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A Raisin In The Sun Character Analysis

Decent Essays

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, depicts the lives of the Younger family, an African American family living in the Southside of Chicago during the 1950s. The play takes place in their cramped apartment offering the reader insight into the arguments, discussions, and conversations that take place between the characters. In one scene, Hansberry specifically offers the reader a conversation between Asagai, an influential companion, and Beneatha to show us how disparate the Younger siblings, Beneatha and Walter, are. As Asagai looks at Beneatha, he sees “what the New World has finally wrought.” Similarly, Beneatha takes a look at Walter and says, “Yes, just look at what the New World hath finally wrought” with an enraged tone. Hansberry uses this scene to introduce the idea of how the world has contrastingly shaped people, specifically Beneatha and Walter.
Firstly, Beneatha, the youngest female in the family, is shown to be shaped positively by the world. Beneatha is introduced as an ambitious African American woman who wants nothing more than to be a doctor. Her ambition originates when Beneatha is a young girl and her friend, Rufus, suffers a terrible accident that leaves his face severely damaged. She believes “that was the end of Rufus” (3.1.132), but somehow he comes back only with a line of stitches running down his face. She passionately explains to Asagai,
That was what one person could do for another, fix him up – sew up the problem, make him all

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