Please Excuse Me While I Geek Out

A Raisin in the Sun takes place “Somewhere between World War II and the present”. Lorraine Hansberry’s choice of the word “present” is significant since it sends the message that her purpose for writing the novel is not yet fully achieved and that racial equality is a prevailing fight. She leaves her novel open ended in the belief that others will continue the fight against racial discrimination. Her faith in the future and the hope she possesses reminds me of my latest obsession with the TV show Super girl. For those who are unaware of who Super girl is, she is Superman’s cousin who was sent to Earth to look after him.  However, she instead faces many of her own villains and it is through her unyielding hope and determination that she always manages to pull through as a true hero.  This relates to Lorraine Hansberry’s faith she has in others since Super Girl is also someone who sends others a call to action to never lose hope in a better future. Although there may still be much to do in the battle against inequality, for now I will leave you with some wise words from the hero herself, “Now, in each and every one of you, there is a light, a spirit that cannot be snuffed out. That won't give up. I need your help again. I need you to hope. Hope... that you will remember that you can all be heroes. Hope... that when faced with an enemy determined to destroy your spirit, you will fight back and thrive.”

Green is Greed

Although most will argue that money is not the most important thing in the world, it touches everything that is. The more money you make, the more people you can help and the bigger impact you will have as exemplified by “nothing” getting in the way of Mama’s money being put towards Beneatha’s education to be a doctor. Correspondingly, Walter’s obsession with the check drives him “crazy”. This is symbolic of the damaging effects greed and desire can have on a person. This is also seen in The great Gatsby through Gatsby’s incessant desire for the American dream. Money is the key not only to “success” as in The Great Gatsby, but also the key to being able to aid others in A Raisin in the Sun.  The character’s necessity of money is much reflected in today’s society as well. Our society depends upon wealth in order to prosper. I would classify it as something close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale. But to measure real wealth, how much would you be worth as a person if you lost all your money? Ignoring what would be the majorly affected factors such as the necessities, would you still go out of your way to help others? I once read about a homeless man who lived on the streets in New York. When he found spare change on the ground, instead of saving it for himself, he used it pay off other’s parking meters so that they would not receive a ticket. So in terms of real wealth, how much value do you have?

Beautiful Little Fool

"It'll show you how I've gotten to feel about—things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. she told me it was a girl, and so i turned my head away and wept. 'All right', I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."

In this passage Daisy allows a glimpse into her character when she describes her hopes for her daughter to Jordan and Nick. Although Daisy is not a fool herself, her wish for her daughter to be one is due to the lack of value women received in the 1920's for their intelligence. Daisy implies that a girl can have more fun if she is beautiful and simplistic. After all, "ignorance is bliss". Not to mention, the absence of the father in this scene. Tom is not even pacing the hall with a cigar as the way dads were supposed to back in the 1920's. This signifies how Tom is withdrawn as a husband and fears intimacy as I read about in the psychoanalytic reading. Daisy's weeping shows her sorrow for her daughter who may in the future end up in a relationship such as her own and also her expected disappointment in her husband's lack of appearance. The placement of the word “boy” in the sentence is also significant. Since it comes prior to “girl” it signifies how daisy wanted a boy instead of a girl. A daughter may have had to face the same problems that Daisy endured for years such as her unfaithful husband. In The Great Gatsby era, Women were valued only for their looks and ability to be a good wife. Nobody wanted to hear what an intelligent woman had to say. Daisy wishes for her daughter to be “a beautiful little fool” because that would  make her the perfect wife and she would be able to have a  much better life than an intelligent girl in the 1920’s.