Setting

A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry

The play A Raisin in the Sun took place in Chicago sometime after World War II. During this time, white people strongly discriminated against African Americans. The discrimination that the Younger family faced drove their actions. Because the family was subject to working low paying jobs, they resided in a small, poor apartment. This apartment served as a limitation to the Younger family, especially Walter. In a physical sense, the apartment was too small for the family, and so each member did not have space of their own. In a less literal sense, the apartment served as a symbolic limitation to Walter. The apartment represented the low class in which Walter was raised. He worked as a chauffeur, but he dreamed of becoming something more. However, every night when he returned home, the apartment reminded him of the reality in which he lived. He was not wealthy, and he was limited by the color of his skin. He did not escape the limitation of discrimination until he escaped the confines of the small apartment. "We come from people who had a lot of pride...and we have decided to move into our house because my father-my father- he earned it for us brick by brick" (Hansberry, 148). By leaving the apartment and moving to a new house, Walter left behind his past problems to gain a fresh start with his family.