The Art of Social Criticism Historical Context of a Raisin in the Sun

The Fine art of Social Criticism:

Lorraine Hansberry'due south A Raisin in the Sun

Tabular array OF CONTENTS

Abode

Historical Context

Epigraph

Mama

Walter

Bennie

Ruth

Travis

Bibliography

Notes

Credits

English 217 Homepage

Historical Context

On the surface, A Raisin in the Lord's day is near an African American family's struggle to get out of the ghetto on Chicago'due south Southside. However, Hansberry utilizes numerous themes and complex characters that crave multiple levels of analysis across the master problems that drive the plot. The beauty of the play is that it explores the African American identity, social status, and racial challenges in conjunction with the intricacies of universal human nature. Throughout Hansberry's brief life, she took every chance to exist revolutionary not only in her actions in everyday life but also through her literary works. The fact that she could "tell painful truths to a order unaccustomed to rigorous self-criticism and still receive its praise" is a testimony to her skill both every bit a writer and a student of life [3].

In many ways, Hansberry's early life contributed to the manifestation of her get-go work. Although she was born into middle class comfort on the Southside of Chicago, Hansberry witnessed the injustices plaguing American guild immediate. Despite her family'south material comfort, they were all the same restricted to the black ghettos so Lorraine grew up aslope a number of lower course friends and neighbors who taught her about their harsh reality [4]. Surprisingly, her privilege nonetheless did not insulate her from the struggles and anger of racial minorities and the lower classes. At 1 indicate, her begetter waged a legal battle that reached the Supreme Court, Hansberry v. Lee, that dealt with their right to purchase a home in a previously all-white neighborhood [5]. The boxing was won, only the war was far from over equally Hansberry's family was subjected to vicious physical attacks once they moved in. Although her piece of work is non autobiographical, it is undeniable that hints of her childhood surface throughout her writing and influence her thoughts and behavior.

Raisin was initially relegated to the outdated category because it emerged prior to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. However, this view neglects to acknowledge the insights and warnings regarding the cataclysmic results of ceremonious unrest and inequality inherent in Raisin. Also, prior to the manuscript's completion in 1957, a number of of import events occurred that undoubtedly afflicted Hansberry's writing. Amongst others, the Supreme Courtroom ruled against local covenants that perpetuated segregated neighborhoods in 1949 and adamant in 1954's Dark-brown v. Board of Education that "separate but equal" school segregation is unconstitutional [vi]. In many ways, Hansberry predictable the need and called for minority empowerment against inequality and discrimination. I of her major thematic criticisms was the "gap between the American dream and the Blackness American reality" [7]. The ability to have a dream and the take a chance to fulfill it was and unfortunately still is dissimilar depending upon social status and racial makeup. The Younger family is portrayed in such a proud and honorable lite to emphasize the injustice and to call for policy and societal changes.

Hansberry is largely responsible for redefining the term universality in art. For a long time, the term was monadic in its conception and application. It had been developed and applied to mean whiteness rather than including the diversity of modern-day society. Another contributing factor to the inaccurate conceptualization of the term was that black art connected to separate itself from the mainstream by isolating discussions of social bug from racial issues. Instead, Hansberry sought to concurrently consider "social significance and racial consciousness" [8]. Her attention to details opened the door for white audiences into an agreement of blackness experiences that made those experiences understandable and relevant. In the words of James Baldwin, the play received such acclaim from the African American community because "'never earlier in American theater history has and so much of the truth of black people'due south lives been seen on phase'" [nine]. The inclusion of the black experience inside the framework of the homo experience forced a redefinition that opened the term universality to include the minority voice [10]. This change may oft get unnoted, just is an important illustration of one fashion Hansberry unintentionally changed the mural of society through art. In fact, Hansberry herself believes "'the question is non whether 1 will make a social statement in ane's piece of work - simply but what the statement will say'" [11]. All art makes a argument; some are but more controversial than others.

The brutal reality and irony of the play is that despite the realization of the family's dream to movement to the new house, the paper stories well-nigh black homes existence bombed, the attacks upon blackness families mentioned past Mrs. Johnson, and the crudeness of the new neighborhood's welcoming committee promises that their struggles are far from over. Herein lies the mastery of Hansberry's piece of work. She is able to deal with problems of racism and discrimination while maintaining a thoughtful story about a family unit, race aside, struggling confronting poverty. Although initially underrecognized equally a timeless work, historical context reveals Raisin's significance every bit a lasting literary social criticism.

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Source: http://websites.umich.edu/~eng217/student_projects/araisininthesun/historicalcontext.html

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