Raisin Blog 2

A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry


One external conflict that really meant a great deal to me while reading A Raisin in the Sun was the conflict between Mama and Beneatha. Hansberry really makes it obvious that Beneatha is the rebellious, feminist of the family. On the contrary, Hansberry also makes it apparent that Mama is very traditional and conservative in her views and actions. Naturally, it was no mystery that the two of these characters would not get along all of the time. However, I did not think that any of these disagreements would ever escalate to physical violence. At one point in the story, Beneatha states that there is no God. Mama, being the the devout, religious person that she is, does not accept this statement at all. "(MAMA absorbs this speech, studies her daughter and rises slowly and crosses to BENEATHA and slaps her powerfully across the face. After, there is only silence and the daughter drops her eyes from her mother's face, and MAMA is very tall before her)" (Hansberry, 457). The fact that Mama slaps Beneatha speaks volumes of her character. I could tell from this scene that Mama and Beneatha had not agreed on many things throughout their lives, and perhaps Mama slapping Beneatha was a breaking point for Mama. Even though Beneatha is a very opinionated and strong woman, Mama proves to still hold authority over Beneatha's opinion when she is in Mama's house.