Difficulities in the Play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine...

Difficulities in the Play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry In the four years between 1861 and 1865 this country was in civil war over the rights and freedom of blacks in America. When all was said and done, the blacks won their freedom and gained several rights that would make their lives better. Nearly one hundred years later, in 1959, Lorraine Hansberry wrote her great play, A Raisin in the Sun. It described the everyday life of a black family in the Southside of Chicago sometime after World War II. Throughout the play, Hansberry talks of the difficulties that the Younger family faces trying to get from one day to another; the problems that should have been resolved by the Civil War. Even after the Civil War and†¦show more content†¦When Ruth says. ?So you would rather be Mr. Arnold than be his chauffer? (p. 1811), she knows that he is tired of being ?low man on the totem pole? and wants to be able to give his son the luxuries of life. While on the other hand Rut h and Mama work in kitchens and do house work for white families. And finally, Beneatha is going to school to become a doctor, and all she gets from Walter is harassment because she is a black female. At one time he even say, ?Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy bout messing round with sick people -- then go be a nurse like other women? (p. 1813). He himself is discriminating his own sister by stereotyping a woman?s place in society. Although it is illegal, this type of discrimination is still fairly common today . If a person of a minority and a white person both go in for an interview for two positions, it is more likely that the white person will get the better of the two jobs. Just because a company says that they are an, ?equal opportunity? business, does not mean that they always stick to it because there is usually a way to get around most things. Another way that they are discriminated against is prices for the necessary items needed in life. As M argaret B. Wilkerson points out in her introduction to the original screen play, there is a scene where Mama stops to buy fruit at the local market, but is angered by the ?flippant and disrespectful