A Raisin in the Sun
At the end of the play, "A Raisin in the Sun", some of the characters really change. For example, Walter Lee Younger really embraced his African American identity at the end. He was not always proud of his heritage and identity because he knew that his race was keeping him from achieving his dreams due to the racial prejudice and bias in society. Due to the financial problems the Youngers face, all the members of their family are frustrated and have almost let go all hope of their dreams coming true. Ruth, Walter's wife, dreams of living in a bigger house in which Travis, her son, has his own room. When Lena, Walter's mother, receives a life insurance check in regard to her husband's passing, she uses the money to buy the family a new house. However, the family is worried about moving in because the house is located in Clybourn Park, an all-white neighborhood.
Upon hearing the news of the Younger's move, Mr. Lindner (chairperson of the Welcoming Committee of Clybourn Park) visits the Younger household and tries to convince the Youngers not to move in. He says that "our community is made up of people who've worked hard as the dickens for years to build up that little community", and therefore reasons that the Youngers don't have a right to free-ride off their hard work and "disrupt" their society. This reasoning is known as abstract liberalism. Although the motive behind Mr. Lindner's visit is clear, he emphasizes that his requests have nothing to do with racial prejudice. He offers to buy back the house from the Youngers for a higher price than what Mama paid.
As the play goes on, Walter gets himself into more financial trouble when hastily invests and loses more than of the insurance money. At this point, he has lost all hope and desire in life and has let go of his dreams. He then says that life is divided "between the takers and the tooken". In despair, he thinks that taking Mr. Lindner's offer to buy the house back from the Youngers is the most financially beneficial option. Mama tries to convince Walter not to do so because she feels that by doing this, he is accepting that he is inferior to the whites and he is giving into racial dominance.
He then calls Mr. Lindner and tells him to come to the house to finalize a deal. At this point he is convinced of giving away the house as he isn't sure how the family would afford it. But when Mr. Lindner visits, Walter surprises everyone by refusing to hand over the house and says, "we have decided to move into our house because my father--my father--he earned it for us brick by brick". Here, Walter prevents himself from being the "tooken" and embraces his identity. He refuses to succumb to the racial oppression by holding his ground firm and believing that his family has a right and deserves to live there.
The author of the play, Lorraine Hansberry, has a similar message to Toni Morrison in the novel, "The Song of Solomon". Both Hansberry and Morrison argue that even in times of oppression, people shouldn't change their identity; instead they should search for their identity's place in society. They also portray the fact that identity is something that cannot be change and people should accept themselves for who they are.
Upon hearing the news of the Younger's move, Mr. Lindner (chairperson of the Welcoming Committee of Clybourn Park) visits the Younger household and tries to convince the Youngers not to move in. He says that "our community is made up of people who've worked hard as the dickens for years to build up that little community", and therefore reasons that the Youngers don't have a right to free-ride off their hard work and "disrupt" their society. This reasoning is known as abstract liberalism. Although the motive behind Mr. Lindner's visit is clear, he emphasizes that his requests have nothing to do with racial prejudice. He offers to buy back the house from the Youngers for a higher price than what Mama paid.
As the play goes on, Walter gets himself into more financial trouble when hastily invests and loses more than of the insurance money. At this point, he has lost all hope and desire in life and has let go of his dreams. He then says that life is divided "between the takers and the tooken". In despair, he thinks that taking Mr. Lindner's offer to buy the house back from the Youngers is the most financially beneficial option. Mama tries to convince Walter not to do so because she feels that by doing this, he is accepting that he is inferior to the whites and he is giving into racial dominance.
He then calls Mr. Lindner and tells him to come to the house to finalize a deal. At this point he is convinced of giving away the house as he isn't sure how the family would afford it. But when Mr. Lindner visits, Walter surprises everyone by refusing to hand over the house and says, "we have decided to move into our house because my father--my father--he earned it for us brick by brick". Here, Walter prevents himself from being the "tooken" and embraces his identity. He refuses to succumb to the racial oppression by holding his ground firm and believing that his family has a right and deserves to live there.
The author of the play, Lorraine Hansberry, has a similar message to Toni Morrison in the novel, "The Song of Solomon". Both Hansberry and Morrison argue that even in times of oppression, people shouldn't change their identity; instead they should search for their identity's place in society. They also portray the fact that identity is something that cannot be change and people should accept themselves for who they are.
Honestly both Toni Morrison and Lorraine Hansberry have articulated the desperate nature of people regarding wealth, so well that it is impossible to look at thing the same way (in a way). I never connected the two books and after you brought it up I can't help but see multiple similarities.
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