Social Issues- A Raisin In The Sun

Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” includes many social issues that were very clearly represented by the actions of the characters and the surrounding individuals. This play revolving around Walter Lee Younger, his wife, Ruth, sister, Beneatha, son, Travis, and Mama (Lena Younger), takes place within the time frame between World War II and the present in Southside Chicago. This play manifests the many hardships that this coloured family went through to finally feel a sense of relief and happiness towards the end. In the play, the family is given a spark of hope which is the ten thousand dollar cheque, a huge deal for each member of the family, it is what changes their life for the good. A variety of issues can be seen when it comes to a group of individuals of colour, not only amongst the play, “A Raisin in the Sun,” but in a continuous battle that many still tend to face in our society today. In the play “A Raisin in The Sun,” many discrimination issues can be addressed which include, racist steroetypical judgements, women prejudice, and social inequalities/poverty.

Firstly, a huge issue that may have been the most common one that readers would address, includes the fact that the time frame that the story took place in definitely had a huge amount of segregation and racial discrimination. Stereotypes of different individuals are what allow for hate to be targeted upon a certain type of people. The Youngers, being a family of colour, faced many difficulties when it came to their way of living, they were limited to the areas they could live in, and limited to who would want to interact with them. In the play it is seen that all of the encounters that they have are with people who are of colour, the only exception includes Lindner, who only speaks to them to display his racist remarks and behaviours.

The Youngers are a very bold family who are sick of their idealistic ways of living, they have high hopes and dreams for the future, many of the other black individuals, for example the Johnsons, were concerned with how they were ambitious to challenge the idealistic black ways of living. It is also shown that many hate crimes were taking place against coloured families who moved into typically “white areas.” Regardless of that fact, the Youngers invest in a house that happens to be in a white neighborhood and it is seen that the white are very desperate to not have any person of colour move into their territories. They send Lindner, from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to make a deal in which they offered to pay the Youngers an amount so they refuse to move into that area, this shows the strong hatred that the whites had for the people of colour. In today's society an example of racism can be shown through news and media when displaying the image of a criminal or violator of the law, for a white individual an image from their casual lives are used. When we look at a black criminal we always see mugshots which make them appear more like a violator. The discrimination between blacks and whites are not as subtle as people try to portray, the issue is still very major and appears to be going on every single day.

Another huge social issue spotted amongst this play would be how women were treated like more of an object and less like a human being. An example of this in the play can be seen with George and his behaviour towards Beneatha, “You’re a nice looking girl...drop that garbo routine...I want nice, sophisticated girl… not a poet.” (Act 2 Scene 2) In this quotation it is clearly shown that George wants to be dominant in the relationship and believes that girls are supposed to behave a certain way, a way that the men want. Another example where women are degraded is when Walter Lee tells Beneatha that being a doctor is not a women’s job and that she should stick to being a nurse. “ Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people-- then go be a nurse… or just get married and be quiet.” (Act 1, Scene 1) This shows the idealistic viewpoint that people, specifically men, had about women and the things they should or should not do. If we look at the differences between men and women today having to due with discrimination, we can look more into depth with the gender wage gap. Individuals who have the same profession get paid different amounts of money just because of their gender. Many say that equality is more visible in today’s society, but we still have significant issues that make it seem like men are superior to women.

Lastly, an issue that ties all of these together but relates to the Younger’s overall state of living, is the social inequalities and the place that they have in society. The overall environment that the Youngers habituated in, mainly consisted of individuals of poverty or close to poverty. This made life challenging because obviously the white government wouldn't put in as much to fix up an area that does not have people of their own kind. It is obvious that the Youngers are fed up with their way of living and that is displayed towards the end of the play, nearing the time of the Youngers’ big move. “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!” (Act 2, Scene 2, pg. 93) This quote displays a sense of relief from the misery that it seems the Youngers had been trapped in for many years, comes to show how miserable their way of living had been. This can be related to how many people have a horrendous state of living and their overall condition of living is not something any individual should face. A specific example is the poverty in India, this country has over 23.6% of people below the poverty line, yet the government is not doing anything to help with this fact. If everyone was treated equally and held to an equal priority in the eyes of the government, there wouldn’t have to be such a high number of people living in rough conditions and poverty.

The Youngers face many hardships which include racism as a huge aspect and the racist remarks made by Lindner to show how desperately the whites did not want for the blacks to move into their neighbourhood. Women Inequality was also displayed all throughout the play, mostly towards Beneatha who was a female challenging social norms with her choice of profession. Societal position (poverty) is also a huge issue seen in this play, it is shown that no accommodations are made for the people of coloured skin and when finally moving out of their run down home, the excitement the Youngers have really shows how bad their living conditions were and how badly they desired to escape it. Social issues are still a controversial topic that is keeping our world from improving as a whole and keeps the world from being more successful.