A Rain in the Sun

Plot Summary

The play opens as the Younger family anxiously awaits the arrival of a check. It is the life insurance check of $10,000, made payable to Lena (Mama) Younger, the matriarch of the family, because of the death of her husband. The entire family lives within the walls of a tiny apartment and the play takes place entirely in its worn out, lived-in living room. Travis, the young son of Ruth and Walter Lee, sleeps on the couch in the living room and is constantly awoken by noise from the adults. Walter Lee and Beneatha are Lena's children (Corley, 2002). Walter Lee is married to Ruth, and works as a chauffeur, while Beneatha, much younger and energetic, plans to study to become a doctor. Each member of the family wants to do something different with the money, and therefore, waits anxiously for his/her new lifeto start.

Walter Lee is working with low-life street men, Willy Harris and Bobo, to start a liquor store. He is obsessed with money and constantly feels as if the world is against him, especially his wife and mother. He storms out of the house, seeking the two men with whom he plans to do business and also to complain about his job. Mama meanswhile suspects Ruth to be pregnant.

Beneatha discusses her new, independent style in college. She is courted by two men: the first boy, George Murchison, is a wealthy Negro concerned with appearances and material, while the second, Joseph Asagai, is a native African that inspires her intellectually and spiritually. Asagai brings Bennie authentic Nigerian robes as a gift, and she puts them on, pretending to be an African princess. George arrives to take Bennie out to the theater and is appalled by her attire, forcing her to change. The Younger family is in favor of George because they believe his money will help her and themselves.

When the check finally does arrive, Lena has trouble dealing, for she realizes that the ten thousand dollars is a replacement for her husband. The family tells her to do what she desires with the money. Walter irrationally urges Mama to give him the money, gradually become irate and furious. Mama reprimands him, not understanding how he became so obsessed with money and so disinterested in his own family. She reveals information that Ruth is pregnant and may abort the fetus. When Ruth confirms these suspicions, Walter is silent, sending Mama into shock.

Mama tells the family that she put a down payment on a house in Clybourne Park with the insurance money, so that Travis will one day be able to grow up to become a man with property. Walter is upset and wonders why he can never be the one in charge of all actions. The entire family is concerned about the location because it is an all white neighborhood.

While Mama is gone, Karl Lindner, a white business man and representative of the Clybourne Park Welcoming Committee comes to the Younger household under the false ...