Assimilation, is the act of submitting yourself and your culture to another that is seen as larger and more superior. Beneatha is a young college student who (out of the rest of the characters) provides an independent and ambitious perspective, as seen through her goal of becoming a doctor. During her life in this play she dates two very different men, George Murchison and Joseph Asagai. Hansberry through the book shows that George and Beneatha are almost opposites on their opinion on african-american culture, but her and Asagai both believe in self-determination whether it be believing in god or adapting to submissive to white culture.
Throughout the play Hansberry provides us with dialogue that not only reveals why Beneatha picked Asagai, but why she and George seemed to repel away from each other. George is a good-looking (as described by Beneatha herself) and rich for an african-american family, he is Beneatha’s boyfriend at the through a bit more than half of the book. The couple 's troubles are most prevalent and public when he picks her up from her apartment to take her to the cinema. After having been
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She has chosen Asagai because he is a free-thinker and someone who isn’t ashamed of where they originate, and for Beneatha, that means the world to her. So how does Hansberry help you understand why Beneatha chooses Asagai and rejects George? Well when it is not painstakingly obvious such as when Beneatha outright refuses the idea of marrying George, it is hinted at through the play with George’s tone of disapproval and Asagai’s tone of encouragement and motivation that makes it clear who will win the heart of Beneatha. Hansberry through the book shows that George and Beneatha are almost opposites on their opinion on african-american culture, but her and Asagai both believe in
In the story, Mama puts Walter in charge of handling the Life Insurance which turns out to be a big mistake. This action makes Beneatha very unhappy, and although Mama expresses anger at Walter, she can be blamed for not handling the situation herself. The negative effect of this decision is shown through the character of Beneatha, who cries and complains to her boyfriend Asagai. “Too many things --” she says, “too many things have happened today. I must sit down and think.”
William Dean Howells’s “Editha” and Henry James’s “Daisy Miller” In the nineteenth century, American writers became obsessed with the Realism movement. They started to focus on problems of that century such as wife abuse, child neglect and women’s freedom. They wrote about the middle class that suffers from different social problems especially women who act against their social norms and traditions. Realistic writers try to represent the events and social conditions as they really are without idealism.
Walter uses his male privilege to put Beneatha down. Beneatha battles being underprivileged at home and in society by defying odds and choosing her own path. According to the matrix of domination, Beneatha being an African American woman shows that in order for her to have full privilege she has to deal with both the isms. The social construction of difference has produced racism and sexism and connected them and society has used them to justify
”(Hansberry 96 ). Beneatha is often confronted by Asagi, about how she is assimilating to an oppressive culture. Asagi tells her to stop trying to fit in, to be proud of her African roots, to embrace them, “White-black in this you are all the same.” (Hansberry 64) Beneatha desires to be different from those in her generation.
His sister, Beneatha, wants to become a doctor and Walter isn't very supportive of her decision. Walter's wife, Ruth, is the recipient of the majority of Walter's anger and sexist remarks. In Act 1 Scene 1, the audience learns that Beneatha, a colored woman, wants to become a doctor and attends medical school. Beneatha and Walter begin to banter with each other about Mama’s money.
At the end of the play Beneatha is considering marrying Asagai and moving with him to Nigeria to practice medicine. Asagai’s dream is that Beneatha will become an African woman. He wants her to wear her hair natural and listen to African music. Asagai also wants her to marry him and move back with him to Africa.
She puts a lot of effort and time in trying to get an education for herself and learn how to be her own person. Beneatha does not want to be with George because she feels that she will not be able to fulfill her dream of being a doctor. For example, “But if the Younger’s are sitting around waiting to see if their little Bennie is going to tie up the family with the Murchisons, they are wasting their time” (Hansberry31).Beneatha wants to be a hardworking woman and this connects to the American Dream because hard work is a big component of achieving what you want. Also, she does not want George Murchison stopping her from being a hard-working woman. She does everything by herself and puts her hard work into everything she does.
This character trait is seen when Asagai mentions how he met Beneatha. She tells him she wants to know more about Africa because she is looking for her identity (62). Beneatha’s effort to make herself different from her family shows her personal identity. She has different views from her family. For example, she does not accept the existence of God (51).
Hansberry makes the characters have a tough life so when they achieve what they want, it’s a greater reward than someone who had an easy life. The main reason Beneatha changed so much during this play because of how people treated her. Beneath goes through major changes in the play. One of the main reason she does is because of Asagia. Asagia is a friend of Beneatha and is from Nigeria.
Beneatha dreams to be a doctor, which is a male-dominated profession. She says, “I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that!” (Hansberry 33). This shows her feminist attitude in the play when Beneatha takes a largely optimistic stance when facing troubles of entering a male-dominated profession, implying that she is a ‘non-conformist’. Additionally, Beneatha refuses to “just get married and be quiet” (Hansberry 22), as her chauvinistic brother, Walter Lee, expects her to be.
At the beginning of the play, Walter is harassing Beneatha about her choice of becoming a doctor. “Ain’t many girls who decide to be a doctor”(Hansberry 36), Walter means that it is uncommon for women to be a doctor in this era of time. Especially a woman of color becoming a doctor. Normally these women are nurses, if that even. It was very hard for African Americans to get a job due to having different colored skin.
All of the things that make Asagai’s relationship with Beneatha healthy, come from his upbringing; his upbringing that was lesser than George’s. Beneatha’s relationship with Joseph Asagai is healthier than Beneatha’s relationship with George Murchison because Asagai has a more positive view on the world. One key to a healthy relationship is having positive conversations ("MindPerk RSS"). In Act three, when Asagai comes
Beneatha doesn 't really believe them though, she thinks that they are against her she says “Forgive me for ever wanting to be anything at all” (Hansberry.37). She is saying that no one else in her family is ever going to be anything. She believe that she is the only one that is going to be successful. The rest of her family just has a low paying job and they don 't really make anything of them self. The real truth is that her family is working hard to put her through school so that she can make
Saad Moolla Ms. Noha Enligh III 15 January 2015 Literary Analysis Essay The play, “ A Raisin in the Sun” authored by Lourraine Hasenberry holds a very unique title that refers to Langston Hughes’s poem “A Dream Deferred.” Langston’s poem is about dreams and what happens to those dreams are not fulfilled. Hassenberry wrote her play about a poor African American family by the name of the Yongers. Mrs. Younger, Walter Lee, and Beneatha all have there own individual dreams.
She defies the ideal life for a woman and expresses her opinion loud and clear. Beneatha throughout the play finds herself and her African American roots. Walter does not approve of Beneatha’s hopes to become a doctor he tells her, “If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people---then go be a nurse like other women---or just get married and be quiet. . .” (1.1.125) These social issues that the characters faced in their lives made them out to be the people that they were meant to be.