A Raisin in the Sun

Author: Lorraine Hansberry
Publisher: Vintage; Rep Rei edition (November 29, 2004)
Lexile Measure: Not available
Classification: Fiction

Summary:
A Raisin in the Sun takes place over the course of several weeks in the life of an African-American family, the Youngers.  The Youngers live on Chicago’s south side in the 1950s. The matriarch, Mama, is about to and does receive an insurance check of $10,000 from her deceased husband’s life insurance policy.  Each adult family member has a different idea about how to spend the money.  Mama wants to leave their cramped apartment and buy a house in the suburbs. Her son, Walter Lee, wants to invest the money in a liquor store.  His wife, Ruth (dismayed to discover that she is pregnant), agrees with Mama.  Meanwhile, Mama’s daughter, Beneatha, wants to use the money for medical school tuition.

When the check comes in, Mama entrusts the money to Walter Lee.  He gives it all to a friend to invest, but the friend steals the money.  Despite this setback, the family decides to move to the suburbs (over the protests of the white neighborhood association) taking with them their meager possessions and their hopes for the future. 

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Language:
This work contains little in the way of profanity.

Profanity includes:
d*mn / damned (pp. 34, 85)
h*ll (pp. 38, 56, 83, 84, 143, 149)
for Christ’s sake, oh my God (p. 46)
son of a b*tch (pp. 85, 144)
g*dd*mit (p. 127)
The “N” word (p. 144)
A Raisin in the Sun was written in 1959 when African Americans were still referred to as “colored” or “negro” and those terms are used throughout.

Drug and Alcohol Use:
A Raisin in the Sun contains no references to illegal drug use, although it references drinking.

• Drinking is not glorified, but Walter Lee wants to buy a liquor store and states that people will drink whether he sells it to them or not (see, p. 42).
  
• Walter Lee arrives home drunk and obnoxious (pp. 78-81).  When he is acting strangely in a later scene, his son, Travis, asks him if he is drunk (p. 107).  Walter Lee tells Travis that he is never going to get drunk again.  

Violence and Crime:
This is not a violent work. The existing incidents of violence are as follows:

• Travis chases a rat in the street and watches a man kill it
• Mama slaps Beneatha when she denies the existence of God (see, pp. 50-53)
• Ruth and Walter Lee threaten to spank Travis for misbehaving
• A mention of lynchings.
  

Sexual Content:
A Raisin in the Sun contains little sexual content.

• Walter Lee and Ruth kiss and dance.
• One of Beneatha’s boyfriends tries (unsuccessfully) to kiss her.
  

Other:

• Beneatha questions and then rejects the existence of God.  Mama slaps her and tells her, “Now—you say after me, in my mother’s house there is still God.” Beneatha acquiesces.  See, pp. 50-53.
  
• Walter Lee and Ruth, once a loving couple, acknowledge problems in their marriage several times.  One particular discussion occurs on pp. 87-89. 
  
• On p. 83, Walter Lee uses the derogatory term “faggoty” to refer to Beneatha’s suitor’s white shoes.
  

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Other Helpful Reviews:
This is a classic American work first produced in 1959.  Reviews are, therefore, too numerous to mention, although The New York Times called it “A play that changed American theater forever.”  A good review for parents can be found online at Common Sense Media.