A Raisin in the Sun (pages 456-475)

Tensions are rising to an even higher level in this section of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Question five asks about the problems caused between the generation gaps in this play. Beneatha and Walter are beginning to show their own identities and personalities, which tend to conflict with one another. More importantly, these identities are viewed as so radical to Mama that it begins to frustrate her due to lack of understanding. Mama is conversing with Walter when she claims, "In my time we was worried about not being lynched... and how to stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity too... Now here come you and Beneatha -- talking 'bout things we ain't never even thought about hardly... You ain't satisfied or proud of nothing we done" (Hansberry, 475). Mama is from a generation where black people were doing everything in their power to be free from oppression. Now her children's generation, the generation of Walter and Beneatha, is becoming one that tries to avoid the oppression by conforming with society. Not only does Mama have to deal with these generation barriers, but so do Beneatha and Walter. These two get angry with Mama's religious beliefs and the choices she makes with money, respectively. Lack of communication between these separate age groups causes a great deal of unnecessary conflict.