Fluent Essays

A Raisin in the Sun premiered in 1959. Zoot Suit premiered twenty years later in 1979, after the civil rights movement. Each play addresses issues of racism in the United States. Compare and contrast the literary tone of each play. In relation to racism. What differences do you notice in the two plays, and what does that tell you about the ongoing evolution of American theatre and American attitudes?Plays are works of literature. Literary tone refers to the attitude(s) the playwright (author) adopts toward the subject matter of his or her work, and toward the anticipated audience. Basically, I am asking you to consider the attitude with which each playwright approaches their story - which is very different in each play. A helpful hint is the mention that Zoot Suit premiered after the civil rights movement in the United States. Ask yourself why that would make a difference in Valdezs attitude compared to Hansberrys. Then go over the plays again while paying attention to the tone in which they were composed. Also consider the audiences each author wrote for. What were audiences like, and what did they expect in the 1950s? How might that be different in the 1970s? Who do you suppose Hansberry expected to attend her play, and how did she feel about that audience? Ask the same about Valdez. These approaches should help you identify differences and similarities in these two plays about racial discrimination. As always, refer to specific details in each play to support your analyses. Ive attached both or the plays & the basic writing tips my professor is looking for. a_raisin_in_the_sun_1_.pdf zootsuit_with_translation_1_.pdf basic_writing_tips.doc Unformatted Attachment Preview L O R R A I N EH A N S B E R R Y A Raisinin the Sun Characters RUTH YOUNGER TRAVIS YOUNGER WALTER LEE YOUNGER (BROTHER) BENEATHA YOUNGER LENA YOUNGER (MAMA) JOSEPH ASAGAI GEORGE MURCHISON MRS. JOHNSON KARL LINDNER BOBO MOVING MEN The action of the playis set inChicagosSouth side, sometime between World War II and thepresent. Act I Scene I Friday morning. Scene II Thefollowing morning. Act II Scene I Later, thesame day. Scene II Friday night, a few weekslater. Scene III Moving day, one weeklater. Act III An hour later. ACT I SCENEI The YOUNGER living room wouldbe comfortable a andwellordered roomifitwerenot for anumber ofindestructiblecontradictions to this stateofbeing.Itsfurnishings typical are andun486 Lorraine Hansberry distinguished and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the livingof too many peoplefor too many years—and they aretired.Still,we can seethatatsome time, a time probably no longer rememberedby the family (except perhaps forMAMA),the furnishingsof this room were actually selected with care and love and even hope—and brought tothis apartment and arranged with taste and pride. That was a long time ago. Now the once loved patternof the couch upholstery has to fight to show itself from under acres of crocheted doilies and couch covers which have themselvesfinally come to be more important than the upholstery. And hereatable or a chair has been moved to disguisetheworn placesin thecarpet; but the carpet has fought back by showing its weariness, with depressing uniformity, elsewhereon surface. its Weariness has, in fact, won in this room.Everything hasbeen polished, washed, sat on, used, scrubbed too often. Allpretenses but livingitself have long since vanished fromthevery atmosphere of this room. Moreover, a sectionof this room,for it is not reallyaroom unto itself, though the landlordslease would make itseemso,slopes backward to provide a small kitchen area, wherefamily the prepares the meals that are eaten in the living room proper, which must also serve as dining room. The single windowthat hasbeen provided for these two rooms is locatedin this kitchen area. The sole natural lightthefamilymay enjoyin the course of a day is only that which fights it way through this little window. At left, a door leads to a bedroom which MAMA is shared by and her daughter, BENEATHA. At right, opposite,is asecond room (which in the beginninglife of ofthe this apartmentwas probably the breakfast room) which servesas aWALTER bedroom and for his wife,RUTH. Time Sometime between World War II and the present. Place Chicagos South side. At rise It is morning darkin the living TRAVIS asleep room. is on the make-down bed at center. An alarm clock sounds from within the bedroom at right,and RUTH presently enters from that room and closes the door behind her.Shecrosses sleepily toward 487 A RAISININ THE SUN Act IScene the window. As shepasses hersleeping son shereaches down and shakes him a little. At the window she raisestheshadeand adusky Southside morning light comesfeebly. in fillsShe a pot withwater and puts it on to boil. She calls to the boy,between yawns,in a slightlymuffled voice. RUTH is about thirty. We can seethatshe was apretty girl, even exceptionally so, but now it isapparent life hasthat been little that she expected, and disappointment has alreadybeguntohang in her face. In a few years, beforethirty-five even,shewillbe known among her people as asettled woman. She crosses to her son andgiveshim agood,final,rousing shake. RUTH: Come on now, boy, its seven thirty! (Hersonsitsup at last, in a stuporof sleepiness.)I sayhurry up,Travis! You aint the only person in the world got to use abathroom! (The child, a sturdy, handsome littleboy of ten oreleven, dragshimselfout of the bed and almost blindly takeshistowelsand todays clothes from drawers and a closetandgoesout to thebathroom, which is in an outside hallandwhichissharedbyanother family or families on the sameRUTH floor. crosses to thebedroom door at right and opens it and callsin to herhusband.) Walter Lee! . . . Itsafter seven thirty! Lemme see you dosome waking up in there now! (She waits.) Youbettergetfrom up there, man! Itsafter seven thirtyItell you. (She waits again.) All right, youjust go ahead and laythereandnext thingyou know Travis be finished and Mr. Johnsonll be inthere and youll befussing and cussing round here likeamadman!And be late too! (She waits, at the end ofpatience.) Walter its time for you to GET UP! She waits another second andthen starts to gointo the bedroom, but is apparentlysatisfied thatherhusbandhasbegunto get up. She stops, pulls the door to, andreturns to thekitchen area. She wipes herface witha moist clothandrunsher fingersthroughher sleep-disheveled hairin effort avainand ties anapron around her housecoat. The bedroom door at right opensand herhusband stands in the doorway in his pajamas, whicharerumpledand mismated. He is a lean, intense youngman in hismiddle thirties, inclined to quick nervous movements anderratic speech habits— and always in his voice thereis aqualityof indictment. 488 Le Lorraine Hansberry WALTER: Is he out yet? RUTH: What you mean out? He aint hardly got in there good yet. WALTER (wandering in, still more oriented tosleep than to a new day): Well, what was you doing all that yelling for if I cant even get in thereyet? (Stopping and thinking.) Check coming today? RUTH: They said Saturday and this is just Friday and I hopes to God you aint going to get up here first thing this morning and start talking to me bout no money—cause I bout do to hear it. WALTER: Something the matter with you this morning? RUTH: No—Im just sleepy as the devil. What kind of eggs you want? WALTER: Not scrambled. (RUTH starts to scramble eggs.) Paper come? (RUTH points impatiently to the rolled up Tribune on the table, and he gets it and spreads it out and vaguely reads the front page.) Set off another bomb yesterday. RUTH (maximumindifference): Did they? WALTER (looking up): Whats the matter withyou? RUTH: Aint nothing the matter with me. And dont keep asking me that this morning. WALTER: Aint nobody bothering you. (reading the news of the day absently again) Say Colonel McCormick is sick. RUTH (affecting tea-party interest): Is he now? Poor thing. WALTER (sighing and looking at his watch): Oh, me. (He waits.) Now what is that boy doing in that bathroom all this time? He just going to have to start getting up earlier. I cant be to work on account of him fooling around in there. RUTH (turning on him): Oh, no he aint going to be getting up no earlier no such thing! It aint his fault that he cant no earlier nights cause he got a bunch of crazy good-for-nothing clowns sitting up running their mouths in what is supposed to be his bedroom after ten oclock at night. .. WALTER: Thats what you mad about, aint it? The things I want to talk about with myfriendsjust couldnt be important in your mind, could they? He rises and finds a cigarette in her handbag on the 489 table and A RAISININ THE SUN Act IScene crosses to the little window andlooks out,smokingdeeply and enjoying this first one. RUTH (almost matteroffactly,acomplainttooautomatic to deserve emphasis): Why youalwaysgot tosmoke before you eat in the morning? WALTER (at thewindow): Just look atemdown there . .Running . and racing to work . . . (Heturnsfaces and wifehis andwatches her a moment at the stove,and then,suddenly) You look young this morning, baby. RUTH (indifferently): Yeah? WALTER: Justfor asecond—stirringthem eggs. Just for asecond it was—you looked real young again.(Hereaches forher; she crosses away. Then, drily) Its gone now—youlook like yourself again! RUTH: Man, if you dontshutup andleavemealone. WALTER (looking out to thestreet again):First thinga manought to learn inlife is not to make love to nocolored woman first thing in the morning.You allsome eeeevil peopleateight oclock in the morning. TRAVISappears in thehall doorway, almost fullydressed andquite wide awake now, histowelsandpajamas acrosshisshoulders.He opens the door and signalsfor hisfathertomakethe bathroom in a hurry.) TRAVIS (watchingthe bathroom): Daddy, come on! WALTER gets his bathroom utensils flies and out to the bathroom. RUTH: Sit down and have your breakfast, Travis. TRAVIS: Mama, thisisFriday, (gleefully) Check coming tomorrow, huh? RUTH: You get your mind offmoney and eatyour breakfast. TRAVIS(eating): Thisis themorning wesupposed tobring the fifty cents to school. RUTH: Well, I aint got no fiftycents this morning. TRAVIS: Teacher say wehaveto. RUTH: I dont care what teacher say.aint I got it. Eatyour breakfast, Travis. TRAVIS: I am eating. RUTH: Hush up now and justeat! 490 Lorraine Hansberry The boy gives her an exasperated look for her lack of understanding, and eats grudgingly. TRAVIS: You think Grandmama would have it? RUTH: No! And I want you to stop asking your grandmother for money, you hear me? TRAVIS (outraged): Gaaaleee!I dontask her,she just gimmeit sometimes! RUTH: Travis WillardYounger—I got too much on me this morning to be— TRAVIS: Mabe Daddy — RUTH: Travisl The boy hushes abruptly. They are seconds. both quiet and tense for several TRAVIS (presently): CouldI maybego carry some groceries front in of the supermarket for a little whileafter school then? RUTH: Just hush, I said. (Travis jabs his spoon into his cereal bowl viciously, and rests his head in anger upon his fists.) If you through eating, you can get over there and make your bed. The boy obeys stiffly and crosses the room, almost mechanically, to the bed and more orlessfolds the bedding into a heap, then angrily gets his books and cap. TRAVIS (sulking and standing apart from her unnaturally): Im gone. RUTH (looking up from the stove to inspect him automatically): Come here. (He crosses to her and she studies his head.) If you dont take this comb and fix this here head,(TRAVIS you better! puts down his books with a great sighof oppression, and crosses to the mirror. His mother mutters under her breath about his slubbornness.) Bout to march out of here with that head looking just like chickens slept in it! just I dont know where you get your stubborn ways . . . And get your jacket, too. Looks chilly out this morning. TRAVIS (with conspicuously brushed hairand jacket): Im gone. RUTH: Get carfare and milk money — (wavingone finger)—andnot a single penny for no caps, you hear me? TRAVIS (with sullen politeness): Yesm. He turns in outrage to leave. His 491 mother watches after him as in A RAISININ THE SUN Act I Scene I his frustration he approaches the door almost comically. When she speaks to him, her voice has become very a gentle tease. RUTH (mocking, as she thinks he wouldsay it):Oh, Mama makes me so mad sometimes, I dont know what to do! (She waits and continues to his back as he stands stock-still in front of the door.) I wouldnt kiss that woman good-bye for nothing in this world this morning! (The boyfinally turns around androlls hiseyes at her, knowing the mood has changed and he is vindicated; he does not, however, move toward her yet.) Not for nothing in this world! (Shefinally laughs aloud at him and holds out her arms to him and we see that it is a way between them, very old and practiced. He crosses to her and allows her to embrace him warmly but keeps his facefixed with masculine rigidity. She holds him back from her presently and looks at him and runs her fingers over thefeatures of his face. With utter gentleness—) Now—whose little old angry man are you? TRAVIS (the masculinityand gruffness start fade to atlast.):Aw gaalee—Mama . .. RUTH (mimicking): Aw—gaaaaalleeeee, Mama! (She pushes him, with rough playfulness and finality, toward the door.) Get on out of here or you going to be late. TRAVIS (in theface of love,newaggressiveness): Mama, couldI please go carry groceries? RUTH: Honey, its starting to get so cold evenings. WALTER (coming in from the bathroom and drawinga makebelieve gun from a make-believe holster and shooting at his son): What is it he wants to do? RUTH: Go carry groceriesafter school at the supermarket. WALTER: Well, let him go ... TRAVIS (quickly, to the ally): I have —she to wont gimmethe fifty cents . . . WALTER (to hiswife only): Why not? RUTH (simply, and with flavor): Cause we dont have it. WALTER (to RUTHonly): Whatyou tellthe boy things like that for? (Reaching down into his pants with a rather important gesture) Here, son — (He hands the boy the coin, but hiseyes are directedto his wifes. TRAVIS takes the money happily.) 492, Lorraine Hansberry TRAVIS: Thanks, Daddy. He starts out. RUTH watches bothof them with murder in her eyes. WALTER stands and stares backat her with defiance,and suddenly reaches into his pocket again on an afterthought. WALTER (without even looking at his son, still staring hard at his wife): In fact, heres another fifty cents . . . Buy yourself some fruit today—or take a taxicab to school or something! TRAVIS: Whoopee — He leaps up and clasps his father around the middle withhis legs, and they face each other in mutual appreciation; WALTERslowly LEE peeks around the boy to catch the violent rays from wifes his eyes and draws his head backas if shot. WALTER: You better get downnow—and get to school, man. TRAVIS (at the door): O.K. Good-bye.(He exits.) WALTER (after him, pointing with pride): Thatsmy boy. (She looks at him in disgust and turns back to her work.) You know what I was thinking bout in the bathroom this morning? RUTH: No. WALTER: How come you always try to be so pleasant! RUTH: What is there to be pleasant bout! WALTER: You want to know what I was thinking bout in the bathroom or not! RUTH: I know what you thinking bout. WALTER (ignoring her): Bout whatme and Willy Harriswas talking about last night. RUTH (immediately—a refrain): Willy Harrisis a good-for-nothing loudmouth. WALTER: Anybody who talks to me has got to be a good-fornothing loudmouth, aint he? And what you know about who is just a good-for-nothing loudmouth? Charlie Atkinswas just a good-for-nothing loudmouth too, wasnt he! When he wanted me to go in the dry-cleaning business with him. And now—hes grossing a hundred thousand a year. A hundred thousand dollars a year! You still call him a loudmouth! RUTH (bitterly): Oh, Walter Lee . . . She folds her head on her arms over the table. WALTER (rising and coming to her and standing over her):You tired, aint you? Tired of everything. Me, the boy, the way we 493 A RAISININ THE SUN Act IIScene live—this beat-uphole—everything. Aint you? (She doesnt look up, doesnt answer.) So tired—moaningand groaningall the time, but you wouldnt do nothing to help,would you? You couldnt be on my side that longfor nothing, could you? RUTH: Walter, please leaveme alone. WALTER: A man needs a woman to back him up ... RUTH: Walter — WALTER: Mama would listento you.Youknowshelistento you more than she do me and Bennie.Shethink moreofyou.All you have to do isjust sit down withherwhenyoudrinking your coffee one morning and talking bout things likeyou and— do (He sits down besideher and demonstrates graphically what he thinks her methods and tone should be.)—you justsipyour coffee, see, and say easy like thatyou been thinking boutthat deal Walter Lee is so interested in, boutthe storeand all,and sip some morecoffee, like what you saying aint really that important toyou—And the next thingyouknow,she belistening good and asking you questionsand whenIcome home—Icantellher the details. This aint no fly-by-nightproposition, baby.Imean we figured it out, me and Willyand Bobo. RUTH (witha frown):Bobo? WALTER: Yeah.You see, this little liquor store we got inmind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investmenton the place be bout thirty thousand, see. That be ten thousand each. Course, theres a couple of hundred you got to pay sos you dont spend your lifejust waitingfor them clownsto let your licensegetapproved— RUTH: You meangraft? WALTER (frowning impatiently): Dont call itthat. Seethere, that just goes to show you what women understand abouttheworld. Baby, dont nothing happenfor you inthis world lessyou pay somebody off! RUTH: Walter, leaveme alone! (She raises her head and stares at him vigorously—then says, more quietly.) Eatyour eggs, they gonna be cold. WALTER (straighteningup fromher andoff): looking Thats it. There you are. Man say to his woman: I got me adream.His woman say: Eat your eggs. (Sadly, butgaininginpower.) Man say: I got to take hold of this here world, baby!And awoman 494 Lorraine Hansberry will say: Eat your eggs and go to work. (Passionately now.) Man say: I got to change my life, Im choking to death, baby! And his woman say —(in utter anguishas he bringshis fists down on his thighs)— Your eggs is getting cold! RUTH (softly): Walter, that aint noneof our money. WALTER (not listeningat all or even looking her): at This morning, I was lookin in the mirror and thinking about it... Im five years old; I been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in the living room—(very, veryquietly)—and all I got to give him is stories about how rich white people live . . . RUTH: Eat your eggs, Walter. WALTER (slams the tableand jumps up): —DAMN MY — EGGS DAMN ALL THE EGGS THAT EVER WAS! RUTH: Then go to work. WALTER (looking up at her): See —Im trying to talk to you bout myself— (shaking his head with the repetition)—and all you can say is eat them eggs and go to work. RUTH (wearily): Honey, you neversay nothing new.I listento you every day, every night and every morning, and you never say nothing new. (shrugging) So you would rather be Mr. Arnold than be his chauffeur.So—I would rather be livingin Buckingham Palace. WALTER: That is just what is wrong with the colored womanin this world . . . Dont understand about building their men up and making emfeel like they somebody. Like they can do something. RUTH (drily, but to hurt): There are colored men who do things. WALTER: No thanks to the colored woman. RUTH: Well, being a colored woman, I guess I cant help myself none. She rises and gets the ironing board and sets it up and attacks a huge pile of rough-dried clothes, sprinkling them in preparation for the ironing and then rolling them into tight fat balls. WALTER (mumbling): We one group of men tied to a race of women with small minds! His sister BENEATHA enters.She is about twenty, as slimand intense as her brother. She is not as pretty as her sister-in-law, but her lean, almost intellectual face has a handsomeness of its own.She 495 A RAISININ THE SUN Act IScene wears a bright-red flannel nightie,and herthick hair stands wildly about her head. Her speechis a mixtureofmany things;it is different from the restof thefamilys insofaraseducation has permeated her sense of English—andperhapstheMidwest rather than the South hasfinally—at last—won out in her inflection; but not altogether, because overall of it soft is aslurring and transformed use of vowels whichis thedecided influence of the Southside. Shepasses through the room withoutlooking at either RUTH orWALTERand goesto theoutside doorand looks, alittle blindly, out to the bathroom. Shesees that it hasbeen lost to the Johnsons. She closesthedoor withasleepy vengeanceandcrosses to the table and sits down alittledefeated. BENEATHA: I am goingtostart timing those people. WALTER: You shouldget upearlier. BENEATHA (Herfacein herhands.She isstill fighting theurge to go back to bed.): Really—would yousuggest dawn? Wheres the paper? WALTER (pushing the paper acrossthetableto her as hestudies her almost clinically,asthoughhe hasnever seen before): her You a horrible-looking chick atthis hour. BENEATHA(drily): Good morning, everybody. WALTER (senselessly): How is schoolcoming? BENEATHA (in the same spirit): Lovely. Lovely. And you know, biology ... Purchase answer to see full attachment