1. A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry


I find Beneatha interesting. She's a feminist, and maybe that's what I like about her. But also, another thing that makes me like her is her sense of thinking at a different degree than her family, specifically Mama and Ruth. Mama and Ruth find it absurd that Beneatha has such a desire to "experiment with different forms of expression" (Hansberry, 454). Her desire to make something of herself also intrigues me. She, as a young black woman in the years after World War II, wants to be a doctor. Such ambition! The only problem seems to be that her intentions for her father's money wold be to pay for her medical school. Being such an individualist comes with costs for her family members. Ruth and Mama want to buy a new house for the family. Walter wants to start a business to help out the family- and Beneatha just longs to make something of herself. I understand, of course, and I personally would probably have the same mindset, but at the same time I think the money left by her father should go to the whole family (which doesn't seem to be something she is very concerned about).