‘Seems like God didn’t see fit to give the black man nothing

‘A raisin in the sun’ by Lorraine Hansberry and ‘Invisible Man’ by Ralph Ellison are two very different texts that each deal with a number of different issues. However, the matter of racism in fifties America is a central theme to both writers, appearing frequently throughout ‘Invisible Man’ and at certain key moments in Lorraine Hansberrys’ play. By analysing the texts it can be seen exactly how far the racist aspect of the society and country they live in holds them back from achieving their goals and dreams, whether they actually have the chance to achieve what they want in spite of the obvious prejudice, or whether in actual fact they just become dreams deferred, drying up ‘Like a raisin in the sun’.

It can be seen in ‘Invisible Man’ that even as a boy he encounters a number of prejudices that hold him back and stop him from doing the best that he can. This can be seen from the beginning of the story such as when he is made to fight a group of other Negros blindfold for the white people’s entertainment before making a speech, throughout which he

The novel suggests that it is very hard for a black man to have anything but dreams, but it can be seen within the novel that certain black characters have achieved what they wanted. The first example being Dr Bledsoe, the black principle at the state college for Negros. However, by what is said it can be suggested that he is barely a black man anymore as firstly he is insulting to his own race in the same way that a white racist would be.

Beneatha describes these people, ‘Uncle Toms’, who will sacrifice themselves and their background in order to get something other than dreams.

‘It’s just I get tired of Him getting credit for all the things the human race achieves through its own stubborn effort. There simply is no blasted God- there is only man and it is he who makes miracles.’

At the eviction he witnesses it can be seen that the white people are not only taking away the old peoples dreams but are taking away their lives by relentlessly evicting an old age couple into the street with the small number of possessions they have and even try to take away the peoples right to pray by refusing to let them inside for five minutes.

‘When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination-indeed everything except me.’

Some topics in this essay:
Golden Day, Tarzan’p41 Walter, Lorraine Hansberrys’, Sun’ Walter, I’ll Negro, Dr Bledsoe, Ralph Ellison, Jack Brotherhood, , black people, Sun’ Beneatha, fit black, didn’t fit, ‘invisible man’, didn’t fit black, raisin sun’, ‘a raisin, ‘a raisin sun’, god didn’t fit, white people, idea black, helping black, beneatha describes, fit black dreams’, black people dreams,