A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry (1959)
“A Black family in 1950s Chicago fights over a $10,000 insurance check — and every argument is really about whether Black Americans are allowed to dream.”
Short Summary
The Younger family of Chicago's South Side receives a $10,000 life insurance check after the death of Walter Lee Sr. Walter Lee Jr. wants to invest in a liquor store, his mother Lena wants to buy a house, and his sister Beneatha wants medical school tuition. Lena buys a house in the all-white Clybourne Park neighborhood. A white homeowners' association representative named Karl Lindner offers to buy the family out before they move in. Walter Lee, who has been swindled out of his share of the money, is tempted to accept — but in the play's climactic moment, refuses. The family moves.
Detailed Summary
The Younger family lives in a cramped, roach-infested Chicago South Side apartment: Walter Lee, a chauffeur in his thirties; his wife Ruth; their son Travis; Walter's sister Beneatha, a college student with medical ambitions; and their mother Lena, called Mama, the family's moral anchor. The check ...