442). Within three months after its organization the NAACP opened its first local office in Chicago. The young

NAACP initiated an intensive publicity campaign by means of press release and pamphlets exposing acts of racial injustice and setting forth the Association’s objectives (Grant, 1968: 213).

The Supreme Court reflected prevailing opinion by refusing to hold that segregation by state law against the Fourteenth Amendment. In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Court held that a Lousiana law requiring railroads to provide ”separate but equal” railroad accommodations for black people was constitutional. Only one justice dissented. The “separate but equal” doctrine was later upheld by the Supreme Court for schools and other enterprises serving the public (Wilson, 1985: 511)

While, in 1954 black Americans scored a historic victory against

Segregation. Mary Beth Norton mentions the 1954 Supreme Court decision in

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are

inherently unequal.” A year later the Court ordered compliance with the Brown decision “with all deliberate speed” (1982 : 448).

The 1955 Montgomery bus boycott appeared to have begun a spirit of social activism that could not be easily deferred. The refusal of Rosa Parks, an

African American seamstress, to give up her seat to a white passenger sparked a protest that lasted more than a year, paralyzing the city buses. The significance of the bus boycott was that it kept the Supreme Court involved in the desegregation debate, gave national prominence to Martin Luther King, Jr., and demonstrated that direct action could bring about desired change. The movement appeared to have momentum following the Montgomery bus boycott. Soon after, challenges to

Jim Crow began to spring up in various places (Roth, 1995: 156).

D. Theoretical Framework

The theories such as Character and Characterization, American Dream,

Racism/ Racial Discrimination and Civil Right Movement in the 1950s are used to answer the problems that have been stated in the previous chapter. Since the writer wants to analyze American Dream as revealed through each character in the play, theory of character and characterization are needed to see how each character, whether a major or minor character, is characterized in the play. The writer uses the theory of American Dream to explore American Dream exposed in the play.

The theories of Racism / Racial Discrimination and Civil Right Movement in the 1950s are necessary to help the writer understand about sociological and

historical condition of Blacks in the United States because the play itself tells about Blacks’ life. Theory of Racism is used to see the racial discrimination’s applications that were experienced by Blacks in the 1950s. On the other hand, the theory of Civil Right Movement in the 1950s is used to know Blacks’ struggles against racial discrimination. Finally, the theories of Character and

Characterization, American Dream, Racism / Racial Discrimination and Civil

Right Movement in the 1950s are combined and applied to support the writer in analyzing the play.

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

In this literary study, the writer analyzes a play written by Lorraine

Hansberry A Raisin in the Sun which was firstly published in 1959 by Random

House, Inc. The play the writer uses as the primary source of this study was published by Vintage Books Edition in 1988 with an introduction by Robert

Nemiroff. It consists of 151 pages and has three acts: Act 1 is divided into two scenes, Act 2 is divided into three scenes and Act 3 has one scene.

Lorraine Hansberry was the first Black woman to have a play produced on

Broadway (in March 1959). When her A Raisin in the Sun won the New York

Drama Critics Circle award for Best Play of the Year, Hansberry became the youngest writer and first black to achieve that distinction. Running for 538 performances, A Raisin in the Sun was the longest running play by an African

American on Broadway (Gates, 1997: 1725).

Furthermore, in the movie version of A Raisin in the Sun, Sidney Portier starred as Walter Lee in 1961. It received a Special Award at the Cannes Film

Festival. A Raisin in the Sun was also adapted into Raisin, a musical by

Hansberry’s ex-husband, Robert Nemiroff, and Charlotte Zaitzberg in 1973.

Raisin won Tony Award for the Best Musical. Besides, it ran on Broadway for nearly three years.

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Hansberry based the title of her play on one of poems-Dream Deferred. In this poem, Hughes asks–What happens to a dream deferred? ... Does it dry up like

A Raisin in the Sun? In the play, Hansberry uses the metaphor of a raisin left to dry up in the sun to describe what happens to dream of the characters in the play

(16 September

2006).

Set in Chicago in the 1950s, A Raisin in the Sun tells an African-American working class family’s struggles to move into an entirely White neighborhood.

Although all the White community-in where they are going to live-rejects them, they are determined to move there. Before they decide to move there, they should choose whether they should accept the offer of returning the money by Mr.

Linder, which they really need after losing the rest of the insurance money, or move to the new neighborhood. In the end, they finally decide to move into

Clybourne Park, an entirely White neighborhood.

B. Approach of the Study

In this thesis, the writer will apply a socio-cultural historical approach to solve the problems formulated in the first chapter, because the writer observes the play from the socio-cultural historical perspectives. Since a work of literature is inseparable from the social condition at the time when it was written, the socio- cultural historical approach is the appropriate approach in analyzing this study. In other words, the socio-cultural historical approach can help the writer to understand and find out the manifestations of American Dream to each Black

character. In Reading and Writing about Literature, Rohrberger and Woods state that socio-cultural historical approach is the way to locate the real work in reference to the civilization that produce it. They define civilization as the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people and point out that literature takes the attitudes and actions as its subject matter (1971: 9).

Rohrberger and Woods also mention ”the socio-cultural historical approach enables the readers and the critics to see the socio-cultural historical facts behind the work. In other words, without knowing socio-cultural and historical evidences, the readers and the critics will find difficulties in comprehending the work because literary works may be based on certain cultures and histories” (1971: 9-11). By applying this approach, the writer will be able to see the social and historical background behind the play. Therefore, the writer can analyze the problems and the situation experienced by African-Americans in

United States to pursue their American Dreams.

C. Method of the Study

In analyzing the play, the method used to collect the data was a library research. The sources related to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun were separated into primary and secondary source. The primary source was the play itself while the secondary sources were some other books, several theories, criticisms, and essays from various writers and from the Internet where the writer found important data to help the writer in analyzing the problems.

Several steps were taken to answer the problems. First of all, the writer read the primary source, A Raisin in the Sun, several times so that she had a deep understanding of the content of the play. While reading the play, she also focused on the Younger’s characteristics. Next, she observed how American Dream was revealed through each character. Fourthly, she tried to find and choose some relevant references as the secondary sources in order to support the analysis. The fifth step, she analyzed the topic based on the questions stated in the problem formulation. After that, she wrote the analysis, applying socio-cultural historical approach, to answer the problems. Finally, she drew a conclusion from the analysis.

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

This chapter will answer the two questions in the problem formulation.

Firstly, the writer tries to identify the characteristics of Lena, Beneatha, Ruth and

Walter as they are depicted in the play. This is to facilitate the writer in discerning the efforts of each character in pursuit of her/his American Dream. Secondly, this analysis also tries to see how Lena, Beneatha, Ruth and Walter’s characterization in the play reveal the values of American Dream and how each character’s characteristics is affected by the idea of American Dream.

A. The Characterization in A Raisin in the Sun

1. Lena Younger

Lena Younger is a mother. The physical appearance of Mama can be seen in the following.

She is a woman in her early sixties, full-bodied and strong. She is one of those women of a certain grace and beauty who wear it so unobtrusively that it takes a while to notice. Her dark-brown face is surrounded by the total whiteness of her hair, and, being a woman who has adjusted to many things in life and overcome many more, her face is full of strength. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 39)

She is caring. She takes care of her children, Walter and Beneatha and grandson, Travis. When her daughter-in-law, Ruth, is sick, Mama is the only one who pays attention to Ruth’s health. Moreover, Mama supports Beneatha’s argument against George, Beneatha’s rich boyfriend, by saying that Beneatha should not waste her time with a fool. Despite her disagreement with Walter’s

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idea, Mama at last gives him the remaining insurance money to be invested in the liquor store. Mama also buys a house with a yard where Travis can play and grow up to be a man.

MAMA (Holding out her arms to her grandson) Well-at least let me tell him something. I want him to be the first one to hear … Come here, Travis. (The boy obeys, gladly) Travis-(She takes him by the shoulder and looks into his face)-you know that money we got in the mail this morning? TRAVIA Yes’m- MAMA Well-what you think your grandmamma gone and done with that money? TRAVIS I don’t know, Grandmama. MAMA (Putting her finger on his nose for emphasis) She went out and she bought you a house! (The explosion comes from WALTER at the end of the revelation and he jumps up and turns away from all of them in a fury. MAMA continues, to TRAVIS) You glad about the house? It’s going to be yours when you get to be a man. (Act II, Sc. 1, p. 90-91)

Since Mama is the head of the family, she is the only one who has the power to control everyone in the family. She is really powerful. The following dialogue reveals it.

MAMA (Walking away from BENEATHA, too disturbed for triumphant posture. Stopping and turning back to her daughter) There are some ideas we ain’t going to have in this house. Not long as I am at the head of this family. BENEATHA Yes, ma’am. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 51-52)

She is a responsible person. Even though Walter disagrees with

Beneatha’s decision to be a doctor, Mama still supports Beneatha’s decision.

When Ruth advices her to use the insurance money to take a trip abroad, Mama still thinks that a part of the insurance money should be used to pay the cost of

Beneatha’s education and spend the rest of insurance money to buy a new house

RUTH You know what you should do, Miss Lena? You should take yourself a trip somewhere. To Europe or South America or someplace- … RUTH Well-what are you going to with it then? MAMA I ain’t rightly decided. (Thinking. She speaks now with emphasis) Some of it got to be put away for Beneatha and her schoolin’-and ain’t nothing going to touch that part of it. Nothing. (She waits several seconds, trying to make up her mind about something, and looks at RUTH a little tentatively before going on) Been thinking that we maybe could meet the notes on a little old two-story somewhere, with a yard where Travis could play in the summertime, if we use part of the insurance for a down payment and everybody kind of pitch in. I could maybe take on a little day work again, few days a week- (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 43-44)

Mama is religious because she really believes in God. She does not like un-Christian things such as, Beneatha’s doubt about the existence of God, Ruth’s idea to have an abortion and she rejects talking about money in the morning. She also refuses Walter’s idea to open the liquor store. It is shown in the dialogue below.

MAMA (Quietly) I don’t ‘low no yellin’ in this house, Walter Lee, and you know it-(WALTER stares at them in frustration and starts to speak several times) And there ain’t going to be no investing in no liquor store. (Act I, Sc. 2, p. 70)

The above dialogue proves that Mama puts more value on her faith. Mama thinks that opening the liquor store is an un-Christian business and she will not join it.

Mama is also depicted as a brave person. Even though Mama’s neighbor,

Mrs. Johnson scares her by saying about colored people that was bombed out their place in a white neighborhood, she still decides to buy a house in an entirely white neighborhood as seen in the following.

JOHNSON Mmmmmm, he sure gets his beauty rest, don’t he? Good-looking man! Sure is a good-looking man! (Reaching out to pat RUTH’s stomatch again) I guess that’s how come we keep on having babies round here. (She winks at MAMA) One thing ‘bout

Brother, he always know how to have a good time. And soooooo ambitious! I bet it was his idea y’all moving out to Cylbourne Park. Lord-I bet this time next month y’all’s names will have been in the papers plenty-(Holding up her hands to mark off each word of the headline she can see in front of her) “NEGROES INVADE CLYBOURNE PARK-BOMBED!” (Act II, Sc. 2 p. 101-102)

When Walter has lost insurance money, Beneatha says that Walter is not her brother anymore since her medical school fund has gone, but Mama advises

Beneatha to be wise to show Christian love:

BENEATHA Love him? There is nothing left to love. MAMA There is always something left to love. And if you ain’t learned that, you ain’t learned nothing. (Looking at her) Have you cried for that boy today? I don’t mean for yourself and for the family ‘cause we lost the money. I mean for him: what he been through and what it done to him. Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well then, you ain’t through learning- because that ain’t the time at all. It’s when he’s at his lowest and can’t believe in hisself ‘cause the world done whipped him so! When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right, child, measure him right. Make sure you taken into account what hills and valleys… (Act III, p. 145).

Although the insurance money has gone through Walter, Mama forgives him and tells Beneatha to love her brother especially when he is at his lowest. In other words, she is a wise person because she thinks that a family is more important than money.

2. Beneatha Younger

Beneatha is Lena’s daughter. She is ‘about twenty, as slim and intense as her brother. She is not as pretty as her sister-in-law, but her lean, almost intellectual face has a handsomeness of its own… Her speech is a mixture of

many things; it is different from the rest of the family’s insofar as education has permeated her sense of English…’ (Act I, Sc. I, p. 35). She is ambitious to be a doctor even though Walter Lee Younger, Beneatha’s brother, disagrees with

Beneatha’s dream to become a doctor since Beneatha’s medical school fund will cut into the check. Walter wants his entire father’s insurance money to be invested in a liquor store with his friends as seen in the following situation.

WALTER Who the hell told you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people- then go to be a nurse like other women –or just get married and be quiet … (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 38)

The quotation above implies that Walter thinks that Beneatha should just get married and be quiet instead of becoming a doctor. In other words, in Walter’s view Beneatha’s place is only at home.

Beneatha is rebellious and modern. It is clearly seen when she proves that not only men can do everything but that women can also do what men do: she joins the horseback-riding club, she also learns photography and learns to play the guitar. She thinks this is her way to express herself. The following conversation shows it:

BENEATHA I don’t flit! I-I experiment with different forms of expression – RUTH Like riding a horse? BENEATHA –People have to express themselves one way or another. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 48)

At that time, women were supposed to be in the house and to run domestic routines. That is why women could not express themselves freely. Women were also considered as people who knew nothing. Beneatha thinks that women have the right to know everything, like men do.

Moreover, Beneatha is wise. Beneatha is expected to marry George

Murchison, a rich African-American man who dates her, so that she and her family can have a higher status. Even though he is rich, Beneatha does not want to marry him. This can be seen in the following quotation.

BENEATHA As for George. Well. George looks good-he’s got a beautiful car and he takes me to nice places and, as my sister-in- law says, he is probably the richest boy I will ever get to know and I even like him sometimes–but if the Youngers are sitting around waiting to see if their little Bennie is going to tie up the family with the Murchinsons, they are wasting their time. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 49)

Beneatha does not seem to be influenced by her family’s expectation that she should like George Murchinson because of his wealth.

Beneatha tells Mama and Ruth, Walter’s wife, that she might not get married. She rejects the idea at that time that women were supposed to get married. It is clear that she is independent. She thinks that marriage is not necessary for her because she is much more concerned about her education than about marriage. Furthermore, she wants to have a career without depending on man.

BENEATHA Get over it? What are you talking about, Ruth? Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet-if I ever get married. MAMA and RUTH If! MAMA Now, Bennie- BENEATHA Oh, I probably will … but first I’m going to be a doctor, and George, for one, still thinks that’s pretty funny. I couldn’t be bothered with that, I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that! (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 50)

Beneatha is outspoken. She speaks up her idea. George puts more value on

Beneatha’s physical appearance than her knowledge. So, there is a great

difference between Beneatha’s idea and George’s. It is shown in the following dialogue.

GEORGE Because this is stupid! I don’t go out with you to discuss the nature of ‘quiet desperation’ or to hear all about your thoughts- because the world will go on thinking what it thinks regardless- BENEATHA Then why reads books? Why go to school? GEORGE (With artificial patience, counting on his fingers) It’s simple. You read books-to learn facts-to get grades-to pass the course-to get a degree. That’s all-It has nothing to do with thoughts. (A long pause) BENEATHA I see. (He starts to sit) Good night, George. (GEORGE looks at her a little oddly, and starts to exit. He meets MAMA coming in) (Act II, Sc. 2, p. 96-97)

From the above dialogue, Beneatha’s rebellion is apparent when George expresses that education is just a means to get grades and a degree. Beneatha opposes his perspectives because she sees education as a means of self-fulfillment. She considers him a fool.

Beneatha is not religious. She does not believe in God since she thinks that

God does not help her and the family but Mama cannot understand her, as shown in the following.

BENEATHA I mean it! I’m just tired of hearing about God all the time. What has He got to do with anything? Does he pay tuition? … BENEATHA Mama, you don’t understand. It’s all a matter of ideas, and God is just one idea I don’t accept. It’s not important. I am going out and be immoral or commit crimes because I don’t believe in God. I don’t even think about it. It’s just that I get tired of Him getting credit for all the things the human race achieves through its own stubborn effort. There simply is no blasted God- there is only man and it is he who makes miracles. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 50-51)

Beneatha does not believe the existence of God. She argues that God does not help man. So, man should not hope that God will make miracles because they are the ones who have to do something to make the change for themselves.

3. Ruth Younger

Ruth Younger is Walter’s wife and Lena’s daughter in-law. She is ‘about thirty. We can see that she was a pretty girl, even exceptionally so, but now it is apparent that life has been little than she expected, and disappointment has already begun to hang in her face’ (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 24). She is caring. She serves Walter and her son, Travis, well. She prepares breakfast for them by cooking eggs. She also prepares Travis before he goes to school. The quotation below shows the situation when she tries to wake them up so that they will not be late.

RUTH Come on now, boy, it’s seven thirty! (Her son sits up at last, in a stupor of sleepiness) I say hurry up, Travis! You ain’t the only person in the world got to use a bathroom!.....Walter Lee! … It’s after seven thirty! Lemme see you do some waking up in there now! (She waits) You better get up from there, man! It’s after seven thirty I tell you. (She waits again) All right, you just go ahead and lay there and next thing you know Travis be finished and Mr. Johnson’ll be in there and you’ll be fussing and cussing round here like a madman! And be late too! (She waits, at the end of patience) Walter Lee-it’s time for you to GET UP! (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 25)

Ruth is wise. When her husband wants to talk about his liquor store investment in the morning, she gives advice to him as follows.

WALTER Yeah. You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on the place be ‘bout thirty thousand, see. That be ten thousand each. Course, there’s a couple of hundred you got to pay so’s you don’t spend you life just waiting for them clowns to let your license get approved-

RUTH You mean graft? WALTER (Frowning impatiently) Don’t call it that. See there, that just goes to show you what women understand about the world. Baby, don’t nothing happen for you in this world ‘less you pay somebody off! RUTH Walter, leave me alone! (She raises her head and stares at him vigorously-then says, more quietly) Eat your eggs, they gonna be cold. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 33)

She is obedient toward her husband. She always heeds her husband’s instructions, even though he seldom notices her feelings. When Walter asks Ruth to talk to Mama about investing the liquor store, she does it. This situation is shown in the following.

RUTH Ain’t nobody business people till they go into business. Walter Lee say colored people ain’t never going to start getting ahead till they start gambling on some different kinds of things in the world-investments and things. MAMA What done got into you, girl? Walter Lee done finally sold you on investing. RUTH No. Mama, something is happening between Walter and me. I don’t know what it is-but he needs something-something I can’t give him anymore. He needs this chance, Lena. MAMA (Frowning deeply) But liquor, honey- RUTH Well-like Walter say-I spec people going to always be drinking themselves some liquor. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 42)

Although she is tired, she has to work. She should do it in order to back up the family who is poor. She is a hard working and responsible woman indeed. The following conversation reveals it.

RUTH I got to go in. We need the money. MAMA Somebody would of thought my children done all but starved to death the way they talk about money here late. Child, we got a great big old check coming tomorrow. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 43)

Ruth does not understand why Beneatha joins a lot of lessons such as; play acting group, guitar, horseback-riding club and photography to express herself.

She thinks that every woman will become a wife and a mother; so a woman does

not need to learn “scientific things”. In addition, Ruth expects her sister in-law,

Beneatha, to marry George Murchinson because he is rich as seen in the quotation below.

RUTH You mean you wouldn’t marry George Murchinson if he asked you someday? That pretty, rich thing? Honey, I knew you was odd- (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 49)

She believes if Beneatha marries a pretty, rich George Murchinson, her family will be rich and have a higher status. In other words, she is an old fashioned woman.

Ruth is a faithful wife. She shows the quality of being a good wife by doing all the domestic affairs. Though they live in poverty and Walter Lee treats her rudely, she never blames her husband because she does not want to create difficulties for the family, she even considers having abortion.

MAMA When the world gets ugly enough-a woman will do anything for her family. The part that’s already living. WALTER You don’t know Ruth, Mama, if you think she would do that. (RUTH opens the bedroom door and stands there a little limp) RUTH (Beaten) Yes I would too, Walter. (Pause) I gave her a five- dollar down payment. (There is total silence as the man stares at his wife and the mother stares at her son) (Act I, Sc. 2, p. 75)

4. Walter Lee Younger

Walter is Lena’s son and Ruth’s husband. ‘He is a lean, intense young man in his middle thirties’ (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 25). He is old fashioned. He does not agree with Beneatha’s ambition to become a doctor, he wants her to be a nurse like other women, because his idea is that every woman should marry and take care of

the household. Therefore, in his opinion becoming a doctor is not important. Also, he thinks that a wife must follow a husband’s orders and put up with everything he does.

WALTER A man needs for a woman to back him up … (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 32) WALTER That is just what is wrong with the colored woman in this world … Don’t understand about building their men up and making ‘em feel like they somebody. Like they can do something. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 34)

From the above quotation, it can be seen that Walter feels superior than his wife and his sister since he is a man. He considers women as second class citizens in the family so he has the concept that he is the only person who has the power to decide what woman should do or should not.

Walter is ambitious. Since he is only a chauffeur, he has the ambition to use the insurance money to open a liquor store with his friends, Willy Harris and

Bobo. Although Ruth and Mama disagree with his ambition, he still thinks that opening the liquor store will make a lot of money so that the economic problem of the family will be solved as seen in the following.

Furthermore, Walter is materialistic. Walter considers money as the most important thing in his life. In other words, Walter is excessively obsessed with money. It is obviously shown when Walter tells Mama that money is life. This can be seen in the dialogue below.

MAMA Son-how come you talk so much ‘bout money? WALTER (With immense passion) Because it is life, Mama! MAMA (Quietly) Oh-(Very quietly) So now it’s life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life-now it’s money. I guess the world really do change … WALTER No-it was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it. (Act I, Sc. 2, p. 74)

The quotation above reveals that Walter views everything from money perspectives. He believes success can be measured with money and money will give him everything he wants including happiness.

Walter is rebellious and stubborn. His rebellion shows up when Mama rejects to give the insurance money to Walter to be invested in the liquor store. He tries to resist Mama’s decision by not working for three days, wandering all day in

Chicago, sitting in the bar and drinking all night long there.

RUTH She said Mr. Arnold has had to take a cab for three days … Walter, you ain’t been to work for three days! (This is a revelation to her) Where you been, Walter Lee Younger? (WALTER looks at her and starts to laugh) You’re going to lose your job. (Act II, Sc. 2, p. 105) WALTER And there’s this other guy who plays the piano … and they got a sound. I mean they can work on some music … They got the best little combo in the world in the Green Hat … You can just sit there and drink and listen to them three men play and you realize that don’t nothing mater worth a damn, but just being there- (Act II, Sc. 2, p. 106)

Mama then feels that she has made the wrong decision by not giving the insurance money to him. At last Mama gives him the rest $ 6500 of the money.

She tells him to put $ 3000 in a saving account for Beneatha’s medical school fund and keep the rest, $ 3500 for himself. She also says that he should become the head of the family.

Moreover, Walter does things in an immature way. He invests all of the money to Willy Harris including Beneatha’s medical school fund for the liquor store but then, Willy goes away with it. It is clear that he is an immature person.

He trusts all of the money to Willy even without having much consideration for his decision as shown in the following.

WALTER (Turning madly, as though he is looking for WILLY in the very room) Willy! … Willy … don’t do it … Please don’t do it … Man, not with that money … Oh, God … Don’t let it be true … (He is wandering around, crying out for WILLY and looking for him or perhaps for help from God) Man … I trusted you … Man, I put my life in your hands … (He starts to crumple down on the floor as RUTH just covers her face in horror. MAMA opens the door and comes into the room, with BENEATHA behind her) Man … (He starts to pound the floor with his fists, sobbing wildly) THAT MONEY IS MADE OUT OF MY FATHER’S FLESH- (Act II, Sc. 3, p. 128)

After he lost all of the money, he calls one of the Whites, Mr. Linder who is accepted as the representative of Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to come to their apartment. He wants to accept the offer of Mr. Linder to give them money if they do not move into Clybourne Park. When Mr. Linder comes, he has changed his decision. He tells him that even though they are plain, they have pride and cannot be substituted by money so they decide to move into their new house.

WALTER And we have decided to move into our house because my father-my father-he earned it for us brick by brick. (MAMA has her eyes closed and is rocking back and forth as though she were in church, with her head nodding the Amen yes) We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, and we will try to be good neighbors. And that’s all we got to say about that. (He looks the man absolutely in the eyes) We don’t want your money. (He turns and walks away) (Act III, p. 148)

The quotation above implies that Walter turns from an immature man to a mature one when he refused the money offered by Mr. Linder. He learns that a family is

more important than money. He finally becomes the head of the family as he is supposed to be. Mama and Ruth come up with the idea that Walter has transformed into his manhood and they are proud of it. It is shown in the following dialogue.

MAMA (Quietly, woman to woman) He finally come into his manhood today, didn’t he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain … RUTH (Biting her lip lest her own pride explode in front of MAMA) Yes, Lena. (Act III, p. 151)

B. American Dream Revealed Through Each Character in A Raisin in The

Sun

1. Lena Younger

Hansberry presents the poor condition of the Youngers by describing the setting and each character’s action. The description of the poverty experienced by the Youngers is found in the quotation below.

The YOUNGER living room would be a comfortable and well- ordered room if it were not for a number of indestructible contradictions to this state of being. Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too many people for too many years-and they are tired. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 23)

Besides, the following quotations show the poor economic condition of the family: “The single window that has been provided for these “two” rooms is located in this kitchen area,” “At left, a door leads to a bedroom which is shared by MAMA and her daughter, BENEATHA. At right, opposite, is a second room

(which in the beginning of the life of this apartment was probably a breakfast room) which serves as a bedroom for WALTER and his wife, RUTH” (Act I, Sc.

1, p. 24). The description of the house shows that they live in a ghetto with many

family members. Each member of the family has to share a room with another family member. Mama has to share her room with Beneatha while Walter and

Ruth have to sleep in a room which had probably been a breakfast room. Because of this condition, they must have lived in poverty.

Mama thinks that the family needs a better place to live in. Because of that, Mama has been dreaming of buying a better house with an appropriate environment. Therefore, after she gets the insurance money, she pays the down payment of the house in the White’s neighborhood. Even though she knows that her family will have problems, she still buys the house to realize her dream and to change the atmosphere in the family.

Every member of the family is taken aback; but they are happy when they hear Mama’s idea, except Walter who has his own idea. Ruth is worried because

Clybourne Park is a White’s neighborhood and Walter says bitterly as follows.

MAMA (Matter-of-factly) Four o six Clybourne Street, Clybourne Park. RUTH Clybourne Park? Mama, there ain’t no colored people living in Clybourne Park. MAMA (Almost idiotically) Well, I guess there’s going to be some now. WALTER (Bitterly) So that’s the peace and comfort you went out and bought for us today! ... MAMA Them houses they put up for colored in them areas way out all seem to cost twice as much as other houses. I did the best I could. (Act II, Sc. 1, p. 93)

The dialogue above implies that Blacks and Whites had different housing areas.

Whites, being superior, had a better living area and had more opportunity to choose, while Blacks were confined to be living in ghettos only. They were not permitted to live in a Whites’ housing area. Besides, the houses for the Blacks

cost twice the price of other houses since the Whites intended to segregate the

Blacks from their living area. “To some extent, the high cost of home in the suburbs was responsible, but discrimination against black families was even more important factor. Often, suburban residents refused to sell homes to black families in their communities even if blacks families could afford them” (Wilson, 1985:

719). That is why Blacks have no freedom to live in a better house with a better environment.

At that time, since the Blacks were inferior to the Whites, the Whites did not treat the Blacks equally. The latter should live separately from the Whites. In other words, there was discrimination in their housing. “Blacks who were able to move to other areas of the cities and into the suburbs were confronted with discrimination in the sale and rental of the housing“ (Johnson, 1978: 72).

The problem comes through one of the Whites, Karl Linder, who is accepted as the representative of Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He says that the Whites refuse to accept the Youngers to live in their community.

LINDER (More frustrated than annoyed) No, thank you very much. Please. Well-to get right to the point I-(A great breath, and he is off at last) I am sure you people must be aware of some of the incidents which have happened in various parts of the city when colored people have moved into certain areas-(BENEATHA exhales heavily and starts tossing a piece of fruit up and down in the air) Well-because we have what I think is going to be a unique type of organization in American community life-not only do we deplore that kind of thing-but we are trying to do something about it. (BENEATHA stops tossing and turns with a new and quizzical interest to the man) We feel-(gaining confidence in his mission because of the interest in the faces of the people he is talking to)- we feel that most of the trouble in this world, when you come right down to it-(He hits his knee for emphasis)-most of the trouble exists because people just don’t sit down and talk to each other. (Act II, Sc. 3, p. 116)

It is clear that if Blacks move into the Whites’ housing area, the latter will show their objection by doing some terrorism such as; bombing and lynching.

Terrors would be experienced by the Blacks if they wanted to move to Clybourne

Park. “The real purpose of lynching was to maintain white supremacy by making all African Americans aware of the terrible penalty that could be imposed upon them for breaking the Southern code of racial ethics” (Roth, 1995: 516).

Therefore, the system of “white supremacy” is still rooted in all of the United

States.

Linder’s point of view towards the Blacks is also obvious when he explains the Blacks’ position by using terms like; ‘our community’ and ‘Negro’.

He also tells that his people are hardworking and honest people. By mentioning that his people are hard-working and honest people, he puts bad labels on Blacks.

He wants to say that Blacks are lazy and dishonest as described in the quotation below.

LINDER Well-you see our community is made up of people who’ve worked hard as the dickens for years to build up that little community. They’re not rich and fancy people; just hard-working, honest people who don’t really have much but those little homes and a dream of the kind of community they want to raise their children in. Now, I don’t say we are perfect and there is a lot wrong in some of the things they want. But you’ve got to admit that a man, right or wrong, has the right to want to have the neighborhood he lives in a certain kind of way. And at the moment the overwhelming majority of our people out there feel that people get along better, take more of a common interest in the life of the community, when they share a common background. I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply doesn’t enter into it. It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities. (Act II, Sc. 3, p. 117-118)

Every American had the rights to have better life facilities but racial discrimination made the Blacks get the unequal share. The Whites thought and still think that they have different background from the Blacks and they disliked the Blacks living in the same area with them. They thought that the Blacks should live in their own communities.

Mama gives Walter the chance to be the head of the family. Since he is the head of the family, she trusts him to put in a saving account for Beneatha’s medical schooling and use the rest of the money for himself to start running a liquor store. As he finally loses all of the money, the idea of accepting the offer of

Mr. Linder to sell the house to the association comes into his mind. However, after a thorough discussion, the Youngers finally reject Mr. Linder’s offer to sell the house and decide to move to their new house like what has already been planned.

WALTER …we come from people who had a lot of pride. I mean- we are very proud people. And that’s my sister over there and she’s going to be a doctor-and we are very proud- LINDER Well-I am sure that is very nice, but- WALTER …We don’t want your money… MAMA I am afraid you don’t understand. My son said we was going to move and there ain’t nothing left for me to say. (Act III, p. 148)

Although they do not have money left, they still decide to move to the new neighborhood. They think that they should not let the Whites decide where they should live or not live. They realize that having a better house is more essential than having money, because money can be earned anytime but pride cannot be bought by money.

Hansberry is of the opinion that the Blacks should not be treated unfairly because they are human beings and they have the same rights, as what the Whites have. The Blacks, the minority, should not be afraid of the majority. What they have to do is fighting against racial discrimination to gain their rights. This is precisely what the Youngers have done. Even though they do not know what will happen in the future, they are not frightened by the threat from the Whites and they are determined to move into an entirely White neighborhood. They finally attain their dream to have a better house in a better environment this time.

2. Beneatha Younger

Beneatha has a dream to be a doctor. Even though both White and Black women experience gender discrimination, “being black and women is a double burden” (in Humm, 1990: 20). This means since she is a black and a woman,

Beneatha faces the more extreme sufferings from the Whites and Black men. She has to face not only racial discrimination but also gender discrimination. The patriarchal system makes women achieve an unequal status in society. In patriarchal society, women are considered as secondary citizens.

WALTER (Mumbling) We one group of men tied to a race of women with small minds! (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 35) WALTER Why? You want to know why? ‘Cause we all tied up in a race of people that don’t know how to do nothing but moan, pray and have babies. (Act II, Sc. 1, p. 87)

It is clear that women are assumed to be weak and stupid. Men

(represented by Walter) think that women only have small minds and they can do nothing. What women do is just moaning, praying and having babies. According

to Bell Hooks in Ain’t I A Woman, “White men; like black men, wanted to see all women be less assertive, dependent and unemployed. Women always assumed that women’s place was in the home- that her fulfillment in life depended on finding the right man to marry and producing a family” (1981: 177).

Men’s position is considered to be higher than women’s. Men identify themselves as family breadwinners and work outside the house, while women are only placed in home, a limited area, and deal with domesticity. So, men could not accept if women have a higher level of education than they have. This condition is shown as follows.

Walter disagrees with Beneatha’s dream to be a doctor. He views that being a doctor is more suitable for men than for women, because a doctor has a higher status than a nurse. That is why, in his view, Beneatha should be a nurse or just marry and stay in home doing domestic affairs. “If they were compelled by circumstance to work, they were told that it was better if they did not compete with men and confined themselves to jobs like teaching and nursing” (Hooks,

1981: 177).

Beneatha is depicted as the woman who struggles against both racial and gender discrimination. She tries to be equal to men. She refuses the idea that women are supposed to be weak, stupid and identified with domesticity. She believes that women have the same opportunity, like men, to get a proper education.

BENEATHA …I’m going to be a doctor, and George, for one, still thinks that’s pretty funny. I couldn’t be bothered with that, I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that! (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 50)

The quotation above shows that Beneatha rejects marrying George (a rich man).

She wants to be a doctor and her family must support her. She wants to get rights to make decisions what is the best for her and does not let other people arrange her future.

The problem is raised through Walter. He has invested all the insurance money (including the money for Beneatha’s schooling) to start running a business and the money has been taken away by his friend, Willy Harris. Walter adopts the patriarchal system’s point of view. He underestimates women and thinks a woman as a person who should stay in home and deal with domestic affairs. Thus, he sees

Beneatha’s education as an unimportant thing. So, her dream to be a doctor should be called off for a while.

Furthermore, the Blacks were oppressed by the Whites; with their slavery system the Blacks were regarded as rootless people or as people with no identity.

For the Blacks, the two ways to solve this self-identity problem are either to keep their heritage culture-African Pride-or to assimilate into the dominant culture, i.e. the Whites’ culture. The statements below may support the argument.

ASAGAI …I thought you were the most serious little thing I had ever seen-you said: (He imitates her) “Mr. Asagai-I want very much to talk with you. About Africa. You see, Mr. Asagai, I am looking for my identity!” (He laughs) BENEATHA (Turning to him, not laughing) Yes- (Her face is quizzical profoundly disturbed) ASAGAI …Assimilationism is so popular in your country. (Act I, Sc. 2, p. 62-63)

From the dialogue above, it is clear that if the Blacks want to find their own identity, they have to assimilate to the White cultures or to keep their racial pride.

Since the Blacks are minority and inferior, most of them finally decide to assimilate to the White cultures. They believe if they want to be successful, they should adapt white people’s culture.

On the contrary, Beneatha represents the persons who try to keep their

African Pride. She is against the idea of the assimilation of Blacks as described in the following quotations.

BENEATHA (Wheeling, passionately, sharply) I am not an assimilationist! (Act I, Sc. 2, p. 63) BENEATHA Because I hate assimilationist Negroes! (Act II, Sc. 2, p. 81)

Beneatha views that Blacks who try to assimilate to the dominant culture are not proud of their own culture. They actually should be the ones who must preserve and develop their own culture.

Beneatha learns her inherited culture from Asagai (an African man who dates her): when Beneatha straightens her hair, Asagai tells her that she

‘mutilates’ it.

BENEATHA (Turning suddenly) My hair-what’s wrong with my hair? ASAGAI (Shrugging) Were you born with it like that? BENEATHA (Reaching up to touch it) No … of course not. (She looks back to the mirror, disturbed) ASAGAI (Smiling) How then? BENEATHA You know perfectly well how … as crinkly as yours … that’s how. ASAGAI And it is ugly to you what way? BENEATHA (Quickly) Oh, no-not ugly … (More slowly, apologetically) But it’s so hard to manage when it’s, well-raw. ASAGAI And so to accommodate that-you mutilate it every week?

BENETAHA It’s not mutilation! (Act I, Sc. 2, p. 61-62)

Asagai dislikes Beneatha’s ‘mutilated’ hair style, copying the Whites’ hair. He thinks that her hair has to look naturally, like what it should be, because she was born with that. She has to be proud of her physical characteristics and keep them instead of imitating the Whites’ culture.

Inspired by racial pride that is perceived by the lectures of Asagai,

Beneatha presents her pride of African heritage by wearing the Nigerian clothes

Asagai has given her, dancing a Nigerian folk dance and shouting the Yoruba word, ‘OCOMOGOSIAY’.

BENEATHA (Emerging grandly from the doorway so that we can see her thoroughly robed in the costume Asagai brought) You are looking at what a well-dressed Nigerian woman wears-(She parades for RUTH, her hair completely hidden by the headdress; she is coquettishly fanning herself with an ornate oriental fan, mistakenly more like Butterfly than any Nigerian that ever was) Isn’t it beautiful? (She promenades to the radio and, with an arrogant flourish, turns off the good loud blues that is playing) Enough of this assimilationist junk! (RUTH follows her with her eyes as she goes to the phonograph and puts on a record and turns and waits ceremoniously for the music to come up. Then, with a shout-) OCOMOGOSIAY! (RUTH jumps. The music comes up, a lovely Nigerian melody. BENEATHA listens, enraptured, her eyes far away-“back to the past.” She begins to dance. RUTH is dumbfounded) (Act II, Sc. 1, p. 76)

Beneatha argues against assimilation of the Negro race into the American culture

(Chapman, 1968: 688). Even though the Blacks live in America, they should be proud of their own inherited culture because knowing their inherited culture makes them become people with identity or roots. Beneatha proves that living in

America does not stop her from keeping her own culture. Thus, Beneatha’s dream to keep her African Pride is realized.

3. Ruth Younger

Ruth Younger has the same idea as Mama. She also dreams to live in a better house. She has been dreaming of having a better house, because the

Youngers have been living in a poverty stricken area so far. This condition can be found at the beginning of the play: “The child … takes his towels and “today’s clothes” from drawers and a closet and goes out to the bathroom, which is in an outside hall and which is shared by another family or families on the same floor”

(Act I, Sc. 1, p. 25). Travis, the son of Ruth, has to wear “today’s clothes” since they cannot afford new clothes and the Youngers must share a public bathroom in an outside hall with their neighbors on the same floor. They also have to wake up earlier, if they want to use the bathroom because they are not the only ones who use it. ‘ …I say hurry up, Travis! You ain’t the only person in the world got to use a bathroom…’ (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 25).

Moreover, Travis should sleep on the couch in the living room since there is no bedroom left for him. Since the living room-supposed to be Travis’ bedroom-is used by Walter and his friends for chatting, with the result, that he cannot sleep earlier than ten o’clock.

RUTH …It ain’t his fault that he can’t get to bed no earlier nights ‘cause he got a bunch of crazy good-for-nothing clowns sitting up running their mouths in what is supposed to be his bedroom after ten o’clock at night … (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 26-27)

The poor condition is also shown from Ruth’s expression who calls their present house a “rat trap”. She calls their house like that, because there are a lot of rats in their house. Since they are poor, they have to endure living in it despite the unhealthy and bad environment.

RUTH Well, Lord knows, we’ve put enough rent into this here rat trap to pay for four houses by now … MAMA “Rat trap”-yes, that’s all it is… (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 44)

Those poor conditions are actually caused by the jobs that Mama, Ruth and Walter have. They only work as day working housemaids and chauffer and consequently, they receive a small amount of money in total. With their small amount of money, they cannot meet their needs properly even for their basic needs. Because of that, the Blacks cannot afford to get a proper house, since the price of a house for Blacks is higher than other houses and the Whites refuse to sell their houses to the Blacks. Martin Luther states that “problems of education, transportation to jobs and decent living conditions are all made difficult because housing is so rigidly segregated. Fair housing, even rehabilitation can not solve the problems of housing for segregated poor, offers the interim solutions for ghetto housing that should not obscure the need of strict enforcement of sound housing practice” (1968: 234).

In contrast to the poor condition of the Blacks, White women are depicted as having a better life, a lot of money, opportunity to make trips and enjoy their life without having to work hard as described in the following statement.

RUTH Shoot-these here rich white women do it all the time. They don’t think nothing of packing up they suitcases and piling on one of them big steamships and swoosh!-they gone, child. (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 44)

At that time, the poor condition made the Black women work as hard as they could to support their family fulfilling their daily needs although they only got low wages. That is why Blacks were dreaming that someday, like White women, they would have a better life without working too hard.

When Ruth knows that Mama has bought a new house, she is really happy.

She thinks that her dream to have a new house will come true. She can look after

Travis in the house with a lot of sunlight where there are no rats.

RUTH …Well-well!-All I can say is-if this is my time in life-MY TIME-to say good-bye-to these goddamned cracking walls!-and these marching roaches!-and this cramped little closet which ain’t now or never was no kitchen! … then I say it loud and good, HALLELUJAH! AND GOOD-BYE MISERY … I DON’T NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR UGLY FACE AGAIN! Lena? MAMA (Moved, watching her happiness) Yes, honey? RUTH (Looking off) Is there-is there a whole lot of sunlight? MAMA (Understanding) Yes, child, there’s a whole lot of sunlight. (Act II, Sc. 1, p. 93-94)

Mama says that she has bought a house in an entirely White neighborhood. Ruth is shocked but then she considers that living in White neighborhood is better than living in “rat trap” house.

After hearing that the money has been taken away by Walter’s friend,

Willy Harris and that Walter plans to receive the money offered by Mr. Linder,

Ruth feels desperate. She believes that her dream to move out from their present house has been destroyed. Then, she tells Mama that she will make a hard effort to move out from their present house. This is clear when she says that she will work twenty hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago and clean all the floors in

America if she has to. This is obvious in the statement below.

RUTH (Turning and going to MAMA fast-the words pouring out with urgency and desperation) Lena-I’ll work … I’ll work twenty hours a day in all kitchens in Chicago … I’ll strap my baby on my back if I have to and scrub all the floors in America and wash all the sheets in America if I have to-but we got to MOVE! We got to get OUT OF HERE!! (Act III, p. 140)

The statement above implies that although the dream seems hard to be realized, the Blacks are not hopeless. The Blacks will still struggle on to realize their dream even until they have no more energy.

Walter at last refuses Mr. Linder’s offer to pay off the house and the family still move into their new house as it was planned. They neither want to make trouble and they will try to be good neighbors. In the end, Ruth successfully attains her dream of moving to a better house with a better environment. She asserts, ‘Well, for God’s sake-if the moving men are here-LETS GET THE HELL

OUT OF HERE!’ (Act III, p. 149)

4. Walter Lee Younger

In 1950, most Americans had a high standard of living. They lived and enjoyed a life of affluence. “In the quarter-century after World War II, Americans enjoyed the highest standard of living in the world. That affluence spawned a suburban culture in which people turned inward to enjoy the private satisfactions of family leisure, and consumerism” (Henretta et. al, 1999: 779).

“Moreover, many “other Americans” did not lead lives of contentment in the suburbs. Although prosperity was more widespread than ever before, the poor, immigrants, and African-Americans had dramatically different experiences from the more affluent” (Henretta et. al, 1999: 779). In fact, African-Americans had different experiences than the Whites. Because there was a strong racial discrimination, they did not have the same chances to improve their lives.

This is like what Walter experiences. He is thirty-five years old, has been married eleven years and has a boy, but he and his family still live in poverty. He cannot give his son, Travis, a room to sleep. What he can do is just telling him how rich white people live. It can be obviously seen from the following.

WALTER This morning, I was lookin’ in the mirror and thinking about it … I’m thirty-five years old; I been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in the living room-(Very, very quietly) and all I got to give him is stories about how rich white people live … (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 34)

It shows that in Walter’s time the Blacks lived in a poor condition. They could not afford a proper house and had to live in ghettos with many family members and had to share rooms with one another. They only saw how rich white people lived without having the chances to improve their own lives.

On the other hand, the Whites had a higher social status than the Blacks.

Besides, they also had opportunities to have better occupations that made them have the chances of having a better life. The unequal financial condition between

Blacks and Whites is described in the quotation below.

WALTER (Quietly) Sometimes it’s like I can see the future stretched out in front of me-just plain as day. The future, Mama. Hanging over there at the edge of my days. Just waiting for me-a big, looming blank space-full of nothing. Just waiting for me. But it don’t have to be (Pause. Kneeling beside her chair) Mama- sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool, quiet- looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking ‘bout things … sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars … sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me- (Act I, Sc. 2, p. 73-74)

The quotation above shows that the Blacks were considered as the minority. They were segregated in public facilities. They could not enter the restaurants, because they were not allowed to eat in the same restaurants as the Whites and sit near

them. What Blacks could do was just watching from the outside of the restaurants, looking at the Whites sitting there and dealing millions of dollars.

In addition, Blacks had to face the limitation of job’s opportunity. This made Blacks get “low class” and blue-collar jobs: like drivers, servants, laborers, porters and any job which served others. As a result, they were overworked but were paid too little. Feagin in Social Problems mentions that around 1910-1940, in the cities, the principal occupations of Black men were laborer, porter, truck driver, janitor, and cook; Black women served as maids, laundresses, restaurant workers, and dressmakers (1997: 119). This lot also befalls to Walter. As he is only a rich white family’s chauffeur, he shows his opinion about his job as shown below.

WALTER A job. (Looks at her) Mama, a job? I open and close car doors all day long. I drive a man around in his limousine and I say, “Yes, sir; no, sir; very good, sir; shall I take the Drive, sir?” Mama, that ain’t no kind of job … that ain’t nothing at all. (Very quietly) Mama, I don’t know if I can make you understand. (Act I, Sc. 2, p. 73)

The quotation above reveals that Walter dislikes his present job: opening and closing car doors and driving for somebody. He thinks that he deserves to have a better job that can improve his status and life as the Whites have.

That is why Walter tries to live the life as desired in the “American

Dream” since America offers equal chances to everyone to attain his/her dreams through hard work. “The long standing American Dream that claims the pursuit of equality among others and the pursuit of happiness, emphasizing similarities rather than differences, the “togetherness” and “belongingness” become popular in the United States in the 1950s” (Bailyn, 1981: 792). Walter wants to earn a lot

of money by opening a liquor store, so that he and his family will have economic security.

WALTER Yeah. You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on the place be ‘bout thirty thousand, see. Course, there’s a couple of hundred you got to pay so’s you don’t spend your life just waiting for them clowns to let your license get approved- (Act I, Sc. 1, p. 33)

Though all of the family members - especially Mama - refuse Walter’s dream, he still wants to put his dream into reality. He believes by having a liquor store he will climb up the social ladder. “America in the postwar years saw the prospect of affluence and respectability, the opportunity embodied in the suburban ideal, as a birthright. In their most generous moods, they believed that middle-class status could – or should – be attainable by all, regardless of religion and race” (Bellah,

1992: 54).

WALTER You know what, Travis? In seven years you going to be seventeen years old. And things is going to be very different with us in seven years, Travis.… One day when you are seventeen I’ll come home-home from my office downtown somewhere- (Act II, Sc. 2, p. 108)

Walter shares his materialistic dreams to Travis. He tells him that he will make a transaction that will make him become a successful person in life and career. He imagines when Travis is seventeen years old, he will work in office, buy a car for

Ruth, enjoy their lives in their future house and Travis will get education that he deserves.

Mama then trusts him as the head of the family and asks Walter to manage the remaining insurance money - $ 6500 - , telling him to save $ 3000 for

Beneatha’s medical school in the bank and spend the rest for himself opening a

liquor store. After getting all of the remaining insurance money, he invests not only his money but also the money for Beneatha’s medical school to Willy Harris, his friend. But Willy runs away with all the money Walter has invested.

BOBO I’m talking about the fact that when I got to the train station yesterday morning-eight o’clock like we planned … Man-Willy didn’t never show up. WALTER Why … where was he … where is he? BOBO That’s what I’m trying to tell you … I don’t know … I waited six hours … I called his house … and I waited … six hours … I waited in that train station six hours … (Breaking into tears) That was all the extra money I had in the world. (Looking up at WALTER with the tears running down his face) Man, Willy is gone. (Act II, Sc. 2, p. 127-128)

The quotation above shows that the problem that deferred Walter’s dream is that all his money for opening a liquor store has been taken off by Willy Harris. In other words, Walter finds that his dreams having a financial security and a better job become a disillusionment. But in the end he succeeds to mature. He finally rejects to take the money that has been offered by the Clybourne Association in exchange for not moving to Clybourne Park. He realizes that pride is more precious than money and that money cannot buy their pride.

Concerning to self-identity problem, Walter is described as the representative of the Blacks who dreams to be a part of Whites’ society. As they are subordinate groups, most of the Blacks - including Walter - finally decide to

assimilate to the “dominant” Whites’ cultures. Walter’s dream to make a lot of money is the proof that he tries to adapt the Whites’ materialistic culture. He believes that the Negro who wishes to succeed must imitate white people

(Chapman, 1968: 688). In the end, because there was racial discrimination and all the money has been taken off by Willy Harris, Walter fails to pursue his dream to be a part of Whites’ society. But then he changes his strategy of assimilating

White cultures into keeping his African pride by not accepting the money offered by Mr. Linder.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

A Raisin in the Sun reveals the American Dream through the characters.

Each of the characters - Mama, Beneatha, Ruth and Walter – has her/his own

American Dream. Some of the dreams can be fulfilled but some of the characters who have been dreaming have to face racial discrimination and poverty and find their dream unattainable.

Since mama is a caring, responsible and wise person, she has been dreaming of having a better house with an appropriate environment. After getting the insurance money that comes from the late Mr. Younger’s life insurance, she puts the down payment of a house in a White’s neighborhood although Walter disagrees with her idea. It is clear that she is powerful. She is also brave by deciding to buy a house in the White’s neighborhood even though the Blacks will get some terrorism if they wanted to move into the Whites’ housing area.

Beneatha has an ambitious dream to be a doctor. She is described as a rebellious, modern and outspoken woman. She wants to prove that women can also do what men do. She is also wise by refusing to marry George Murchison because of his wealth. This leads to one point that she is independent. She is much more concerned about her education that marriage. In addition, she is not religious. She thinks that there is no God. As a result, God will not give miracles.

Only the man can change their life. Beneatha is pictured as the representative of the Blacks who try to keep their African Pride. Even though the Blacks live in

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America, they should be proud of their own inherited culture, because knowing their inherited culture makes them become people with identity or roots. Beneatha proves that living in America does not stop her from keeping her own culture.

Ruth dreams of living in a better house. She is caring. She has been dreaming of having a better house, because the Youngers have been living in a poor economic condition so far. Ruth is depicted as an obedient, old fashioned and faithful woman. She always obeys the instructions of her husband though

Walter treats her rudely. She also never wants to create difficulties for the family.

She is wise by giving advices to her husband in order not to make plan to use the insurance money since it is not his money. Moreover, she is a hard working and responsible woman because she works hard to support the family.

Walter has an ambition to make a lot of money by opening a liquor store in order to have financial security. It is obvious that Walter is materialistic because he is really obsessed with money and sees everything from money point of views. Mama, as a confirmed Christian, disagrees with Walter’s ambition to invest all the money in the liquor store. Since he is stubborn, he rebels against

Mama. Furthermore, Walter represents the persons who dream to be part of

Whites’ society. Walter’s dream to earn a lot of money is an evidence that he tries to adopt the Whites’ materialistic culture.

The American Dreams revealed through each character aim at one goal which is improving many aspects of life that consist of housing, education, job, financial condition and racial pride and assimilation. However, the Blacks only absorbs the idea of American Dream i.e. if you work hard, you will be successful

without considering other influences outside this idea that is sharing equality in all aspects of life in order to realize their American Dream.

In practice, the Blacks’ American Dreams do not run smoothly. The play also depicts that the Blacks have to experience various manifestations of racial discrimination that form the background behind the play and the obstacles to pursue the dreams. Mama and Ruth have to face racial discrimination from the

Whites. The Whites refuse to accept the Youngers to live in their community.

Meanwhile, Beneatha should experience racial discrimination and gender discrimination. Walter, as an old fashioned man, adopts the perspective of patriarchal system and thinks a woman as a person who should stay in home and deal with domestic affairs. He invests the money for Beneatha’s school to Willy

Harris, his friend to start running a business. This makes Beneatha’s dream to be a doctor has to be put off for a while. As all the money has been taken away by

Walter’s friend, Walter finds that his dreams of having an economic security and a better job become a disillusionment. He comes up with the idea of accepting the offer of Mr. Linder to sell the house to the Association. But he finally succeeds to mature. In the end, he rejects to take the money that has been offered by the

Clybourne Association. He realizes that pride is more important than money and that pride cannot be bought by money. He turns his strategy of assimilating White cultures to keeping his African pride by not taking the money offered by Mr.

Linder. Ultimately, the Youngers with African pride attain their dream of having a better house in an entirely White neighborhood. So, African pride is the binding factor that drives the family to buy the house.

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Online References

A Raisin in the Sun. 26 Feb. 2008

Browne, Emily. The Aspirations of Women in A Raisin in the Sun. 26 Feb. 2008

Dreams Deferred in A Raisin in the Sun. 16 Sep. 2006

Reuben, Paul P. Chapter 8: Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) PAL: Perspectives in American Literature - A Research and Reference Guide - An Ongoing Project. 26 Feb. 2008

What is the American Dream? 26 Feb. 2008

APPENDIX

Appendix 1: Summary of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun.

A Raisin in the Sun tells an African-American working class family in

1950s. The play presents the real condition of an African American family in general. At the beginning of the play, the Youngers are waiting for the coming of a $ 10000 insurance check. The check is from the late Mr. Younger’s life insurance.

Each member of the family has her/his dream of how to use the money.

Mama wants to buy a better house in a better environment. Beneatha wants to pay her medical school fund because she dreams to be a doctor. Ruth shares the same dream as Mama has: living in a better house, since they have been living in poverty so far. Meanwhile, Walter plans to use the money to open a liquor store.

He believes opening a liquor store will overcome their economic problems.

When Mama accepts the check, she pays $ 3500 for the house’s down payment in a White neighborhood, Clybourne Park. As Walter wants all of the money to be invested in a liquor store which Mama as a confirmed Christian dislikes, he becomes unhappy with what Mama has done. Then, one of the

Whites, Karl Linder from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, tacitly informs the Youngers the Whites’ objection to receive the Youngers living in their community. Linder offers the money so that they will stay away from their community.

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Mama realizes that she was wrong by not giving the insurance money to

Walter. Then, she trusts him to manage the rest of the insurance money - $ 6500 -.

She tells him that he should put $ 3000 in a saving account for Beneatha’s medical school tuition and that he should take the remaining $ 3500 for himself.

He also should be the head of the family. However, he invests all of the remaining insurance money including the money for Beneatha’s medical school to his friend,

Willy Harris who takes off all money he has invested.

After committing the big mistake, Walter feels guilty. He considers taking the offer from Mr. Linder in return for not moving into Clybourne Park. Walter at last changes his decision by not accepting the money Mr. Linder has offered. He says that they have their own African pride which cannot be exchanged for money. Finally, even though they do not know their future life among White neighborhood, they keep moving into their new house.