A Raisin in the Sun- Act 1

A Raisin in the Sun

By: Lorraine Hansberry

In a time of dreams and hopes, growth and development, and new found freedoms and opportunities, culture reflects the change of time. Through Act One Scene One of the play, A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry reflects the changes of society in the story of the Younger family. As a result of diction and dialect, characterization develops and a plot about dreams develops.

 “Seem like God didn’t see fit to give black man nothing but dreams... (Hansberry, Page 453)” In thirteen simple words, Hansberry provides valuable clues about the setting and characters of the play. Based upon the literary technique of dialect as used in the phrase, “to give black man nothing but dreams,” the reader can infer that the speaker is a less educated person as the phrase has poor grammatical structure. This thus implies that  the Younger family might be of middle to lower social class. The setting profoundly impacts not only the story plot, but also the individual characters. In the first scene of the play, the reader is introduced to each character and their personal dreams. From Ruth’s dream of a house and stability, to Beneatha’s of becoming a doctor and liberating the oppressed, and even Walter’s of simply living like Mr. Arnold, each character has a dream towards which they are striving. The setting however impacts all of these characters as money becomes an inhibitor and divider within the home. For Ruth, Beneatha, and Walter, the need for money to support the family causes them to work tirelessly in the hopes of someday achieving their dreams. They work to adjust to their lower education and lack of money by remaining hopeful, particularly of the prospect of the $10,000 insurance check that is expected to arrive soon, and working harder.

Dialect and the way one communicates ideas reflects aspects of a person’s character and setting. It provides clues into one’s background, culture, and   personality. Hansberry uses dialect to illustrate the challenges that the characters must overcome such as poverty to prevent the “raisin” from drying “in the sun.”