Raisin in the Sun Beneatha Is Ahead

Raisin in the Sun

Beneatha is ahead of her time in a Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Beneatha is the daughter of Lena Younger and younger sister of Walter Lee who is married to Ruth. Walter Lee and Ruth have a ten-year-old son Travis, who gets his way often being the only grandson. Beneatha is a college student who desires to attend medical school. Though this is a poor African-American family that has just lost the breadwinner, Beneatha and Walter Lee's father, Walter Sr. who has died and left the family $10,000 in insurance money. Beneatha is in need of money to attend medical school while her brother wishes to invest the money in a liquor store. Their mother, Lena desires to buy the family a home in a middle class neighborhood where all the residents are Caucasian (White). Beneatha clearly will be the first to attend college in the family and surrounds herself with educated friends. She does not share her mother's religious beliefs, and openly shares her disdain. Beneatha would fit well into the 20th (1960-1999) century thinking of most women that feel education is the key to earning respect and asserting independence. She is dating a couple of students, one who is wealthy and another (Joseph Asagi), who is quite intellectual and of African descent. Clearly Beneatha appears liberated and has broken away from the traditional position of women in the 1950s who often worked in the homes of wealthy White families.

Act 1 Scene 1

The scene opens with the family discusses what to do with the insurance money from the death of the father of Beneatha and Walter Lee. They live in an apartment on the south side of Chicago in what is considered the ghetto. Each member of the family has plans for the money and while Walter Lee wants to invest in a liquor store with a couple of friends, Lena clearly is against this because it goes against her religious beliefs. She tells Walter Lee, "I don't want that on my ledger," referring to his idea as an affront to God (Hansberry, 42). Walter works as a chauffer and believes the plan will work as liquor in a poor neighborhood is something that will bring an easy profit. Ruth, Walter's wife works as a cleaning woman and appears ill, though no one notices except perhaps Lena. Ruth is not in agreement with her husband and feels it is just a get rich quick scheme on his part. In fact the family calls Walter's idea a "fly by night proposition" (Hanberry, 33). Lena appears to favor her daughter Beneatha over Walter and wants to give her some money for college. Even though Lena is willing to support Beneatha, the daughter disrespects her mother by declaring she doesn't believe in God. This hurts the mother and she slaps her daughter. Though Beneatha obviously considers herself better educated than the other members of the family, the mother still is determined to give Beneatha some of the money. However, she does not even consider her son Walter's idea. Lena also called mama shares her plan to use part of the money to get a house in a better neighborhood, which the family feels unsure about. Money is at the forefront of everyone's thoughts in this scene. Some of the money is to be put away for Beneatha, while Walter Lee is not given any to invest in his dream. This is typical of 20rh century African-American families that are willing to support the members in getting a higher education. While those that are not pursuing a higher education are often overlooked or treated as black sheep in the family. This is the case with Walter Lee who is all but ignored by the women in the Younger household.

As everyone argues their point on how to use the money, Ruth passes out on the floor a the end of the scene.

Act 1 Scene 2

Beneatha does support her mother by obeying the household rules of doing housework. However she is patronizing in how she treats her mother, when she is expecting her African friend Asagi to come over, she schools her mother in African culture so that she won't be embarrassed. The couple do care deeply for each other, however Beneatha is not as involved in the relationship as her suitor, Asagi. He does not truly accept her attitude and says "liberated women are not liberated at all" (Hansberry, 64). Asagi is very proud of his heritage and teases Beneatha for straightening her curly hair for a more European look. He brings Beneatha a gift of authentic Nigerian clothing. Beneatha is pleased with the gift and very interested in learning more about African history. She said "Mr. Asagi, I am looking for my identity," when they first met (Hansberry, 62). Asagi comes from Nigeria and is attending college, he is articulate and shares insight about the royal lineage of African tribal history. Having lived on two continents, he is experienced in Western culture as well as his own roots in Africa. He expects Beneatha to agree to his values which place the man as the head of the relationship and the woman to willingly follow his direction.

Beneatha is the first to attend college in the family and is a typical 20th century woman. African-American women of the 1950s typically did not attend college. They primarily worked to help their parents raise the siblings and then got jobs to help support the household. When they dated their suitors were expected to meet the father and get his approval to court. Beneatha is casually dating a couple of students which is not the norm in the 1950s. This was a time when African-American family members often lived and worked toward meeting the household needs together. However in the case of this story Beneatha is only concerned about her future. This is definitely something she has in common with the young college women of the 1980s and 1990s. Ruth says to Beneatha that she is 'fresh as salt" (Hansberry, 46). Referring to a quote in the bible. Beneatha then quotes Matthew 5:13 to show off her knowledge, yet she has no religious attachment. These remarks make it clear that the other family members consider Beneatha more worldly and knowledgeable than themselves. Many women that left home for college never return home to their families, having chosen instead to live in the town where they attend school or move away after finding employment. Many African-American young women are estranged from their mothers, never bridging the generation gap that led them away from family values of their parents. There is also an intellectual gap due to the education disparities. As Beneatha tries to teach her mother about African politics by saying Africans "need more salvation from the British and the French," rather than missionaries in the church (Hansberry, 64). It appears that the values the mothers were raised with were not passed to the daughters. Values such as working to support the family, learning their values from their religion, and even having a goal of getting married and raising a family. The fact that Beneatha has pulled away from these values puts her in an entirely different generation.