In the critical article ‘Somewhat Like War’: The Aesthetics of Segregation, Black Liberation, and A Raisin in the Sun by Michelle Gordon is a literary dissection that deals directly with the play A Raisin in the Sun. This analysis begins in discussing the first issue at hand when the family witnesses a mob arrival to their home in 1937, to convince the Hansberry’s of Chicago and stress the fact that they need to abandon their new home. The Hansberry’s being as combative as they are instead choosing to chase their neighbors to leave them alone with a shotgun.
This is where the improvement association went on to seek an injunction against the Hansberry’s for this action. Later it was discovered that on the grounds that the family was staying on, blacks legally could not occupy any residence in any neighborhood covered by a ‘race restrictive covenant.’ They have an immediate want to combat legal segregation in the North, and to open up housing around Chicago’s Black Belt area, so the Hansberry’s and local NAACP attorneys took their case before the US Supreme Court in a race against discrimination. The decision came in 1940 on the Hansberry v. Lee, where the Supreme Court ruled in Carl Hansberry’s favor on a technicality, but it wouldn’t be until 1948, where Shelley v. Kramer, later declared this law unconstitutional.
In Gordon’s essay it is made very clear that there is a racial issue early on and some of the strategic underlying points that the audience may have missed on first read or sighting are broken down in this critique. The play was strategic in creating a diverse and very real feeling for the plague of poverty in the African American culture during these times, where segregation was still very alive.
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This was one of Lorraine’s first play, A Raisin in the Sun (1959), in this essay they discuss how it directly shows some of the segregation struggles in Chicago as they symbolize black oppression and resistance in that era. This play brought local, and individual struggles of African Americans to the forefront in the middle of the Cold War. Hansberry shows an expression in this writing that desegregation is not the right answer to segregation, but it is a necessary step toward a universal condition of mankind for all to live and have equal rights. This play is candidly about black revolution and the need for reform in an era that was highly resistant to the changing times.
The author commonly talks about her opinions on the fact that the play is filled with many symbolic meanings that constantly takes it from a play about a single family, to a play about the struggles of an entire race, just by watching this families overall household structure. I take one of Gordon’s main points to be, analyzing this play to as it is centered around the play on the surface, but later makes it about an African American family and their common conflicts of that era and how it can still correspond to today. During this analysis Gordon makes it clear that there are many aspects of the play that are symbolic for the dreams of African Americans of the era which was portrayed by the various characters included in the play, though they are not heavily discussed. I have read the play in full on many occasions for myself and feel it is imperative to get acquainted with the characters and their roles to properly understand the message behind them.
This play does more than scratch the surface of the struggles that they faced, and even the methods with which they used to fight the world’s injustices individually and as a family. This play we all know was written in the era of an age which constantly transformed the most powerful country in the world, the United States. In this play there is that beauty of symbols, and in this is the meanings that change each time it is being described. Many know that for these symbols this play will continuously be taught and re-examined for the foreseeable future because of its entire relatability.
In the play “A Raisin in the Sun”, the ironic thing about the play is the fact that there are so many dreamers in the play. In Gordon’s analysis Jacobus is discussed, around the basis that numerous critics have measured the play’s ‘universality’ against its racial or cultural stance on what is going on. She went on to further discuss that “Robin Bernstein describes as an illusory paradox that ultimately divorces the particulars of black life from the realm of ‘universal’- or human- experience.” This was so important because it once again talks about those small symbols that enable us to understand fully the bigger objective and picture throughout the play.
During all of this in the play it continues to shed light on a great deal, leaving the audience to discover characteristics about the characters, their possessions which is minimal, and how the play applies to the conflict of the era of this time. I think it is highly important to not leave out the characteristics of some of them to properly understand the play and to be able to properly critique the play. Many of the characters hold a strong symbolic meaning, but Walter Lee Younger was probably one of the most significant.
In the play he seems to be the symbol of hope and ambition, dreams and desires, passion and fury while others aren’t seen as pertinent throughout the play. He takes himself serious and often you can witness that he applies a lot towards his own success and the well-being of the family. For example, when Walter declares the symbolic motive is accounted for, he portrays himself as a warrior for a whole race, combating injustice with hope and dreams, something that wasn’t all that common during this time. Another important character in the play is Travis he seems to represent someone who is prominent. You can see strength behind his persona in the future hopes he hold for the Younger family. If one takes into consideration the previous point about Walter, Travis is even more than the next generation of the family. It is easy to take the meaning one step further and say that Travis represents the future of the entire African American race.
For anyone that has read the play we are able to understand that the eggs for Walter may appear as just one more thing in the play that isn’t important, and it is something that Walter does not get his way with, but the symbolic meaning of the eggs are far more than what’s painted on the surface. The eggs represent his hope, dreams, and ambitions further confirming that it symbolizes Walter’s children, and the fact that he always wants the best for Travis, who he feels is young and fragile like the egg is symbolic. Lastly, another diverse character that was dominating in dialogue was Mama, she is most definitely the quintessential African American lady of that era and that time.
In the play she is a stock character of steady faith and loyalty that expresses her character as a great strength that we often seen back in that era from African American women. More importantly she can be described as the keeper of the plant for herself and for her family which is symbolic. In the play the plant is a symbol for the dreams of the Younger family, but also for all black people in the country knowing the era of time and their struggles that they were constantly fighting through. Mama was the characterization of faith, and the keeper of those dreams that her family had possessed though most of these points aren’t discussed in my analyzed article. It is important to understand the characters because in that we are able to understand what the play is even talking about, when I analyze how the check and the house are other tools of symbolization for the family and some of their demise. In a way the check represents hope for the family, but it is a false hope because it nearly tears the family apart.
Gordon references the point that Hansberry employs an aesthetics of segregation to foment social change, during this even beyond the play she exposes the oppressors, as well as “the effects of their oppression, systems, and tools.” Gordon uses many examples throughout the critique that are factual as well and happened before this actual issue that was brought up in court, even referencing the Emmitt Till case. This reform work for Hansberry did not halt at the creation of this play, there were many follow ups that Gordon referenced to bring further attention to the fight against oppression for these families in and outside of the play.
The significance of the ending was also symbolic in the way that the family begins to fall apart at the loss of the money. Walter is left full of guilt, shame and the feeling of irresponsibility. He is most upset about what he feels will disappoint Mama and her stance on the whole thing. Even here is where Benethea gets involved and feels that Walter is no brother of hers and she ridicules him for his mistakes. Soon in the play we realize that Mama isn’t necessarily upset because of the money being gone but more so feels there is a lesson in everything for everyone.
Down the line, we see Walter gives up some of those pipe dreams and we are able to witness him reaffirm his dedication to the Younger family and his responsibilities to them as a man making it a good ending for such a critical play. In the end of the play you notice that it was all about the option to improve alternatives for the human race. The critique doesn’t much discuss the original ending in context but talks about how at the end of the play Walter Lee rejects the offer by Clybourne Park Improvement Association showing a bigger race against war for this era and their family.
In this criticism essay it was apparent that Gordon discussed the play in its entirety but felt as if the play displayed a structure of a storyline which most significantly depended on being expressed in the characters and how they displayed their dreams and oppositions, while racing against war and discrimination. Gordon was excellent in analyzing these issues and how they relate to the play, in the article I am able to see that her research fits around the constructs of local literary histories of black Chicago’s South and West Sides. She uses her analysis to trace “the relationships between the two cultural movements, as well as their grassroots connections to local, national, and transnational freedom struggles”.
In my opinion, this essay not only went through the play and accurately processed the symbolization, characters and settings it also expressed the narrowness of this time and showed a family that was not afraid of fighting back. Gordon uses this platform to discuss a play that is centered around segregation and early on from the title you are able to understand her opinion of it being based around “Something Like War”. This critique exposes a reader to some points in the play that we often would have probably overlooked or under sighted on the first attempt of reading the play.
Reading this essay in correspondence with watching or reading the play would help an audience to further understand the points behind each scene and characters enabling us to gather a better understanding of this critical play. Overall, Gordon article helps me as a reader to have a reference point for understanding others views and critiques on the play as well as understanding symbolization in this play during this era.
References
- Hansberry v. Lee – Encyclopedia.com article on the legal case
- Shelley v. Kramer – Encyclopedia.com article on the legal case
- A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry – Goodreads page for the play
- The Power of ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ on Stage in Chicago – Article from The Atlantic discussing the impact of the play
- New Family Resilience Center Named After Acclaimed Playwright Lorraine Hansberry – Article about a center named after Lorraine Hansberry
