Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun Socratic Seminar Questions 1. “A Raisin in the Sun” depicts life for African Americans around the 1950’s in the south side of Chicago. Throughout the book, the Younger family undergoes a constant struggle of financial hardships and racial prejudice and segregation. The term “Black Belt” often described the African-American community in that time, as the population of African-Americans would be expanding rapidly. The story represents the actual lives of people in that time, and how their race held them back from living their lives they way they want. And in fact, through the 1950’s, ⅓ of the housing became vacant in Chicago because of housing restrictions and segregation. African-Americans in that time struggled to live their lives and pursue their dreams, and this book displayed that well. The characters in “A Raisin in the Sun” each had different goals, specifically Walter Lee Younger had ideas and strategies to make him and his family live better lives. On page 32, Walter expresses how tired he is of living in this “beat-up hole,” and later, on page 34, he realizes a reality about how he and his family are at the bottom of the ladder, “I’m thirty-five years old; I been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in the living room...” and continues, “...all I got to give [Travis] is stories about how rich white people live...” Walter wants better for him and his son, and also Ruth. Ruth feels as if it’s tiring to hear the things Walter keeps talking about, “Honey you never say nothing new.” (page 34) Mama also

recognizes that she has lived in the same old slum for over 36 years, and she wants a new life. Beneatha has a lot of trouble finding her identity, and does not know exactly what she wants to pursue. Walter tried to invest in a liquor store early on in the book, and it did not lead to success. The Youngers received a $10,000 check in the mail, and a great deal of complications came along with it. In reality, blacks had similar

Cited: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/140.html http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1170.html http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam011.html http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/lawsoutside.cgi?state=Illinois http://www.frommers.com/destinations/print-narrative.cfm? destID=6&catID=0006020044 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055353/