A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry: What does being a man mean? [Book review]

I'll be reviewing a play/book I immensely enjoy today, A Raisin In The Sun. Check out the film for sublime acting and fidelity to the play's original dialogue and stage directions.

 

The best film version of the play in my opinion.

Back to the play- what does being a man mean? What does being 'a man' mean to women? What does being a man mean to the man himself?

A Raisin in the Sun

The definition of being a man, espoused by the women in A Raisin in the Sun, is someone who takes care of the family by providing for them, and defends them against threats to their lives and their dignity.

As dignity can be such a nebulous concept, I will follow the meaning of dignity in the book rather than one I've made up in my mind. To have dignity simply means to have a right to live as equals with the rest of the world. For example, no one has the right to tell you to live somewhere purely due to your skin colour. Today, it is just known as racial prejudice.

While there are many multi-dimensional characters worth our time in the book, such as Mama, Beneatha and even Ruth, I am most interested in Walter Younger as he is the character who changes the most by the end.

Walter is an ambitious young father who desires money and class. He complains about his life and his social standing, and is essentially unhappy with who he is. He is displeased with his job. He has no self-dignity and frequently engages in self-depreciation, which comes across as rather pathetic at times. This is probably because he holds the simplistic belief that having a higher social status can make him a more dignified and important person.

Walter is also unable to provide for his family and sees himself as the child in the family who has yet to fulfil his dreams. Moreover he blames “coloured women” for not making their husbands “feel like they somebody” although it is clear that they are in hardly any position to do anything about it.

Walter thus desperately wants to invest in a business. He looks up to Charlie Atkin because he earns a lot of money. That is someone who Ruth clearly dislikes and describes as someone who talks a lot but contributes little to others. He also worries Mama by investing in a liquor business with Willy Harris, and in the play, it is implied that as a religious conservative Mama disapproves of it.

As he is so fixated on his 'dreams', Walter appears to be selfish and insensitive in the process of demanding support from the women without respecting himself or others. By the end of the play though, Walter overturns all of these initial impressions and becomes a rather likable character. I'll leave you to discover if you really agree with me, but I genuinely believe, that the ending is an optimistic one.

Why read this book? 

• Enjoy 2 hours and more of dramatic tension in the household
• Learn what a great play should feel like (intense, gripping and tight yet having a neat conclusion) 
• Engage in the various themes like race, marriage, gender and family that the play presents.

Clockwork Angel (Book 1 of the Infernal Devices Trilogy) [Book review]

"'There are much more things in Heaven and earth, Nathaniel, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,' he said."

Book 1 of the Infernal Devices Trilogy

Indulging in an easy read over the weekend is akin to slipping into the embrace of a warm bath. Clockwork Angel, the first of the Infernal Devices Trilogy immerses the reader in Victorian London just as easily. Cassandra Clare has managed a praiseworthy fast-paced page turner, with the vivid graphicness of nightmares and a refined emotional touch of unrequited, pining love.

Clare is also one of the few authors whose young adult novels have hit the movie screen after the phenomenal success of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter universe. Her book, City of Bones in The Mortal Instruments series was in the cinemas just this year.

I initially expected Clockwork Angel to be like Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games film trilogy, which I personally did not enjoy due to the weak and diluted prose that did no justice to the brilliant idea of combining reality television with a dystopian, Kardashian-like future. Thus it was a pleasant surprise when Clockwork Angel turned out to be a rather solid and highly entertaining read with surprisingly accurate references to Chinese folklore.

Starting her chapters with ominous quotes that will prime every Victorian literature lover for a wild and raw rush of action and bloodlust, Clare weaves humans (the 'mundanes'), dark magicians, healers, vampires or beasts (known as 'Downworlders' or the 'Shadow World') and the Nephilim ('Shadowhunters') together in a coherent story of sibling love and betrayal.

The Nephilim is widely considered to be a race: half humans, half angels, originating from the Bible (Genesis 6:4) which described them as "sons of God" and "daughters of men". Some believe that they are the offsprings of men and angels and are thus more beautiful and strong than other mortals. Others simply believe that they are the offspring of Seth who rebelling against God, mingled with Cain who commited the first murder by slaying his brother and was condemned to roam the earth. The common strain between these different interpretations is that the Nephilim are outsiders of our world, who are not quite human and yet cast away from God.

Tessa Gray, an American girl, crosses the ocean to locate her brother Nathaniel ('Nate') in England. A lonely orphan amidst orphaned Shadowhunters, who by nature of their Nephilim blood are lonesome beings belonging to neither heaven or earth, the book revolves mainly around her search for Nate and her life in The Institute with them. These Shadowhunters have superior physical capabilities but wither away at an age we would consider a human's prime.

Much detail is paid in describing the dreary weather in London as well as the differences in accents. The story begins with her kidnapping by the Pandemonium Club, an occult secret society, which reveals a hidden talent she possesses. This ultimately becomes a weapon as fatal to others as it is to herself and the people she loves.

Tessa’s incredible love for books serves to strengthen her resolve to live at certain points of hardships. Books are an escape for her difficult circumstances. She is probably a reflection of Clare’s love letter to her own passion for literature. It was distracting, somewhat like the quotes at the start of the chapters which felt irrelevant and more of a throwback to the Victorian forefathers of fantasy and gore, but the familiar references are welcome nonetheless, adding depth and dimension to the immensity of what the characters are experiencing.

Set apart from both life and love, Tessa unintentionally embarks on a discovery of other lonely characters and her mysterious past while the different worlds wage war against each other. More importantly, she gains a family in a process filled with blood, murders black magic and betrayals.

Why read this book? 

• To expose yourself to the steam punk genre
• To cast aside one's prejudice of books with fancy covers directed at young adults 
• Simply, to enjoy a good and easy read on sleepless nights!