By this point we all know that an overall theme of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” is dreams, and how important dreams can be. Walter’s dream of owning a liquor store, Beneatha’s dream of being a doctor, dreams of Travis going to college, and even Mama’s dream of a garden. All of these dreams play important roles in the plot of the story but the one that catches my attention most is Beneatha’s dream, or her childhood dream of being a doctor.
At the beginning of Act III, Beneatha is clearly upset and letting it out to Asagai when he comes to help them pack, she is upset because Walter has chosen to invest the money. We as readers finally get to understand why Beneatha wants to be a doctor, “I wanted to cure. It used to be important to me. I wanted to cure. It used to matter. I used to care. I mean about people and how their bodies hurt…” (133). This quotation shows a lot more depth to her character, and the reason she was so determined to become a doctor, it was her dream as a child and as a child she cared more about people. This moment in the play stuck out to me as one of the sadder moments. It shows that Beneatha is growing up, and losing her childhood ideals, “Children see things very well sometimes” (133).
Throughout the play, Beneatha has come off very mature, educated, and carried herself as if though she was better than those around her. For example, when she told Mama “…God is just one idea I don’t accept” (51). Beneatha quickly got put in her place after disrespecting Mama and her household, however she was not sorry, and she still had the nerve to say it. The reason she believes this is because she was more educated than the rest of the family, so she does have different opinions. However, all Beneatha’s talk/attitude about being educated and mature is uncovered in the first moments of Act III, she realizes her dream was just that of a child, and she doesn’t really care about the same things as much as she once did.
Another huge change seen in Beneatha is her attitude about marriage from the beginning of the play to the end. “…I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet- if I ever get married…Oh I probably will, but first I’m going to be a doctor…” (50). Beneatha was one of my favourite characters in the play because of this line, she is so focused on her childhood dream that she isn’t worried about getting married until she accomplishes this. However her view on this changes by the end of the play. Eventually Beneatha decides she will become a doctor and move to marry Asagai in Africa, “To go to Africa, Mama- be a doctor in Africa…” (150). The reader gets to see a growth in her character throughout the play, from an immature younger sister with a dream, lots of sass, and a holier than thou attitude, to a mature women, with a goal and a future.
Discussion Questions:
- How did Beneatha’s views of herself and things around her change throughout the play?
- Have your dreams and goals changed from your childhood to now? How and Why?
Jessica,
I really liked how in your introduction you stated many dreams from Walter, Mama, and Beneatha and then went into further depth with Benetha’s dream of being a doctor and even marriage. While you were right on all accounts, I’d encourage you to look at someone else’s dream that was left out. On page 135 in Act III Asagai talks about his dream and about his country. He says, “And even I will have moments when I wonder if the quiet was better than the death and hatred. But I will look about my village at the illiteracy and disease and ignorance and I will not wonder long.” While Asagai is not perhaps a main character in the play, he still has dreams of making his country better and the lives of his people more enriched and I think that is a beautiful analysis of his dream that might be aided by Beneatha going back to Africa with him to be a doctor and eventually they’ll fulfill both of their dreams.
Hey Jessie, for the second discussion question I would say that almost everyone’s dreams and goals from their childhood change, including mine. One example of goals changing as we grow older and learn more things is on page 47, on this page Mama and Benethea go back and forth about her picking up all these hobbies as she wants to try new things as she gains more experience. On page 48 she says “-People have to express themselves one way or another.” My goals and dreams have changed several times as I have gotten older, when I was younger I wanted to go to college and play sports and do things like that but as I got older I realized there was more important things and other things I was interested in and I chose a different path.
Jessica, I agree with you that Beneatha’s values may have shifted throughout the play. Her character is very progressive and independent, and she has very strong opinions throughout the play. This is especially shown when she talks to Mama about religion, as you mentioned. Even though her views on marriage have changed at the end of the play, she still keeps her independence. When she is talking about marrying Asagai, she says to Walter “What have you got to do with who I marry!”(150). This goes to show that even though some things about Beneatha have changed, she still does not necessarily care what Walter thinks and will do what she believes is best for her.
Jessie,
I enjoyed reading your post and I do see your point about how Beneatha developed throughout the play, both in her dreams and her personality, but I disagree with the idea of Beneatha as childish, though I have heard that opinion voiced in the class. My personal interpretation of Beneatha is that of a woman who has constantly been shot down, not even just by society, but by her own family, especially her brother. As a black woman in the fifties, Beneatha’s opportunity to do anything would be limited, and the world she lived in would have made it extremely hard for her to even believe she could do something. Almost every aspect of her life is working against her, and she has to take it from her family too, who you might think would be the people who understand her. The first things Walter says to her in the play are criticisms: “You should get up earlier.” and “You a horrible-looking chick at this hour” (35). And the last time we see the two they are fighting once again. Walter also disrespects Beneatha and Mama by investing the money that should have gone to Beneatha’s education. Beneatha does not just have problems with Walter, but with Mama too, who does not allow her to have her own opinion. Many people have interpreted the scene where Mama slaps Beneatha as Beneatha being a belligerent and unruly child, but I think it can be taken a different way. I think it can be used to show the divide between generations, and also as a way to show how people fight when they do not try to understand each other. I think looking at these events through a different perspective lead to a whole new interpretation of Beneatha.
Jessie,
I liked how you used Beneath and Mama’s conversation about Religion and marriage to show how her values have shifted. Then showed how at the end she is actually thinking about marrying Asagai. Its the perfect example of how much her values change throughout the play. She first starts off not really having the intentions of marrying either Asagai or George and by the end the though of marrying Asagai is a very real possibility. But she is also still keeping her ground by the end of the play when she says “I wouldn’t marry him if he was Adam and i was Eve” (150). So it helps us to get the understanding that even though Beneath has changed she still can take care of herself.
Jessica, I can definitely see your point about Beneatha being childish. She has a tendency to get huffy and speak boldly with her older brother and mother, which is behavior more reminiscent of a teenager than an adult. However, I think a lot of readers forget that she is only twenty years old, which is still very young! In spite of her age, she is working hard to become a doctor, and completing medical school is no easy feat, especially when you come from a lower-income home. Because of this, I think her monologue about Rufus and her dream of being a doctor reflects her feelings of helplessness more so than a moment of maturation. This is reflected in her quote, “I was sleeping in that bed in there, people went out and took the future right out of my hands! And nobody asked me, nobody consulted me they just went out and changed my life,” (134). I think she frames her dream of being a doctor as being child-like as a way to cope with the fact that money meant to help her become a doctor is gone. This way, it hurts less to let that dream go. But once her family resolves themselves to move, she tells Mama of Asagai’s plans for her “To go to Africa, Mama be a doctor in Africa . . .” (149). Contrary to your idea that she is losing her childhood ideals, she still wants to be a doctor and get in touch with her African heritage (another ideal she has had throughout the play) once her and her family’s morale is restored.
Jessie,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post! Benetha is also my favorite character in the play too! I believe that although a large portion of the play is focused on Walter and his character, that Benetha was the one who truly had the most character development. Even as you stated in your post, she had a dream since she was younger to become a doctor. It was something we all knew since the first act; that she wanted to be a doctor. But once, Benetha starts talking with Asagi everything comes out,”…I wanted to do that. I always thought was the one concrete thing in the world that a human being could do. Fix up sick, you know–and make them whole again. That was truly being God…” (pg. 133)
And this is where we see Benetha grow up and find herself. Benetha wanted to become a doctor so she could save and help everyone. She wanted to help people the way she wished she could’ve helped her father. She had this whole life planned out for her, until she went to college and grew up.
I think Benetha is a character everyone can truly relate to, because when we’re younger we all have dreams, passions and desires. For me at the age of 8 that was singing. But once I started to grow up and actually work hard for something I cared about, and I wanted to find my people, my passion for singing died. I didn’t like singing in Chorus and I was miserable being there. And whilst I had friends from my childhood who were into music, singing and the theaters, as I got older, they ended up having their own friends and I ended up having mine. They just weren’t my type of people. So I pursued Kickline… and Kickline is what I ended up fighting for and love.
This is why Benetha is such a strong woman and a character that everyone can relate to. Knowledge is power. College gives so many of us the chance to find and lose our dreams.
Hey Jessica,
I had the same thoughts you had about Beneatha’s dreams during this act of the play because we see a total shift in character for her during the end of the play. One line of dialogue that really struck me was between Walter and Beneatha with Walter stating “Africa! What he want you to go to Africa for?” and Beneatha responding “To practice there….” (149) This answers the first question because Beneatha was so determinted to finish schooling and becoming a doctor, but rethinks about whether she should go with Asagai to Africa and practice being a doctor there.
As for my dreams and goals, they have definitely changed since I was a child, and practically throughout my whole life. Having a dream is something that you want to see yourself achieve, but a goal is something you tell yourself you’re going to achieve, no matter how hard the task.
Hi Jessie,
I agree that Beneatha has changed throughout the play in a positive way. She has matured on this journey she had to find her identity. Though I can see where you’re coming from when you say she acts childish by her behavior towards her brother and mother. For instance the conversation she had with mama about religion, she knew how mama would react to what she was saying. Beneatha ignored mama’s warning and kept voicing her opinion, speaking as if she was untouchable. Beneatha does a problem talking her way into trouble with her mama but she doesn’t always act childish. She has big dreams and has worked very hard to get where she is. It is a known fact that she is the most educated among her family and it is can cause a rift between them sometimes. In a fight with Walter she states “I have never asked anyone around here to do anything for me.” (pg. 37) which further shows how all the goals she’s achieved has been because of her own doing. To answer your first discussion question Beneatha’s character development was probably the greatest in the play. Beneatha is a strong willed, stuborn character making her very independent and thinking marriage is a distraction and something not needed in her life. Even though it appears her biggest dream is to become a doctor, her real dream is her finding her own identity. At the beginning of the story Asagi teases Beneatha about how she introduced herself to him asking for help to find her identity. (pg 62). By the end she seems to have found her identity through him and has adapted her future goals and dreams to include him.
Hey Jessie, I really liked how you portrayed Beneatha’s growth throughout the play. You can see from the play that her views shift as she begins to mature and realize that there is more out there that she could potentially be besides her childhood dream. She states on page 133, “I always thought that it was the one concrete thing in the world that humans could do.” This quote further shows her growth, as it portrays her realization that being a doctor was her childhood dream, and that, just like healing people, things may be different now depending on the situation and what she now wants in life.
Hello Jessica,
I love how you take the character of Beneatha from the beginning of the play and from the end of the play and put them side by side. This direct comparison allows the reader to see exactly how Beneatha grows out of her childish ways from the beginning of the play. While Beneatha does mature there are still some instances where she does act childish. “Asagai, while I was sleeping in that bed in there, people went out and took the future right out of my hands! And nobody asked me, nobody consulted me – they just went out and changed my life!”(134). In the beginning of the play she said that the money belonged to Mama and that Mama could do what ever she wanted to do with it. Now that Mama has decided to give the money to Walter, Beneatha has a problem with the way the money is spent and how it means that her future is over. Beneatha has to now come to terms that with or without the money if she can still do what ever she wants even if that means being a doctor.
Jordyn
My dreams have definitely changed since when I was younger. As a child I had hoped and dreamed to be a veterinarian but that how has now obviously changed. As I grew up I realized that even though I loved animals that job wasn’t for me. I considered it though in high school. Now I would like to be a social worker. So I would say that my dreams have changed from when I was younger.
Beneatha has dreams of being a doctor and had hoped that they would come true. Even though her brother Walter did not believe in her. Beneatha states
“And forgive me for ever wanting to be anything at all! (Pursuing him on her knees across the floor) FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME!” (123), she believes in herself.
Hey Jessica, I liked the focus of shift on Beneatha’s character and how she blossoms more into adulthood. However, with Beneatha’s character particularly, in act III when talking to Asagai, she is still the same person who she was. This is conveyed through a conversation with Asagai and Beneatha when Hansberry states “And it is very odd but those who see the changes-who dream and will not give up-are called idealists…. and those who see only the circle-we call them “realists”!”(135) Despite Asagai’s description of these two different ideals applying to him being the idealist and Beneatha to be the realist, it shows her grassroots have stayed the same and she see’s the world as a place that needs to be fixed and addressed, while Asagai’s approach comes more from a standpoint of hard work will pay off if you keep dreaming. Although this difference in them could have to do with how the world has treated them individually, just even on the basis of sex, Beneatha is more prone to injustice, which may explain her philosophy compared to Asagai’s. Although she is a realist, Beneatha is learning to grow up still here as she was presented with an opportunity of becoming a doctor in Africa.
Jessica,
Your blog was impeccable! I especially enjoyed your explanation of the play’s theme. I agree with your interpretation of the theme being dreams and their importance. Like you, I think the play is all about following your dreams and remaining hopeful even in the hard times. Beneatha is a stellar example of consistent dreams that you grow up having and never give up on. Beneatha exclaims, “I always thought that it was the one concrete thing in the world that humans could do” (133). In this scene, Beneatha is talking about her dream of saving the lives of the injured or the ill. She has had this same perspective and desire for as long as she can remember. Her dreams never changed and she stuck by her passion.
Discussion #2- Unlike Beneatha, my dreams and goals have completely changed since my childhood. I used to want to be a pizza maker at a supermarket concession stand. Now, I have no idea what I want to do with my life and honestly, I definately had a better grasp on life back then. Life is unpredictable and crazy, but thats what makes it so fascinating. I think the beauty of A Raisin in the Sun is that its deep and upsetting, but it’s telling the truth. Life isn’t always amazing, bad things happen, so many people go through horrible things, and this play represents life not always having a happy ending.
Great blog~!
Isabelle Pastore
I believe that almost everyone affected by the reality of the society we live in, including its dismal aspects, goes through changes in their dreams. I believe that despite Beneatha’s doubt in God, she immortalizes doctors to replace a “healing” idol in her ideology. She states, “That was the most marvelous thing in the world…”(133). At this point in the play, Beneatha is comparing doctor’s abilities to fix people to any other miracle. However, unlike most miracles her dream of being a doctor is concrete. It’s as simple as getting an education and pursuing an occupation. To me, the biggest point in her character development and transition into adulthood is when she no longer has the money available for her dream, similarly to the rest of her family. Lastly, I think her aspirations and views of God the directly into her views of society, such as she believes people need to make changes to better the world and they aren’t going to mysteriously improve. I enjoy your blog on Beneatha because I find her to be the most progressive and relatable character!