A Raisin in the Sun: Question 5

In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry poses a large generation gap between the members of the Younger family. Mama came from a generation where African Americans had little to no rights. The Civil Rights act had probably not even started. Her and her husband had to work their way up out of nothing. The apartment they bought was a huge feat in through their hardships. Mama doesn't think that Walter and Beneatha appreciate all that was given to them. All that Mr. and Mrs. Younger accomplished was for their children to have better and easier lives than they had had. "In my time we was worried about not being lynched and getting to the North if we could and how to stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity too...Now here you and Beneatha-talking bout things we aint never even thought about hardly, me and your daddy. You aint satisfied or proud of nothing we done" (Hansberry, 475). Mama just doesn't understand the mindset of her children's generation.

Walter and Beneatha, however, grow up in a society where African Americans are beginning to be accepted. Not completely or perfectly, obviously, due to the fact that Clyborne Park didn't want them to be associated with them at all. Though, Beneatha is enrolled at college and is working to become a doctor. This is a dream come true for black women of Mama's generation. Walter wants to go into business. The fact that this is even a thought for him was completely contrary to any dream Mama or Mr.Younger had.