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Xiang Chen (Chandler)
Professor Chocos
ENG 101E
1 March 2015
Background Search of A Raisin in the Sun
It is really interested to find out that Hansberry was writing this play A Raisin in the Sun based on her own experience. The Hansberry family lived on the South Side of Chicago. In
1937, the Hansberry family moved to an all-white neighborhood near the University of Chicago.
And then, her family got attack by the hostile residents. When a state judge rules that the Hansberrys had to move, they fight back and won the U.S. Supreme Court Case Hansberry v. Lee .
In 1957, Hansberry finished A Raisin in the Sun. And the show was debuted on Broadway in 1959. Actually Hansberry was the first Africa American playwright who put a drama about Africa American on Broadway. And A Raisin in the Sun made Hansberry the first black playwright and the youngest American to win a New York Critics’ Circle award. While in 1960,
Hansberry wrote two screenplays of A Raisin in the Sun , both of which were rejected by Columbia Pictures; until her third one, least controversial screenplay is accepted.
A Raisin in the Sun predate the civil rights movement, and it represented the wishes of
Africa Americans trying to be integrated into the mainstream culture and also spoke out against inequality and injustice during the 1950s. The playwright, Hansberry became activity involved in the civil rights movement.
The great work always rooted deeply in the special social and historical context. The
United States in the 1950s experienced a remarkable economic growth amongst a post-World

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War II economic boom. Historians use the word “boom” to describe a lot of things about the
1950s: the booming economy, the booming suburbs and the so-called “baby boom.” A Raisin in the Sun is based on the booming suburbs that is also called “Moving To The Suburbs”. After
World War II, developers began to buy land on the outskirts of cities and use mass production techniques to build modest, inexpensive tract houses there. It was often cheaper to buy one of these suburban houses than it was to rent an apartment inside the city. Meanwhile, almost all the new developed suburbs were all-white neighborhood. However, the 1950s were also an era of great conflict. African Americans were fighting against racial discrimination for centuries. During the 1950s, the struggle againsts racism and segregation entered the mainstream of American life.
The poverty of the family may cause intense conflicts due to different outlook of life and viewpoint of value. What impress me most in this play is the personality of Beneatha. She is such a free style girl with confidence and independence, which is unlike a girl who brought up in a poor and colored family. Beneatha and Walter are always at fireworks because they cannot get agreement on the stuff like schooling and marriage. The poverty can also destroy one’s hope and expectation. Ruth Younger, who is a great mother, wife, sister in law and daughter in law. She is a beautiful woman who once had expectation for her life. But poverty and disappointment has made her a “settled women”. However, the poverty also makes the family to seek for the hope in the frustration. Little satisfaction can bring up long lasting joy for poor people. Even fifty cents can cheer Travis up for all day long.

Sources: http://www.biography.com/people/lorraine-hansberry-9327823 http://www.history.com/topics/1950s
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