A Raisin in The Sun PDF Free Download : In 1959, Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun pdf made its Broadway debut.
The poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, sometimes known as “A Dream Deferred,” is where the title originates. In the story, a Black family in south Chicago encounters racism, housing discrimination, and assimilation as they try to improve their financial situation with an insurance settlement after the father’s passing.
It was chosen the best play of 1959 by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, and in more recent years, publications like The Independent and Time Out included it on their lists of the greatest plays ever written.
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Living in a dilapidated two-bedroom apartment on Chicago’s South Side are Walter and Ruth Younger, their son Travis, Walter’s mother Lena (Mama), and Walter’s younger sister Beneatha.
As a limo driver, Walter hardly makes a living. While Walter is happy with his situation and longs to become affluent, Ruth is comfortable with their lot.
Together with his street-smart friends Willy and Bobo, he intends to invest in a liquor store.
At the start of the play, Mama (Lena) is anticipating a $10,000 life insurance payout because Walter Lee and Beneatha’s father has passed away.
Walter feels entitled to the money, but Mama forbids alcohol because of her religious beliefs, so Beneatha needs to remind him that it is up to Mama to decide how to use it.
When the time comes, Mama decides to put some of the money into a new home, opting for a white neighborhood over a black one because it is far less expensive.
Later, she changes her mind and offers Walter the remaining $6,500 to invest on the condition that he set aside $3,000 for Beneatha’s college expenses.
Walter gives Willy the entire sum of money, but Willy takes it and runs away, stealing Walter and Beneatha’s dreams but leaving the Youngers with their new house.
Bobo relays the unfortunate financial news. Karl Lindner, a white resident of the area they intend to move to, offers to buy them out in the interim.
To the dismay of the three women, Walter reluctantly prepared to accept this as a solution to their financial hardship in order to avert racial problems in the neighborhood.
Lena advises them not to accept money if it was someone’s way of telling them they weren’t suitable to share the same planet as them, even though money is something they strive to earn.
George Murchison, her well-off and intelligent lover, and Joseph Asagai are two separate guys that could be prospective love interests who have an impact on Beneatha’s personality and course in life.
Neither man is actively involved in the ups and downs of the Youngers’ finances. Beneatha finds George’s “smarter than thou” demeanor repugnant,
and he serves as a parody of the “completely assimilated Black man” who dismissively mocks Walter’s predicament.
Beneatha is gently taught about her African background by Joseph, a Yoruba student from Nigeria,
who also points out how unconsciously she is adapting to white traditions while giving her thoughtful gifts from Africa.
For instance, he refers to her straightening her hair as “mutilation.”
Beneatha is reprimanded by Joseph for her consumerism when she grows upset over the lost money.
She eventually agrees to consider his marriage proposal and his invitation to relocate to Nigeria with him so that she might practice medicine,
as well as his belief that things will get better with effort.
Walter is unaware of the great contrast between George and Joseph: in order to achieve prosperity, he must rise above Joseph’s culture,
which he blames for his poverty, and get to George’s level, where he sees his redemption.
By deciding against accepting the buyout offer and saying that the family is proud of who they are and would make an effort to be nice neighbors,
Walter saves face and restores Black pride in the end. The family departs for their new house and uncertain future as the play comes to a close.
Due to time concerns, the Broadway production and reproductions left out Mrs. Johnson and a few other scenes.
At the start of the play, Mrs. Johnson is the nosy and obnoxious neighbor of the Younger family.
She quips cynically that she will probably learn in the media in a month that the family has been killed in a bombing since she cannot fathom how they could consider moving to a white area.
Her lines are used for comic relief, but Hansberry also makes fun of people who are too afraid to defend their rights in this scenario.
Robert B. Nemiroff states in the preface that the scenario is printed because it shifts focus from a story with a seemingly pleasant conclusion to one with a more harsh reality that was influenced by Hansberry’s personal experiences.