Black Life Represented in Theater

Paper Summary:

The paper studies the characters in the play, indicating that they are clearly derived from Hansberry's own experience, for she was a young black woman who grew up in this era and her writing shows the depth of first-hand understanding. Through examples in the paper we learn how the play addresses issues of slavery, freedom and the struggle to achieve the American dream.

From the Paper:

"The kind of experience the Youngers have leads them to a spiritual and familial regeneration, and they transcend their ghetto not by moving to the suburbs but by understanding themselves and their place in black society. The prevailing racism has left the Youngers with a feeling of inferiority they try to overcome. The anger that such treatment creates is subdued in this family. The one vital element in the Younger family that sets them apart from much of the black experience today is the fact that they are, in the end, a family. The breakdown of the family in the ghetto is much discussed today. The Youngers have stayed together, something difficult even in the 1950s and something which shows them as atypical. Hansberry is not painting a false picture, and she is promoting the idea that family can help salve some of the problems faced in a racist society."

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