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“The Woman Warrior” is an autobiography written by Maxine Hong Kingston. This novel explores the depths of the imagination through storytelling and the creation of new stories. Kingston attempts to make sense of the stories that her mother tells her, the first of which being that she has a deceased aunt that she never knew. This news would naturally be a shock to anyone, and Kingston’s way of dealing with this confusion is to use her imagination to create a story about what she thinks her aunt’s life may have been like. Due to the fact that her aunt became pregnant by a man that wasn’t her husband, she became dead to the family. Kingston never meeting her aunt greatly impacts the validity of the story, and we wonder who is in her life when she recounts the story. This caused Kingston to come to her own conclusions about her aunt since she couldn’t talk to anyone else about her. Kingston creates the story and image in her mind that her aunt gave birth in a pigsty. The validity of this story is highly in question and could have easily been made up, however it is up to the reader to decide how much he/she believes is a figment of her imagination and how much is real, if any. 

Kingston’s mother opening up the story with “You must not tell anyone…” (1) is a very dramatic opening and makes for a mysterious and ominous beginning. Since Kingston has to keep what her mother reveals to her about her aunt bottled up, she becomes very curious. She imagines her aunt’s ghost walking around. This leads back to the cover of the novel, stating that the story is “memoirs of a girlhood among ghosts”. This evokes a sense of a presence/presences looming, as if Kingston feels as though she has been surrounded by ghosts her whole life. Maybe her mother revealing to her that she had an aunt that she was never aware of is freeing to her and her way of being curious is to use her imagination. This creates a focus on the imagination and that we can shape a story into whatever we want it to be. 

Kingston’s imagination tends to run on the wild side. She presents us with dark images and forces us to think about many upsetting topics. This makes the reader wonder how the obstacles that she has had to face in her life being Chinese-American has impacted her mental state. She may assume that her aunt’s life was miserable due to what her mother told her, however, a child tends to make light of a dark situation, and Kingston does not do so.

An interesting literary device that presents itself in “The Woman Warrior” is irony. The irony that can be noted in this story is that although the first words that Kingston’s mother says are “You must not tell anyone…” (1), Kingston continues to recount the events of what she believes her aunt went through. Kingston speculates and makes up stories about her aunt and imagines what her life would have been like. This is an interesting aspect of the story and allows us to wonder what made Kingston so curious. We can also notice 

Kingston wondering whether she is creating these stories to honor her aunts memory or to fulfill her own needs. Since we receive no background about Kingston, it is hard to make a conclusion about why she is so speculative throughout the story.

Discussion Questions:

1. What makes Kingston so inquisitive about her families’ past?
2. What does the cover “memoirs of a girlhood among ghosts” reveal about Kingston?

Sara Weber

Throughout the play, A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha and Mama are revealed as fierce, intelligent, and strong-willed women. They are both women that push against the stereotypical women’s role during the 1950s. They are powerful however, their power is generated from different sources. Mama’s power is created from her maternal and conservative personality whereas, Beneatha’s power is created from her independence, passion for life, and desire to fulfill her dreams.

In Act 3, Beneatha states “that was what one person could do for another, fix him up – sew up the problem, make him all right again. That was the most marvelous thing in the world…I wanted to do that. I always thought it was the one concrete thing in the world that a human being could do. Fix up the sick, you know – and make them whole again. This was truly being God…I wanted to cure. It used to be so important to me. I wanted to cure. It used to matter. I used to care. I mean about people and how their bodies hurt” (113).

In this scene, Beneatha explains her reasoning being why she wants to become a doctor. She wants to give people medical attention which is one of the most genuine acts a human could ever desire. Majority of the time, especially in the 1950s, being a doctor was a male dominated profession. Beneatha does not allow this boundary to prevent her from fighting for what she dreams of. She uses her strong-willed and determination to prove to her family that she needs the insurance check to fulfill her dreams.

Beneatha’s mother, Mama, supports her in this dream and wishes she could help her daughter. However, Mama also has dreams of her own. She wants to use the insurance money to buy a bigger home to support her family. The home that the Youngers currently live in is way too small for their family, extremely old and run down, and has no room for Travis to play. Though Beneatha is going to school full time, Mama works full time to support four other people who also live in the house. Their home is way too small for a family of five but their home is built on “care and love and even hope.” (23) You can clearly see the hope that Mama has for the family but the conflict within the home is obvious.

During Act 3, Mama states “Lord, ever since I was a little girl, I always remembers people saying, “Lena – Lena Eggleston, you aims too high all the time. You needs to slow down and see life a little more like it is. Just slow down some.” That’s what they always used to say down home – “Lord, that Lena Eggleston is a high-minded thing. She’ll get her due one day” (139).

In this moment, Mama is blaming herself for dreaming too big. She believes that her dream of buying a bigger home is not the right way the insurance money should be spent. Mama and Beneatha have different opinions on how the insurance money should be spent. As mother and daughter, they tend to butt heads about many different topics including the insurance money, religion, and Beneatha’s free-spirit. Mama believes as long as Beneatha lives under her roof, Beneatha should be having respect for God and the morals that Mama has placed in the family household. However, Beneatha believes that she should not have to filter what she is thinking and her views.

Beneatha- “Why? Why can’t I say what I want around here, like everyone else?”

Mama- “It don’t sound nice for a young girl to say things like that- you wasn’t brought up that ​way…” (51).

Today, the feminist moment is more prevalent than it has ever been. Women have decided to take back their freedom of speech and be able to say what they want regardless of the reaction from men. As the #metoo movement has come to light, women have begun to support other women more and more instead of putting each other down. As of today, women have taken over the job force in the medical field with 78% of women working in the medical field.

Discussion Questions-

How have Beneatha and Mama helped you to see a different side of feminism?

Did you notice any parts in the play or movie where Beneath or Mama may have contradicted their feminist views?

Thanks!- Treasa

Our class conversations always steer towards the relationship between Mama, Walter, and Beneatha, and because perspective is key, analyzing Ruth’s character will most certainly shed some new light on the personality of each of her family members. Ruth offers an interesting perspective of Walter, Mama, and Beneatha because she has married into the family, and was not raised by Mama and Big Walter. Ruth’s outsider opinions and actions towards each member for the family are different because of the unique relationships she has with each of the characters. 

Starting with the matriarch of the family, the first scene of Mama and Ruth together really highlights some tensions in their relationship. Like when we meet all people for the first time, we make first impressions; our first impression of Ruth was a weary wife and mother that had little to hope for. Our first impression of Mama is a strong substantial woman who has defiantly stood the test of time. With this perspective of Ruth and Mama, it clearly puts Mama higher in the pecking order than Ruth, and it is even more evident in scene I; “Ruth: (Angrily) I feed My son Lena! Mama: I ain’t meddling…” (38) Mama continues to alienate Ruth for a few more lines after this one; she judges Ruth for the way she cares for her son and husband throughout out the play. What this scene shows about Mama, from Ruth’s perspective, is that she can be overbearing and righteous at times. Ruth is the only one who can give this unique perspective because Beneatha and Walter haven’t been undermined by Mama in the way Ruth has. Mama approaches Ruth differently than Walter and Beneatha. Mama sees their relationship as a mentorship, and becomes offended when Ruth doesn’t follow in her footsteps. This comes to a climax when Mama is telling her to keep her child. When Ruth subtly admits that she does not want to keep the child, Mama disregards it hastily with confidence that Ruth will eventually come around. When Ruth admits to Walter that she put down a deposit and intends to get rid of the baby, Mama doesn’t even look at Ruth; she, in a way, attempts to show Ruth how good of a Mother she is by just letting Walter put his own foot down. When that doesn’t happen and he walks out the door we see Mama’s character crack a little bit; we see how she realizes she may have not done such a good job at raising her children after all. Mama is a very complex character and her relationship with Ruth is imperative to see all of the important aspects of her personality.

Ruth’s relationship with, and opinions of Walter and Beneatha also prove to be fruitful. At so many points during the play, when Beneatha has done something silly or obtrusive, she commentates of the rudeness or fault of her actions in a way Mama wouldn’t. When Beneatha finds out Ruth is pregnant, Beneatha’s; reaction is less than polite; “Beneatha: Did you plan it, Ruth? Ruth: Mind your own business. Beneatha: It is my business- where is he going to live, on the roof?” (56). This reveals that Beneatha is quite self-absorbed at times, and despite her education, blind to everyone’s feelings and opinions. When Mama or Walter interact with Beneatha it doesn’t stand out as much because they are a family, and families fight and say things they don’t mean all the time. When it comes to Walter, Ruth’s relationship with Walter almost reveals more about Mama and Big Walter than Walter himself. The way that Walter treats Ruth at times reflects badly on Mama and Big Walter for raising him to be this way. What Ruth reveals about Walters character is his inability think more of others than himself; When Walter finds out that Ruth is having a baby and intends to get rid of it, it takes him days to come around and be there for Ruth because he is too wrapped up in his own life to consider that his problems might not be as important as someone else’s. The stages Walter is at in Growing up is also clearly measured within his marriage to Ruth. Ruth can only offer this perspective because the majority of way Mama treated Walter throughout the play only allowed him to act like a child; and as a result, the way he treated Ruth became a marker for the ways in which he had grown at every stage of the play.

Ruth is arguably the character with the most incite in the play as to who each of the characters are. Looking through her perspective at each of the characters will reveal more aspects of their personalities than we would find by just analyzing each characters’ own visions of themselves.

1. What other personality traits do you think Ruth brings out in each of the characters?
2. What about Ruth’s Personality brings out these unique personality traits in the other characters?
3. How would you describe Ruth’s character through the eyes of Mama, Beneatha, Travis, or Beneatha? (chose one)

Blog post by Adriana Murphy

A reoccurring pattern we see within Hansberry’s play, “A Raisin in the Sun” is her use of symbolism. While there are multiple occasions symbolism is present, such as with Mama’s plant, the insurance check, specifically, is used to represent the Younger family’s’ dreams and aspirations for the future. To a family that’s never had money like this before, the check gives them a sense of hope and every member has a different idea of what the money should be spent on. As a result of all these varying opinions a certain amount of tension is formed within the family, specifically between Walter and Mama. Up until this point Mama has been made out to be someone who believes in the importance of dreams, shown by her supportiveness in Beneatha’s goal of becoming a doctor. However, all throughout Act 1 she refuses to give Walter the time of day or entertain his idea of using the money to open a liquor store. This has an extremely negative impact on Walter and Mama’s relationship, as we see in both the literature and the film. This makes for a very unexpected but also heartwarming scene when Mama decides to give Walter the money to pursue his dream.

In the first half of the play, Walter and Mama have a very complicated relationship due to the difference in perspectives. The play makes Walter seem somewhat selfish and like he isn’t thinking of what’s really best for his family. However, the film gives more of an insight into Walter’s life when he isn’t in the family’s apartment. You see him at his job that he can’t stand, and you see him at the bar trying to come up with a way to convince his family that this liquor store would be a great investment for them in the long run. Walter truly believes that this is the way to get his family out of their current situation, and he’ll do anything to convince them of that. When Mama initially turns down the idea when the check comes, Walter is outraged. “Well, you tell that to my boy tonight when you put him to sleep on the living room couch…Yeah- and tell it to my wife, Mama, tomorrow when she has to go out of here to look after somebody else’s kids…” (71). This passage shows that Walter’s intentions are good, and he has his family in mind when thinking about using the money to open the liquor store. As a reader, you start to feel a sense of sympathy for Walter because he’s trying to save his family the best way he knows how, but can’t get anyone to listen to him.

One of, if not the best scene between Mama and Walter is when she decides to give him the money to open his store. The scene is played out a little differently in the film than it is in the play, but it has the same affect, nonetheless. In both versions, Mama and Walter have a heart-to-heart and Mama explains what was going through her mind when deciding what to do with the check. She makes Walter realize that she did what she thought was best for her family, but she now wanted to do whatever she could to support her son’s dream. “The rest you put in a checking account- with your name on it…It ain’t much, but it’s all I got in the world and I’m putting it in your hands. I’m telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be” (107). This passage gives the implication that maybe Mama was planning on helping her son out all along, and just wanted to see how much money she had left after the house was purchased. Mama and Walter are both very strong characters, so even though sometimes they may not always see eye-to-eye, they always support each other.

Walter and Mama have an immensely complicated relationship throughout the story, but from the later scenes in the play you can see that both of them really just want what’s best for their family.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you think Mama had planned to help Walter out with the store all along and just wanted to make sure her plans for a house were taken care of first? If not, what do you think brought about the change of heart?
2. Did watching the film change your views on Walter?

“A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry is a popular play that has been adapted for both the Broadway stage and the movie screen. In Act II Scene 2, Walter is upset because Mama bought a house with the insurance check from his father’s death. Mama then reveals to Walter that she still has money left over after buying the house. She tells Walter she wants him to put money into the bank for Beneatha’s education, but she also wants him to open a savings account and put the money away for himself and his business. This is a very touching moment between Mama and Walter because for awhile, they have been clashing because of the difference of opinion of what the check should be used for. Though this part is an emotional moment between Walter and Mama, the movie and the book convey it differently, and makes the audience feel a different way. 

In the play, the interaction between Mama and Walter happens in their home. Walter has been having a rough couple of days because he feels like his dreams of becoming a successful businessman have been crushed due to Mama using the money for a new home. However, Mama talks with Walter in the house and gives him the news about what she wants to do with the check. After she tells him the important news, Mama leaves the room and Walter begins to celebrate. Travis, his son, thinks he is drunk, he states “Daddy ain’t going to never be drunk again…” (107). Walter is so happy and filled with joy, that all he wants to do is talk with his son. He begins to tell his son about how they are going to live a rich and fancy life, with a big house and nice cars, and their lives are going to be completely different from where they are at now. “You just name it son…and I hand you the world!” (109).  This moment in the story is something that feels emotional to the reader because you can sense a feeling of relief and accomplishment that comes over Walter. This is something he has wanted for so long, now that he has this money available to him he feels like he is one step closer to getting the life he has always wanted to live. 

The 1961 film adaptation of “A Raisin in the Sun” portrays this scene a little differently. After Mama finds out that Walter has not shown up at his job for the past three days, she asks Ruth which bar is the spot Walter always goes to drink. Ruth responds, and Mama heads out to find him. When she finally finds Walter, they sit down at a nearby booth and have a heart to heart. They do this in the play as well, only this time the setting is different. The deal that she makes with him is still the same, except this time, Walter sits there in disbelief and actually begins to cry. Instead of Walter going and talking to Travis, he goes home to find Ruth crying, and instead he lays with her to comfort her. Although the scene does not end up in celebration like the play, you can still tell that Walter is very grateful to Mama for giving him this opportunity.

Whether it is the play or in the book, the desperation that Mama feels to fix her family is evident. Although she thought that buying the house would fix all the family’s problems, she can tell that Walter will never be truly happy if he does not achieve his dreams. This is an important scene in the story because it shows their family dynamic. Even though they do not always see eye to eye, the members of the Younger family ultimately want to support each other and see each other happy. 

1. How does Mama’s actions affect Walter and his relationship with his son? 
2. If the story continues when Travis is older, how do you think he will take these opportunities that are being presented to him to better his life in the future? 

Andrea Moro

As we collectively read A Raisin in the Sun, we come across so many themes and points throughout the piece. There’s common sayings that go around when a book has a corresponding movie. “The book is way better than the movie” or “no way, the movie was so much better than the book!” It is true that certain parts of books can be more exciting and thrilling once seen in a moving picture. A Raisin in the Sun has many of these moments, one being the infamous scene of Beneatha’s folk dancing. 

It has been made clear that Beneatha values her heritage and wants to embrace who she is without being shut down for it. In Act 2 Scene 1, we see this first hand. Ruth comes into question Beneatha’s doings by stating “what kind of dance is that?” and “what kind of folks do that, honey?”(77). Beneatha quickly explains that it is a dance of welcome from Nigeria, and she begins her chants to the music, “alundi alundi, alundi alunya, jop pu a jeepua, ang gu soooooooooo, ai yai yae, ayehaye-alundi”(77). Reading this can be VERY boring. This is an important scene, but it can be very impersonal since as readers, we aren’t able to see Beneatha dancing, or hear the music she is dancing too. This can be crucial in understanding a text, in that since we aren’t “in the moment” with her, we have to imagine it ourselves. This imagining can vary from person to person. Since no one will think the same, this can then create different meanings throughout an audience. 

Watching the scene from the movie gives the audience a completely different light on the scene. Seeing Beneatha change the music, and watching how serious her face as shes dancing, you can really see the family’s dynamic. Ruth questioning her and Walter coming in drunk is brought to life. Hearing the hype of the music and the strong vibe it gives off, you can almost relate the beat of the music to how Beneatha chooses to represent herself. As well as this, she is in tribal clothing, which is the cherry on top in her presentation. The strength Beneatha carries in wanting to become a doctor and wanting to be more comfortable in being a young black woman is shown in this scene. It also shows how she doesn’t care what her family has to say about her and her beliefs. She is a free spirit who has important aspirations for her life. 

Also, you can read the disappointment as George enters the scene, as he abruptly tells Beneatha to change, he states “look honey, we’re going to the theatre-we’re not going to be in it…so go change huh?”(80). In watching this, you can visualize Beneatha’s face, and how disgusted George is with her actions. When it comes to body language and seeing reactions on characters faces, it can help immensely in understanding a story line and its hidden meanings. Of course, since this is a play, the stage directions within the book can help with determining how a character is feeling or what their physical movements are. It’s almost like reading a text. You can never really tell how the person on the opposite side is feeling through a text, and is also why most people say it’s good to do things in person. 

A Raisin in the Sun embodies so many different life lessons, and in this particular scene being true to yourself can be a huge takeaway. Beneatha’s care-free personality blossoms in the film, and you can see how she presents herself and how she interacts with her family. In this case, having a film and a book helps the audience tremendously in understanding the Younger family dynamic. 

1. How does the film change your perspective on Beneatha’s personality? 
2. What does the book embody that the film doesn’t? What does the film take on that might not be clear in the book?

Sometimes a dream does get deferred. Maybe because of the color of one’s skin or one’s financial situations. The purpose of dreams are meant to be a reality, not to be condemned. For the Youngers family, dreams are essential. They are what brings the family together after all. In Raisin In The Sun Act 1, Hansberry uses the yearning theme of unfulfilled dreams that each character encounters to build the social commentary that dreams are just illusory and never achieved. There is symbolism that ties to the insurance payment. 

Each character clings to distinct dreams, which have been deferred due to the socioeconomic barriers placed on the family. One of the prominent protagonists, Walter, his dream is to own a liquor store and start a business. Beneatha, her dream is to become a doctor but struggles to determine her identity as a well-educated black women. Lena, known as “Mama”, wants to live in a luxurious house with a backyard to fulfill her dream for her family to move up in the world since they are poor. Ruth’s dream is to build a happy family and believes one step toward this goal is to own a bigger and better place to live. Travis is clearly treated with love the most in the family from the fifty cents his teacher has told him to bring to school. Asagai has a strong sensational love for Beneatha and hopes that she will return to Nigeria with him. We see that the Youngers family struggled to attain these dreams and much of their happiness and depression is directly related to their attainment of, or failure to attain, these dreams.

However, for all the characters in the play, these dreams also involve money and are rejected because the lack of it. The family received a $10,000 insurance from Mr. Younger’s death which to them is expensive. Mama is a great example to begin with. Her dreams gets deferred first when she moved into the small apartment in Chicago that the Youngers family stay in. She also could not fill her dreams since she did not have enough money to do so. Ruth, who has the same dream as Mama’s, gets deferred when the family are forced into the crowded apartment. Ruth and Mama both have dreams that include amounts of money. In Raisin in The Sun, For the Younger’s, a division of the money of who gets to have authority makes it extremely difficult because they live in squalor. Money provides a constant source of division and preoccupation in the Younger household. Although the Younger family seems isolated from predominantly white cultures, they value the same materialistic dreams as the rest of American society. We see that living in a society where the fulfillment of dreams is based upon material wealth, the Younger family strives to overcome their hardships as they search not only happiness but prosperity in the African-American culture. 

As money has never been a way of life for the family, the insurance check’s arrival becomes a symbol that brings each person to see the chance that their own dreams can become reality. Also, the insurance payment epitomizes the hope and nobility of the Younger family. Unfortunately, Walter does not the skills and work ethics to achieve his financial goals. Ruth hopes the money might mean some kind of stability and flourishing success for her family. Rather than gamble it on a liquor store, Ruth wants the money to actually mean something for the family as well. Beneatha, wants to use the insurance payment for medical school. She wants to exceed her family circumstances and redefine herself and her place in the world.

1. How do Ruth and Beneatha’s attitude toward Mama’s money contrast with Walter’s, and what do these attitudes reveal about each character?

1. Do dreams ever become destructive, a substitute for action? Or is it absolutely essential to keep a dream alive?

Money is an object, but would one ever think about it as something more? In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, money is much more than a thing, it means something different to every character in the play. To this family money seems like it is a little more than just money and that it represents something they want in life. The family does not have a lot of money, but they will soon receive a life insurance check, in which they all have their own ideas on how to use it. Along with the ideas from each character, there is symbolism to the money.  

To start with the ideas that each character brings up during the first act of the play, three of the characters have their very own, unique things they would want to see the money go toward. Mama would like to use the money to pay for Beneatha’s medical school funds, while Beneatha herself would like for her mother to keep the money and use it for an extravagant trip or vacation. Beneatha’s brother, Walter had his own idea of where the money should go that would only be beneficial to him. He would want to take the money and open a liquor store, which he believed would help make more money for the family, but he can not be positive on that thought. This leads into the more symbolic representations of the money. The ideas of where the money should go reflect the character’s personalities as well as show the symbolism of money specifically to each character.  

For the actual symbolism and representation of money by each character Mama is a good example to start. Given that she wants to help her daughter go through medical school, money symbolizes hope for her daughter, and frankly herself. She believes in her daughter and that if she wants to do something, she will do it which is why she wants to give her daughter the money. She knows that if her daughter becomes a doctor one day, she will probably help her mother with money. This explains why the money represents and symbolizes hope for Mama. Money also symbolizes love for Mama. This is because the mother is focusing on her children before herself which is symbolic of her husband’s love for his children. It was stated that he loved his children beyond words and Mama was just following that love from her late husband. For Beneatha, the money is symbolic of help for her mother. She knows how much her mother went through and she wants to give her the best life possible. Beneatha believes her mother should keep the money because it will help her mentally and help her feel more stable in life and their current situation, whether she uses it to go on a trip or keeps it for further use. Walter is the character that seems the most greedy with the money. It does not seem like he wants the money to help anyone but himself. For him the money symbolizes happiness. He believes that he needs money in life to be happy and have a great life which is why he is trying to open a liquor store with the life insurance check. 

For all the characters money represents freedom and security at some level. The freedom comes from the ability to do a lot with the money. In the play, it is talked about that the family could get a new home, one that is bigger and more fit for the family. The family will be able to do more than before because of the increased funds in the household whatever way it is used. The money is also representative and symbolic of security for the family. Money usually represents security for many people but for the Younger family specifically, it means more. They do not have a lot of money and the addition of the check to their bank account would allow the family to feel more secure, especially Mama. Money is something that does not mean a lot from the surface but the true symbolism of money emerges when put into deep thought.

Do the symbolic meanings of money foreshadow anything to the readers about the Younger family? 

How does the money symbolize a connection to other symbols throughout the play, more specifically through the rest of act one, such as Mama’s plant? 

Hi, I’m Taylor and I’m a senior here at Cortland, majoring in exercise science. I live on the Great Sacandaga Lake which is in Saratoga County. During the summer, I bartend at a bar and restaurant on the lake back home and I spent most of my days off lounging out in the sun on the beach. After Cortland, I plan to attend graduate school to receive my doctorate in physical therapy, and I’m hoping to go to graduate school at Sage in Albany. I’m looking forward to the rest of the semester and getting to know everyone!

My name is Adriana Murphy and I am a sophomore majoring in Psychology. I’m from Saratoga Springs, New York, which is about 45 minutes north of Albany. Outside of school, I spent most of my time participating in my school’s Drama Club, the swim and the softball teams, and working after school at my job. I also really enjoy reading in my free time so I’m looking forward to taking this class and getting to know all of you more!