In the play “A raisin in the sun,” the author depicted the environment of Walter Lee’s family. In the family of Lee, everyone has a goal to achieve: “Lee is tired of his job, he wants to be rich enough to afford his family; his son Travis and sister Beneatha needs tuition fee to support their education; his wife Ruth has a baby, but she is struggling since her husband considered that would be unaffordable; what Walter’s mother Lena wishing is Walter can take his responsibility to family”. However, due to financial problem, the family was living in a plain house, Lee’s son Travis has to sleep on sofa. On the other hand, the families faced bias, bias to race, gender, and culture, stop them from attending the middle class of society. Even though everyone in the family failed sometimes, they never give up their hope. Especially for Walter Lee and his sister Beneatha, their way to achieve the American dream, is business and education. However, Lee blindly trust his “partner” that there would be no risk for investment, he believed that he will be rich as long as he devote money to something; the over optimistic implied that the “investment” would fail. After Lee experienced a great suffer of losing his property, he realized that what most important to him is dignity, and his family, since they would always support him. According to a series of stage directions, the characteristic of families was shown, make readers understand that plots and characters are always related to each other.

After I read the play “a raisin in the sun” by Hansberry, I get to know that the author has utilized the stage directions to depict the portrayal of each character and the place where this play occurs. In the play, by using detailed stage directions, readers are able to understand the specific actions of each character and expect what is going to happen. The characters live in an old, crowded and poor house, and their quality of life is lower compared to white class. And each of them dream of living in the life as good as whites. They work hard to reduce the racial segregation and dream of living in the life that is as good as whites. Ruth’s husband, Walter Lee. He wants to invest on a liquor store to earn enough money to make the life better. His younger sister, Beneatha, has the different belief compared to her brother. She does not care about the money from her father’s insurance, but she is eager to become a doctor in the future and make changes of her life by herself. However, she is facing the identity and status in the society. Their mother, Lena, as well know as MAMA in the play, she wants to distribute her husband’s insurance money into two. One for Beneatha’s education, and one for buying the house with more bedrooms and a backyard. The main purpose of these actions is to improve their quality of life and reduce the racial gap between them and the whites. The stage directions help connect each character with each other, and allows the audience to understand the true meaning behind the play more clearly.

A raisin in the Sun is a play with idealistic color, which is in opposition to the worship of money in the society. In the script, the characters in this family all share the same selfishness and expectations as the people in real life. However, they also have pride for race and hope to be respected, self-sacrifice for the family and the growth of the children. The characters in the play have their personal life details, but also their faith in family, love and race. The script is different from the novel in that it has a lot of dialogue and some scenes. This is because the audience can get to know the information conveyed on the stage for the first time. In the first act, they appear in an old, crowded house. This is the information that the story attaches to the characters, indicating that they are not a wealthy family. Their morning dialogue also shows the connection between the characters. The dialogue seems plain, and it feels like an ordinary family should say it. However, this is all artistically done, and in reality, such dialogue is unlikely to occur. Because in reality, people tend to pay more attention to actions than words. Dialogue, however, is the most direct and accurate way in which the script is communicated to the audience. And the characters in the script are at the heart of the story. For example, Walter showed his stubbornness and selfishness in some things. He was looking forward to an opportunity when his family could look up to him. His dream was shattered by an accident. Then he had to sell the house to appease his family. So Walter here was selfish for a reason. He valued his family, but he also hoped that his family could depend on him. In the end, he did not sell the house, because in addition to his family he had pride and faith in his race. This is also the education he received and the education he gave to his children.

After I read the book raisins in the sun, the author of raisins in the sun describes the great influence of apartheid on the black families living in Chicago at that time. In the book, racial discrimination is very serious, because there are great difficulties in people’s demand for happiness, which is related to the struggle for black identity in the social background at that time. Because no one wants to live in an old, crowded house and a low-quality life, every character wants a good life. They are trying to improve their apartheid and lifestyle. In the book, Walter is a selfish family member. He only cares about his interests. As a man, he doesn’t care about his mother’s money, only his dream, and doesn’t know it’s her money. Maybe welted wants to be rich. Welted’s sister dreams of becoming a smart doctor. She has different values from her family. In the face of her identity and status quo, she has made a lot of efforts, and also wants to change the status quo through her efforts. “Lena” is their mother. She is conservative. She hopes to buy her husband’s valuable insurance, buy a dream, house, and have her dream come true. But all of these are goals to improve their quality of life. The authors share their thoughts, conversations, and feelings that highlight small details and feelings that reflect the author’s attitude and how they want to express the author. His mother controls the family because she manages the family’s financial and social activities. These black family members are not interested in following the white culture, except that Beneatha wants to be a doctor and an outsider. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the dreams they want to achieve. What they want is to improve their living standard as much as possible. I feel that every part of the story conveys the same message, that is, they are yearning for a better life and striving for a better dream.

The  “a raisin in the sun” is essentially about dreams. The stage directions in “a Raisin in the Sun” were particular and vital. Some of the stage directions were very descriptive in not only the action but the mood that was to be portrayed by the characters. The author vividly describes each character’s attitude and action; for example, in A RAISIN IN THE SUN 41, MAMA I ain’t meddling. (Pause) Put a lot of nice butter on it? (RUTH shoots her an angry look and does not reply) He likes lots of butter. Hansberry also brings the characters to the audience by narrating everyone’s dream and struggle to deal with the oppressive circumstances that rule their lives. The story describes a significant conflict in the novel the Youngers, a working-class black family, struggle against economic hardship and racial prejudice. Mama’s greatest dream for her family is to have a house where the whole family can live comfortably. Walter wants to be rich, and devises plans to acquire wealth with his friends. Beneatha’s dream is to become a doctor and to save her race from ignorance. All the characters’ efforts described by the author have a common goal: improving their social status and having a quality life in the U.S，even they live in a narrow and gloomy environment.

After I read “In the a raisin in the sun,” than I expect that before the presence of character describes the social environment of the development, where some of the main characters live and describe the realities of some of the main characters in the environment. Who want to live in the old, crowded houses and poor quality life, every characters wants a wonderful life to live. They work hard to improve racist traps and improve their life style. Every character of this story is featured in the same character, but the message is also shared in different language, work and values. Welted wanted to become rich. On the other hand, her sister, dreamt of being a smart doctor. She has a different values from her family. She fighting a lot to face her identity and condition, also she wants to change the status through her own efforts. “Lena” is their mother and she is a conservative person. She hopes to buy her husband’s precious insurance to buy a dream house, and own her dream is come true. However, all of the above is a goal with which to improve the quality of their lives and life. The author shares their thoughts, conversations and feelings that highlight small details and feelings that reflect the author’s attitude, how they want to express the author.

In A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry uses stage directions to contribute in the portrayal of the characters and environment of the play to the reader. The use of detailed stage directions help readers decipher the characteristics and specific behaviors of the Younger family. Hansberry introduces the Younger family to the reader as living in poverty through clear stage directions of the home, “Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too many people for too many years and they are tired.” Readers can picture through this stage direction that the Younger family live in an underclass home. Hansberry also uses stage directions before addressing the characters to give a comprehensive description of each characters persona. For example, as a reader, we can pick up that Walter is a very driven and ambitious character. Walter defies the Younger families pessimistic nature through his business idea when speaking about a potential liquor store investment, “You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on the place be ’bout thirty thousand, see.” Readers can expect that Walter is a rather optimistic and aspiring character despite living in an underclass family. Hansberry delivers thorough descriptions in her stage directions which help guide readers into each characters persona so we can perceive the characters in the way she intended.

In the a raisin in the sun, before the appearance of the characters, the author sets the tone for the development of the story by describing the social environment in which the story takes place and the environment in which some of the main characters live. The old, crowded houses, the poor quality of life and the wonderful life that every character wants. They work hard to improve the racial gap and improve their quality of life. Each character in the story is given a specific characteristic to convey a same message, but the expression of the message is in different languages, actions and values. Walter wanted to become rich like the white class. His sister, on the other hand, is young and smart and has the dream of becoming a doctor. She has different values from her family. She struggles hard to face her identity and status, and she wants to change the status through her own efforts. Their mother Lena is conservative and she hopes to invest her husband’s precious insurance fee to buy a house so as to make the American dream of owning her own house come true. But all of above are for one goal that involves how to improve their social status and quality of life. Author depicts their thoughts, conversations and feelings which revealing small detailed hints about the attitude the author wants to express.

In what ways does Hansberry use stage directions to set up our expectations for what will happen in the play and what the characters are like?