whitecat5000's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
This was better than I was expecting. That "Welcoming Committee" was something else.
b0avalos's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
renu_read's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
earth2elevator's review
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
colin_cox's review
5.0
Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun asks a series of interesting and important questions about how people of color fashion a viable identity in a predominately white world that defines success through the capitalist accumulation impulse. Walter Lee exemplifies the tensions of this dynamic but so does Beneatha, even if the particulars of her situation are fundamentally different. Beneatha is less seduced by white hegemony than Walter Lee, but the simple fact that Hansberry makes it an option speaks to the limited terrain of possibilities present in an overwhelmingly white and capitalistic society. By absorbing all differences into the vast, amorphous signifier "white," whiteness, symbolically speaking, obscures radical dissent by eliminating, through consumption, any viable alternatives. Simply put: everything exists in the shadow the white signifier casts.
In A Raisin in the Sun, segregation functions as an example of symbolic white absorption. Segregation reinforces white hegemony by articulating the necessity of division predicating on racial difference. The fact that whiteness can undertake the consumption of contradiction speaks to its power. However, whiteness twists the antagonistic division at the heart of segregation (segregation does not endeavor to bridge gaps, instead it aspires to maintain them) by suggesting division is reconciliation. Put another way: we reconcile differences by sustaining the difference. This is why the Younger's decision to reject the Clybourne Park payout is so radical. They reject the vampiric power of whiteness by, ironically enough, embedding themselves in a white neighborhood.
I have read A Raisin in the Sun once before, but this time it resonated in ways it did not before. Like Rachel, a play I read a few weeks ago, A Raisin in the Sun deftly dramatizes the exploitation people of color confront in the United States.
In A Raisin in the Sun, segregation functions as an example of symbolic white absorption. Segregation reinforces white hegemony by articulating the necessity of division predicating on racial difference. The fact that whiteness can undertake the consumption of contradiction speaks to its power. However, whiteness twists the antagonistic division at the heart of segregation (segregation does not endeavor to bridge gaps, instead it aspires to maintain them) by suggesting division is reconciliation. Put another way: we reconcile differences by sustaining the difference. This is why the Younger's decision to reject the Clybourne Park payout is so radical. They reject the vampiric power of whiteness by, ironically enough, embedding themselves in a white neighborhood.
I have read A Raisin in the Sun once before, but this time it resonated in ways it did not before. Like Rachel, a play I read a few weeks ago, A Raisin in the Sun deftly dramatizes the exploitation people of color confront in the United States.
dbudds's review
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
doughnuts1's review
3.0
From the beginning of the play I hated Walter. He was obviously a weak character, believing that women should only soothe a man's feelings and any ambitions, and complaining all the time about how he was degraded by his own family. So when Mama trusted him with the life insurance money I knew right off the back that Walter was going to fuck everything up for the Youngers. Though in the end he did go through tremendous character development, I still didn't like how he finally took on the role of being the "man" of the family.
It's interesting how the issue of racial segregation is also relative to today even though this book was written 50 years ago! Although people don't have "Welcoming Committees", to try to force certain people out, there still is segregation between neighborhoods, by the income of families and the prices of the houses.
It's interesting how the issue of racial segregation is also relative to today even though this book was written 50 years ago! Although people don't have "Welcoming Committees", to try to force certain people out, there still is segregation between neighborhoods, by the income of families and the prices of the houses.
anjumstar's review
3.0
I totally forgot that I read this book about a month ago. Which, I guess means the play wasn't very memorable...That's pretty true. It wasn't bad--it just wasn't particularly interesting or dynamic. It wasn't nearly as painful a read as I was afraid that it would be, though, and I still kind of recommend it. I may even read it again someday for fun, just because I don't remember it that well. But I got through it pretty quickly and could see the play in my mind's eye, even though I've never seen it before.
violettiaras's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0