Beneatha’s Identity & Walter’s Dreams in Raisin in the Sun
Summary of the Scene
Later on the same Saturday, Beneatha emerges from her room cloaked in the Nigerian clothes that Asagai has brought her. Ruth finds Beneatha’s pageantry silly and questions her about it. Meanwhile, Walter returns home drunk. He sees Beneatha dressed up and acts out some made-up tribal rituals with her, at one point standing on a table and pronouncing himself “Flaming Spear.” Ruth looks on wearily.
Beneatha removes her headdress to reveal that she has cut off most of her hair, leaving only an unstraightened afro. Beneatha goes to change for the theater, and Walter talks to George Murchison about business plans. George does not seem interested. Walter then becomes belligerent as he makes fun of George’s white shoes. Embarrassed, Ruth explains that the white shoes are part of the “college style.”
George and Beneatha finally leave. Ruth and Walter then begin to fight about Walter going out, spending money, and interacting with people like Willy Harris. They do begin to make up, though, by acknowledging that a great distance has grown between them.
Mama returns and announces she has bought a house. They all become worried when they hear that the house is in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighborhood. Mama asks for their understanding—it was the only house that they could afford. Walter makes Mama feel guilty, saying that she has crushed his dream. He goes quickly to his bedroom, and Mama remains sitting and worrying.
Analysis of Themes and Characters
Beneatha’s exploration of her African heritage and her entrance with her afro and Nigerian garb were perhaps the first such appearance on an American stage. Since the audience for this play’s initial run was mostly white, such a representation was extremely revolutionary.
In addition, Beneatha’s conflict with George and the rest of her family represents a larger battle within the Black community over whether to:
- Enhance and celebrate their differences from whites
- Join white culture and try to elevate their status within it
The overall tone of this scene seems to be anti-assimilationist—that is, the scene seems to value Beneatha’s expression of her cultural roots. This scene separates George and Asagai into completely different categories:
- George, as his common name suggests, represents a Black person assimilating into the white world.
- Asagai, with his ethnically rich name, stands for the New Africanist culture that those who oppose assimilation pursue.
As Beneatha dances in a robe that Asagai gives her, George deems her interest in her African roots absurd. His comments put him further at odds with Beneatha, and she begins to feel more of an affinity with Asagai and her African roots than with George and what she considers to be his false roots in American society.
Ruth and Walter’s conversation reveals that they do have love left in their marriage and that they have both been oppressed by their circumstances. Yet, often, circumstances are so difficult for them that they cannot even acknowledge this love. They continue to fight, as they put their own concerns before each other’s and before their marriage.
At the time, only white families populated suburban television programs and magazine advertisements. Therefore, Hansberry performs a radical act in claiming the general American dream for African Americans. Ruth and Walter’s concern about moving into a predominantly white neighborhood reflects the great tension that existed between races—even in the Northern states. This tension is later personified by Mr. Lindner, who reveals that the white people of Clybourne Park are just as wary of the Youngers as the Youngers are of white people.