A Raisin in the Sun: Setting Related to Themes?

The setting in any book, movie, play, et cetera, is vital in order to convey the proper moods or general themes of said works. Relatively soon after World War II and the Cold War, A Raisin in the Sun was written during a time of segregation, despite the recent abolition of slavery and uprising of equal rights. The play/movie is set in the family’s apartment, which happens to be pretty small and in a primarily “black area” of Chicago. The apartment represents the seclusion and isolation which the family is essentially forced to endure, but simultaneously, it is a symbol of the bond each member of the family has with one another. Notwithstanding the numerous arguments and disagreements, the members of the family get along and support each other to the best of their abilities.

As an “outside of the box” view, the apartment is small, correct? The play was influenced by Langston Hughes’ poem “A Dream Deferred,” correct? The apartment’s size and growing populace, for lack of a better word, may symbolize a raisin, being the black family, slowly shriveling up due to the overwhelming impact of the sun, being white people as a whole. The apartment can only hold a certain amount of people before running “like an oozing sore.” If the apartment begins to overflow, the inhabitants will not be able to help but leak out a bit. Lena realizes that the apartment is much too small for such a large family, so she ends up buying a house, which excites the family until she mentions the fact that it is in a “white neighborhood.”

Lena acts as the head of the house and does what she thinks is best, without first consulting the rest of the family. The result of her buying the house may be that the family is unable to bear the fact that they will be the only black family amongst a bunch of white people, who are the cause of their problems in the first place. Lena may have thought, though, that the household would explode, like a dream deferred, if the family did not move to a more reasonable location. The movie has a great amount to do with dreams, because Travis wishes for more than has, Walter Lee wants to have his own liquor store and provide more for his family, and Beneatha wants to be a doctor, which would never have come true for a black woman in that day and age.

The family wants progress, and that is their dream, as well as a massive theme in A Raisin in the Sun. The members of said family who stick to tradition, in a way, shoot those down who wish to better themselves through unbelievable manners. Although they are all black and have the same dream, Lena and Ruth basically defer the dreams because they see them as unreachable. The entire movie, so far, is an endless feud between progression and tradition. Once the family moves into the new house, though, what will happen to them? Will the dreams progress or be once more deferred?