A Raisin In The Sun

A Raisin in the Sun is not a book, but a script, used for plays, complete with stage directions. First, let me give you a little overlook on the book:

The Younger family is full of dreamers and idealists: Walter, the man who wants it all, Beneatha, the girl who wishes to save lives, though being black stands in her way. Ruth, who minds her own business and wants to leave her pit of a town. Travis, the young and oblivious boy, and Mama, the woman who is wise and refined.

When Big Walter, Mama's husband dies, a sum of ten thousand dollars of insurance was sent to the Younger family. They think this money will do great things, but soon find that the only thing that the money had accomplished was tearing apart a once close-knit family. Will they be separated forever, or will their family sew itself back up? Will they move up the latter from poverty, or will they remain the same? That's for you to find out, if you decide to read it.

Overall, I thought that this book was beautifully written. The story was a tad bit boring, but teaches a great lesson to all its readers about the importance of family, and how being materialistic can change people. It also says to keep chasing your dreams, no matter how much they are deferred by others.

A little insight:

Back in the fifties, when this play was written, people typically did not watch plays that featured black people. Upon being questioned about this, Hansberry replied, "It's just the story of an ordinary family, who just so happened to be African Americans." This statement is true: this story is just about a nineteen fifties family just trying to scrape by on the money they had.

The story was based on and got its title from Langston Hughes' poem Harlem:

What happens to a dream deferred?

"Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore -
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over -
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?"

The end, I felt, was rushed. It had great symbolic meaning, but it just seemed like it was... unfinished. She leaves some things unsaid, and she could have done a slightly better job writing the ending, but that was just a slight setback.

So, if you are looking for a dramatic and both emotionally and culturally rich reading piece, this book/script is the one you want to turn to.

As a slight warning, I would like to say that this book contains some bad language, and most of the time, the characters are not grammatically correct when they speak. If you don't like that kind of thing, this isn't the book for you.