A raise in the sun

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A Raisin in the Sun is a play by the American playwright Lorraine Hansberry . It tells of an Afro-American working-class family who live in the Chicago ghetto and suffer from poverty and racism . The title of the piece is borrowed from the third verse of the poem Harlem by Langston Hughes .

When it premiered in 1959, A Raisin in the Sun was the first play by an African-American writer on Broadway . In 1960 the play was filmed by director Daniel Petrie with Sidney Poitier . In Germany the film was released under the title Ein Fleck in der Sonne .

action

Walter and his wife Ruth Younger live with their son Travis, Walter's mother Lena and his sister Beneatha in a ramshackle two-room apartment in the south of Chicago . Walter himself can barely earn his living with his work as a chauffeur, so that the family lives in poverty. Walter cannot come to terms with his situation, especially because he feels discriminated against because of the color of his skin (it's an African-American family). So it happens that he longs for prosperity and so forges the plan to open a liquor store together with his street friends Willy Harris and Bobo, the former of whom does not appear in the entire drama. At the beginning of the plot, Walter's mother, Lena Younger, awaits a check for US $ 10,000 from her late husband's life insurance , which Walter would like to invest in setting up his shop. Lena, who is mostly called Mama in the book , initially disagrees with this, as she has aversions to alcohol due to her religious beliefs. Beneatha is not convinced of Walter's plans either, as she reminds him that it is her mother's decision what to do with the money. Since Ruth and Walter are expecting another child, but Ruth is considering an abortion, as another child may not find a place in the cramped apartment, Mama uses part of the money to buy a new house in a white neighborhood called Clybourne Park. as this is much cheaper than neighborhood apartments for blacks. She leaves the rest of the fortune to Walter, with the advice that he should save $ 3,000 for Beneatha's medical studies and use the remaining money to try to make his dreams come true. This has several consequences. On the one hand, Karl Lindner, a representative of the Clybourne Park residential area, comes into contact with the Younger family. He makes it understandable to them that the residents of the White Quarter do not want black people in their area and even offers the family a commission if they do not move. However, Walter rejects Lindner's offer. He gives all of the money to Willy to start the business. However, he goes into hiding with the remaining $ 6,500 from life insurance and the money from Walter's friend Bobo, who also wanted to invest in the store, and thus not only ruins the youngers' financial position, but also destroys Walter's dreams.

In the meantime the reader learns a lot about Beneatha's private life. She is currently dating the wealthy and educated George Murchison, who represents the fully assimilated black man. However, Beneatha is also in contact with Joseph Asagai, a medical student from Nigeria whom she met in college. She seems to have fallen in love with Joseph as she admires his connection to his roots in Africa. In contrast to Joseph, George Murchison denies his true origins.

On the day of the move, Walter invites Karl Lindner a second time, despite protests from the other family members. He would like to accept his offer and commission and so make reparation for the lost money in front of his family. Only at the last second does he undergo a change of heart: with a self-confident speech that his family is proud of their origins and will be exemplary neighbors in Clybourne Park, he rejects Lindner's offer again.

The book ends with the family preparing for the upcoming move and an uncertain future.

Others

In Germany, the book is often used as school reading in upper secondary school and has been a high school reading in some federal states since 2011. That is why there are editions with learning aids (e.g. Klett: Text and study aids ), teacher books and teaching materials.

literature

  • Wiltrud Frenken, Brigitte Prischtt, Angela Luz: EinFach Englisch. Teaching model for school practice: "A Raisin in the Sun". Ed. Hans Kröger. Schöningh , Paderborn 2007 ISBN 9783140412414 For 11th grade
  • Christa Martin: Reading aid "A raisin in the sun", called hearing material. A combination of media: a dialogical technical discussion on MP3-CD (approx. 100 min.), Learning material on the author, content, structure, environment, etc. in a booklet of 60 pages. Subject English, Abitur level. Pons Lektürehilfe , Stuttgart 2009 ISBN 9783125615281
  • Gisela Hergt (Ed.): A Raisin in the Sun: Text and Study Aids. Klett-Verlag , Stuttgart 2008 ISBN 9783125788107
  • Dieter Ulm interpretations English - Hansberry: A Raisin in the Sun . Stark Verlag, Freising [i. e. Hallbergmoos] 2014, ISBN 978-3866686571

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Requirements for the Abitur 2013 in English from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. (No longer available online.) Ministry for Schools and Further Education of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , August 16, 2010, archived from the original on April 11, 2013 ; Retrieved September 18, 2012 .
  2. ↑ This is an edition in which the publisher changed the cover of an older edition. This edition is abridged: The topics "Pregnancy and Abortion", important for understanding the motivation of Walter's wife, are missing. The omission makes the piece partly incomprehensible; this edition cannot answer any questions about the relationship between Walter and Ruth