Sunday, December 15, 2013
oppression
It is apparent in A Raisin in the Sun that the Youngers, a working class urban black family in Chicago's Southside struggles to escape the lower class because of the social immobility of black people at the time. It is easy to say that this family will not escape from their house in the city which is too small for their family because society is set up to restrict progress and success from black people. However, in my opinion, race is not the factor that is holding this family back. I think that the family is oppressed by the overarching female totalitarianism present in the family. The father, Walter Younger, has very realistic aspirations to get this family out of poverty. He wants to buy a liquor store with his friends and leave his job as a limousine driver. However, his goal is restricted because besides his son, who has little say, the household is dominated by females. His wife, his sister, and his mother all are opposed to the idea and thus, the family will get nowhere in life. This family has a lot of potential, they even have the startup money necessary to put the plan into action. However, everything is cut short because of the female pessimism present in the family. So while it is easy to blame race, that is the obvious answer and there might be an underlying force that holds this family back, that being female dominance.
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This is a good post, but I disagree with your view that Walter's success is hindered by the women in the family. The women's "pessimism" is actually created by their hopeless situation, which is created by society's racial inequality. Also, they have good judgment in opposing Walter's business plans; it's not guaranteed that he'll be successful after investing so much money into a risky idea.
ReplyDeleteYour post brings up a great view point of the situations that the Youngers are in Trevor! I do agree with Maya though, that the decisions that Lena and Ruth make are in good judgement.
ReplyDeleteYour view of the Youngers' situation is interesting. I do believe that the fact that they are African American is the main reason that they can't escape their situation, but the women may also play a role. However, like Maya said, the women's actions are logical; they don't want to risk so much on Walter's idea.
ReplyDeleteWhile I find your view on female pessimism in the family interesting, I cannot help but wholeheartedly disagree. In a family like this, where each member's economic contributions render each quite equal, I don't think that gender plays a role in the family's decision-making process. I don't think that the women's experiences at work are as radically different from Walter's that they've developed a distinct female attitude that restrains the family. It's not female pessimism as much as natural and well-grounded hesitancy in supporting such a risky scheme.
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