Every rational person knows what a man is but the greater question relating to manhood is who is the man and how can be defined. Upon close reading and careful analysis of the play A Raisin in the Sun, I found that Lorraine Hansberry, the author, sought to answer this question as part of the major thematic outputs. Hansberry presents different kinds of men and also the different perspective of looking at masculinity to allow the interlocutor to seek the answer to the question of manhood by themselves. In the middle of the quest for the meaning of masculinity are three men. Walter, the main character in the movie desires to be the man, or perhaps just to be able to do things that men do. George, a rich and well educated black man believes that he is the man (Hansberry, 1994) . Finally, Asagai, the West African studying to be a doctor believes he knows what it is to be a man. My understanding of masculinity from the perspective of A Raisin in the Sun is anyone who can be able to transform himself from being like Walter and into being like George while retaining his dignity and heritage as Asagai advises.
It is my informed opinion that Walter is not the man even in his own eyes but he pretends to be one, subject to convenience. For a start, Walter is not the man because of who he is and what he is doing about it. George is a poor man who drives limousine and shares a crumpled little apartment with his nuclear and extended family. He has thoughts of grandeur about the kind of a man he is supposed to be, mainly based on material things: “ Hell, yes, I want me some yachts someday! Yes, I want to hang some real pearls ’round my wife’s neck ” (Hansberry, 1994, Act III, Scene 1). However, Walter believes that being a man by itself entitles him to these things instead of holding the opinion that earning thsse things is what would make him a man. When Walter talks about riches and expensive things, I believe in his mind he is making reference to George, his sister’s boyfriend. George is from affluent African American family, managed to get a good education and is living Walter’s version of the good life with wealth and comfort. However, Walter does not consider that the money in George’s life was earned by the men who preceded George in his family line. Men who worked really hard invested and left returns to their children. The opinion of masculinity that is presented from this perspective is the kind of masculinity that only looks at the outcomes instead of looking at the process.
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When expediency demands it, Walter always claims to be the man, or at the very least the man of the house and the leader of the family. In this perspective, I find that the author paints a very painful and insulting picture of the African American man, yet the said picture also happens to be very accurate. Walter’s father worked hard to raise a family and contemporaneously fund a life insurance to leave an inheritance for his family. When the check for US$10,000 finally comes, Walter believes that as the man of the house, he is entitled to the money. As Walter is busy making plans about how to invest the money in a liquor store, he is given a wakeup call by his sister Beneatha: “…. but the insurance money belongs to Mama. Picking on me is not going to make her give it to you to invest in any liquor stores ….” (Hansberry, 1994, Act I, Scene 1). It looks to me that when the situation demands it, Walter reverts to the primal meaning of masculinity which means a male human being, then use it to create dominance over the women in his life. Beneatha, however, educates Walter by showing him that the life insurance money was made by another man, their father who bequeathed it to their mother and not to Walter. Being male, therefore, is not presented as having masculinity from the perspective of the play.
The author, however, takes time to inform the interlocutor that being the man is not about where you find yourself but rather what you do with it. I find it surprising that the most important lesson about being the man in the play is actually taught to a woman. Asagai, Beneatha’s other boyfriend is a West African from a poor Yoruba village: “ In my village at home it is the exceptional man who can even read a newspaper ” (Hansberry, 1994, Act III, Scene 1). His background makes him more of a Walter than a George since his family is poor and he has no natural means of getting sudden wealth. However, unlike Walter, Asagai is not complaining about his fate but instead working to change it. He wants to go back home and work to improve his life step by step, even if he is not sure if he will survive or find a violent death (Hansberry, 1994) . It is in this segment of the passage that I finally find the real definition of masculinity as presented by Hansberry.
From the totality of the play in general and particularly with the focus on Walter, I find that a real man is the one who accepts his current status in life, finds his intended destination then starts working towards it. When applied to Walter, being a real man is not about being able to give his son the world, buy a yacht or give his wife pearls. Instead, Walter would be the man if he spends every conscious moment of his life earnestly and relentlessly working towards these goals, whether or not he ever achieves them. Masculinity is a process, not a destination.
References
Hansberry L. (1994). A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage Books. http://khdzamlit.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/2/6/11261956/a_raisin_in_the_sun_-_lorraine_hansberry.pdf
