A Raisin in the Sun Test Review

Walter Lee

 protagonist, chauffeur, married to Ruth, wants to open a liquor store

Beneatha

Walter’s sister, wants to go to med school, embraces her African heritage, dates George and Joseph

Lena

Mama, gets $10,000 when her husband Big Walter dies, puts a down payment on a house

Ruth

Walter’s wife, Travis’s mother, wants a better life for her family

Travis

son of Walter & Ruth, wants to be a bus driver, asks for 50 cents for school, plays with a rat, sleeps in the living room

Big Walter

 Lena’s hardworking husband who passed away, big family man, Walter & Beneatha’s father, believed no man should be another man’s servant

Mrs. Johnson

black neighbor who warns about racially-motivated bombings, thinks the Youngers are “too proud”

Mr. Arnold

Walter’s boss

Mrs. Arnold

 calls to tell the family that Walter hasn’t shown up for work for 3 days

Karl Lindner

 chair of the “Welcoming Committee” of Clybourne Park Association, racist, offers to buy them out for more than they paid

George Murchison

Beneatha’s boyfriend who is wealthy but shallow

Joseph Asagai

 Beneatha’s boyfriend who embraces his Nigerian heritage

Willy Harris

liquor store investor who runs off with the money

Bobo

liquor store investor, friends with Walter & Willy, gets stood up at the train station by Willy

Lorraine Hansberry

African-American playwright who was the first to debut on Broadway

Langston Hughes

 wrote the poem “Dreams Deferred” that inspired the title of the play

Booker T. Washington

famous African American who believed blacks should assimilate and be useful

Chicago

the Youngers live on the South Side

The apartment

the Youngers live in a 2 bedroom one with a shared bathroom in the hall

doctor’s office

Ruth goes there when she is pregnant

The Green Hat

the jazz bar that Walter likes to hang out in

Clybourne Park

the white neighborhood that the Youngers are moving to

The house

 Mama puts a down payment on a house with $3500 of the life insurance money; it will have a yard, bathroom, and multiple bedrooms

Springfield

where Bobo was supposed to meet Willy with the money but he stole it

train station

Willy never shows up here and steals the insurance money

med school

Beneatha wants to attend it but Willy steals her money and she becomes disillusioned

Nigeria

Joseph brings Beneatha a robes from here and asks her to move there with him

liquor store

Walter’s dream

Mama’s plant

tends lovingly, symbolic of the family, doesn’t get a lot of light in the apartment

pull-out couch

Travis sleeps on one in the living room

chauffeur

Walter’s job

bus driver

Travis wants to be one, Walter wants more for him

Alaiyo

 Joseph’s nickname for Beneatha, means “One for Whom Bread is Not Enough”

white shoes

 Walter makes fun of George and the fraternity boys for wearing these (demonstrates how he assimilates)

Prometheus

god of fire, George insults Walter by calling him this, Walter doesn’t understand the reference

hot milk

Ruth offers it to Walter, external comfort instead of marital support

Welcoming Committee

ironic, not welcoming at all, discourages Youngers from moving to Clybourne Park

insurance check

$10,000 being sent to the Youngers due to the death of Big Walker

50 cents

Travis asks for money for school, Ruth says no but Walter gives it to him plus more

Africa

Joseph Asagai wants Beneatha to embrace her African heritage and not assimilate, asks her to move here

Beneatha’s hair

Joseph calls it “mutilated” when straightened, cuts it in an African style, mixed reviews (represents African roots)

African folk dance

Beneatha dances one when Joseph comes over with the robe 

Nigerian robes

a gift from Joseph to Beneatha

bombings

Mrs. Johnson warns the Youngers about them happening 

assimilation

taking on the characteristics of the dominant culture

rat

Travis plays with one, symbol of the family’s poverty

cockroaches

the Youngers are cleaning the apt. and trying to get rid of them

garden tools & hat

 Mama receives theses as presents for the new house

down payment

Mama puts down $3,500 as a deposit on the new house

phone call from work

Mrs. Arnold calls to say that Walter hasn’t shown up at work in 3 days

Willy’s betrayal

he takes the $6,500 from Walter and disappear

idealists

Joseph says they dream big and work toward their goals

realists

Joseph says they only see the circle; he labels Beneatha as one

Lindner’s offer

he offers the Youngers more money than they paid for the house NOT to move there

finding his manhood

Mama thinks Walter finds his when he refuses to take Lindner’s offer after he is swindled

deferred dreams

dreams that are postponed or delayed

Civil Rights Movement

MLK Jr. led the fight for civil rights during the 1960’s

KKK

Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist terrorist group that inspired fear in the black community by lynching, bombing, and killing African Americans

Act 1, Scene 1

-Ruth wakes up Walter & Travis

-Ruth and Walter discuss the check

-Travis asks for money for school

-Walter and Ruth argue about the liquor store

-Walter and Beneatha argue about med school

-Mama waters her plant

-Ruth faints

Act 1, Scene 2

-Mama and Beneatha clean the apt

-Ruth is at the dr.

-Joseph calls and invites himself over

-He brings a robe and headdress for Beneatha

-The insurance check arrives

-Walter and Mama fight about the liquor store

-Mama tells Walter Ruth is pregnant and she’s worried about him

-Walter storms out

-Mama calls him a “disgrace to his father’s memory”

Act 2, Scene 1

-Beneatha dances in the Nigerian robe

-Walter delivers a monologue on the table about black brotherhood

-Walter insults George M (frat boy) and says he wants to talk to his dad about a business deal

-Mama comes home and tells Travis she bought a house

-Walter says she “butchered his dream” of owning the liquor store

Act 2, Scene 2

-George and Beneatha come in from a date

-Mrs. Johnson comes over and talks about bombings

-Phone rings and Mrs. Arnold tells them Walter hasn’t been at work in 3 days

-Mama gives Walter the remaining $6,500

-He imagines himself as a successful businessman

Act 2, Scene 3

-Ruth and Beneatha are packing

-Ruth talks about her and Walter’s movie date

-Mr. Lindner pays a visit

-He offers to buy them out so they don’t move to Clybourne Park

-Bobo comes over and tells Walter that Willy Harris stole the money

-Mama beats Walter and tells him he’s a disgrace to his father’s memory

Act 3

-Joseph comes over and Beneatha tells him the money is gone

-Walter announces he will call Lindner and accept his offer

-He breaks into a “minstrel monologue” that horrifies Ruth, Beneatha, and Mama

-Lindner returns but Walter tells him they are moving anyway

-Mama states that Walter has found his manhood

-Mama looks at the wall where her late husband’s picture was