L O R R A I N EH A N S B E R R Y

A Raisinin the Sun

Characters
RUTH Y O UN GE R GEORGE MUR CH I S O N
TRAVI S Y O UN GE R MR S . JO H N S O N
WALTER L E E Y O UN GE R (B R O TH E R ) KA R L L I N DN E R
B ENEATH A Y O UN GE R B O B O
LENA Y O UN GE R (MA MA ) MO VI N G ME N
JO S E PH AS AGAI
The action of the playis set inChicago'sSouth side, sometime
between World War II and thepresent.
Act I
Scene I Friday morning.
Scene II Thefollowing morning.
Act II
Scene I Later, thesame day.
Scene II Friday night, a few weekslater.
Scene III Moving day, one weeklater.
Act III
An hour later.
A CT I
S CE N EI
The Y O UN GE R living room wouldbe a comfortable andwell-
ordered roomifitwerenot for anumber of indestructiblecontra-
dictions to this stateofbeing. Itsfurnishings are typical andun-
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distinguished and their primary feature now is that they have
clearly had to accommodate the livingof toomany peoplefor too
many yearsand they aretired.Still,we can seethatatsome time,
a time probably no longer rememberedby the family (exceptper-
haps forMAMA),the furnishings of this room were actually selected
with care and love and even hopeand brought tothis apartment
and arranged with taste and pride.
That was a long time ago. Now the once loved patternof the
couch upholstery has to fight to show itself from under acres of
crocheted doilies and couch covers which have themselvesfinally
come to be more important than theupholstery. Andhereatable
or a chair has been movedtodisguisetheworn placesin thecarpet;
but the carpet has fought back by showing its weariness,with
depressing uniformity, elsewhereon its surface.
Weariness has, in fact, won in this room.Everythinghasbeen
polished, washed, sat on, used, scrubbed toooften. Allpretenses
but livingitself have long since vanished fromthevery atmosphere
of this room.
Moreover, a sectionof this room, for it is not reallyaroom unto
itself, though the landlord's lease would makeitseemso,slopes
backward to provide a small kitchen area, wherethe family pre-
pares the meals that are eaten in the living room proper, which
must also serve as dining room. Thesingle windowthat hasbeen
provided for these "two" rooms is locatedinthis kitchen area.
The sole natural lightthe familymay enjoyin thecourse of a day
is only that which fights it way through this little window.
At left, a doorleadsto a bedroom whichisshared by MAMA
and her daughter, B E N E AT H A. At right, opposite,is asecond room
(which in the beginningof the lifeof this apartment was probably
the breakfast room) which serves as a bedroomfor W AL T E R and
his wife,R U T H .
Time Sometime between World War II and thepresent.
Place Chicago's South side.
At rise It is morning darkin the living room. T R AV I Sis asleep
on the make-down bed at center. An alarm clock sounds from
within the bedroom at right,andpresently R U T H enters from that
room and closes the door behind her.Shecrosses sleepily toward
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A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act IScene I
the window. As shepasses hersleeping son shereaches down and
shakes him a little. At the windowshe raisestheshadeand adusky
Southside morning light comesin feebly. She fillsa pot withwater
and puts it on to boil. She calls to the boy,between yawns,in a
slightlymuffled voice.
R UTH is about thirty.We can seethat she was apretty girl, even
exceptionally so, but now it isapparent that lifehasbeen little
that she expected, anddisappointment has alreadybeguntohang
in her face. In a few years, beforethirty-five even, shewill be
known among herpeople as a"settled woman."
She crosses to her son andgiveshim agood,final, rousing shake.
R UTH: Come on now, boy, it's seven thirty! (Hersonsitsup at
last, in a stuporof sleepiness.)I sayhurry up,Travis! You ain't
the only person in theworld got to use abathroom! (The child,
a sturdy, handsome littleboy of ten oreleven, dragshimself out
of the bed and almost blindly takeshistowelsand "today's
clothes" from drawers and aclosetandgoesout to thebath-
room, which is in anoutside hallandwhichissharedbyanother
family or familieson the same floor. R UTHcrosses to thebed-
room door at right andopensit and callsin to herhusband.)
Walter Lee! . . . I t's after seven thirty! Lemme see you dosome
waking up in there now! (She waits.) Youbetterget up from
there, man! I t'safter seven thirtyItell you. (She waits again.)
All right, youjust go ahead and laythereandnext thingyou
know Travis be finished and Mr.Johnson'll be inthere and
you'll befussing and cussing round here likeamadman!And
be late too! (She waits, at the end ofpatience.) Walter Lee-
it's time for you to GET UP!
She waits another second andthen starts to gointo the bedroom,
but is apparentlysatisfied thatherhusbandhasbegunto get up.
She stops, pulls the door to, andreturns to thekitchen area. She
wipes herface withamoist clothandrunsher fingersthroughher
sleep-disheveled hairin avain effort andties anapron around her
housecoat. The bedroom door at right opensand herhusband
stands in the doorway in hispajamas, whicharerumpledand
mismated. He is a lean, intense youngman in hismiddle thirties,
inclined to quick nervous movements anderratic speech habits
and always in his voice thereis aquality of indictment.
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Lorraine Hansberry
WALTER: Is he out yet?
RUTH: What you mean out? He ain't hardly got in there good
yet.
WALTER (wandering in, still more oriented tosleep than to a new
day): Well, what was you doing all that yelling for if I can't
even get in thereyet? (Stopping and thinking.) Check coming
today?
RUTH: They said Saturday and this is just Friday and I hopes to
God you ain't going to get up here first thing this morning and
start talking to me 'bout no money'cause I 'bout don't want
to hear it.
WALTER: Something the matter with you this morning?
RUTH: NoI'm just sleepy as the devil. What kind of eggs you
want?
WALTER: Not scrambled. (RUTH starts to scramble eggs.) Paper
come? (RUTH points impatiently to the rolled up Tribune on the
table, and he gets it and spreads it out and vaguely reads the
front page.) Set off another bomb yesterday.
RUTH (maximumindifference): Did they?
WALTER (looking up): What'sthe matter withyou?
RUTH: Ain't nothing the matter with me. And don't keep asking
me that this morning.
WALTER: Ain't nobody bothering you. (readingthe news of the
day absently again) Say Colonel McCormick is sick.
RUTH (affecting tea-party interest): Is he now? Poor thing.
WALTER (sighing and looking at his watch): Oh, me. (He waits.)
Now what is that boy doing in that bathroom all this time? He
just going to have to start getting up earlier. I can't be being late
to work on account of him fooling around in there.
RUTH (turning on him): Oh, no he ain't going to be getting up no
earlier no such thing! It ain't his fault that he can't get to bed
no earlier nights 'cause he got a bunch of crazy good-for-nothing
clowns sitting up running their mouths in what is supposed to
be his bedroom after ten o'clock at night. . .
WALTER: That's what you mad about, ain't it? The things I want
to talk about with myfriendsjust couldn't be important in your
mind, could they?
He rises and finds a cigarette in her handbag on the table and
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A R A I S I NI N T HE S UN A c t IScene I
crosses to the little window andlooks out, smokingand deeply
enjoying this first one.
R UTH (almost matterof factly,acomplaint tooautomatic to de-
serve emphasis): Why youalwaysgot tosmoke before you eat
in the morning?
WAL TER (at thewindow): Just look at'emdown there . . . R unning
and racing towork . . . (Heturns and faces his wife andwatches
her a moment at the stove,and then, suddenly) You look young
this morning, baby.
R UTH (indifferently): Yeah?
WAL TER : Justfor asecondstirringthem eggs. Just for asecond
it wasyou looked real young again. (Hereaches forher; she
crosses away. Then, drily) I t's gone nowyoulook like yourself
again!
R UTH: Man, if you don'tshutup andleave mealone.
WAL TER (lookingout to thestreet again):First thinga manought
to learn inlife is not tomake love to nocolored womanfirst
thing in themorning.You allsome eeeevil peopleat eight o'clock
in the morning.
TR AV I Sappears in thehall doorway, almost fullydressed andquite
wide awake now, histowelsandpajamas acrosshis shoulders. He
opens the doorandsignalsfor hisfathertomakethe bathroomin
a hurry.)
TR AV I S (watchingthe bathroom): Daddy, come on!
WAL TER getshis bathroom utensils and flies out to the bathroom.
R UTH: S it downandhave your breakfast, Travis.
TR AV I S : Mama, thisisFriday, (gleefully) Check coming tomor-
row, huh?
R UTH: You get your mind offmoney and eatyour breakfast.
TR AV I S(eating): Thisis themorning wesupposed tobring the fifty
cents to school.
R UTH: Well, I ain't got no fiftycents this morning.
TR AV I S : Teacher say wehaveto.
R UTH: I don't care what teacher say.I ain'tgot it. Eat your break-
fast, Travis.
TR AV I S : I am eating.
R UT H: Hush up now and justeat!
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The boy gives her an exasperated look for her lack of
understanding, and eats grudgingly.
T R A V I S : You think Grandmama would have it?
R UT H: No! A nd I want you to stop asking your grandmother for
money, you hear me?
T R A V I S (outraged): Gaaaleee!I don'task her,she just gimme it
sometimes!
R UT H: T ravis WillardYoungerI got too much on me this morn-
ing to be
T R A V I S : Mabe Daddy
R UT H: Travisl
The boy hushes abruptly. They are both quiet and tense for several
seconds.
T R A V I S (presently): CouldI maybego carry some groceries in front
of the supermarket for a little whileafter school then?
R UT H: Just hush, I said. (Travis jabs his spoon intohis cereal bowl
viciously, and rests his head in anger upon his fists.) I f you
through eating, you can get over there and make your bed.
The boy obeys stiffly and crosses the room, almost mechanically,
to the bed and more orless folds the bedding into a heap, then
angrily gets his books and cap.
T R A V I S (sulking and standing apart fromher unnaturally):I 'm
gone.
R UT H (looking up from the stove to inspect him automatically):
Come here. (He crosses to her and she studieshis head.) I f you
don't take this comb and fix this here head, you better! ( T R A V I S
puts down his books with a great sighof oppression, and crosses
to the mirror. His mother mutters under her breath about his
"slubbornness.") 'Bout to march out of here with that head
looking just like chickens slept in it! I just don't know where
you get your stubborn ways . . . A nd get your jacket, too. Looks
chilly out this morning.
T R A V I S (with conspicuously brushed hairand jacket): I 'm gone.
R UT H: Get carfareand milk money (wavingone finger) andnot
a single penny for no caps, you hear me?
T R A V I S (with sullen politeness): Yes'm.
He turns in outrage to leave. His mother watches after him as in
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A R AI S I NI N THE S UN Act I Scene I
his frustration he approaches the door almost comically. When she
speaks to him, her voice has become a very gentle tease.
RUTH (mocking, as she thinks he wouldsay it):Oh, Mama makes
me so mad sometimes, I don't know what to do! (She waits and
continues to his back as he stands stock-still in front of the door.)
I wouldn't kiss that woman good-bye for nothing in this world
this morning! (The boyfinally turns around androlls his eyes
at her, knowing the mood has changed and he is vindicated; he
does not, however, move toward her yet.) Not for nothing in
this world! (Shefinally laughs aloud at him and holds out her
arms to him and we see that it is a way between them, very old
and practiced. He crosses to her and allows her to embrace
him warmly but keeps his facefixed with masculine rigidity.
She holds him back from her presently and looks at him and
runs her fingers over thefeatures of his face. With utter gentle-
ness) N owwhose little old angry man are you?
TRAV I S (the masculinityand gruffness start to fadeatlast.):Aw
gaaleeMama . . .
RUTH (mimicking): Awgaaaaalleeeee, Mama! (She pushes him,
with roughplayfulness and finality, toward the door.) Get on
out of here or you going to be late.
TRAVIS (in theface of love,newaggressiveness): Mama, couldI
please go carry groceries?
R UTH: Honey, it's starting to get so cold evenings.
WALTER (coming in from the bathroom and drawinga make-
believe gun from a make-believe holster and shooting at his son):
What is it he wants to do?
RUTH: Go carry groceriesafter school at the supermarket.
WALTER: Well, let him go ...
TRAVIS (quickly, to the ally): I haveto she won't gimmethe fifty
cents . . .
WALTER (to his wife only):Why not?
RUTH (simply, and with flavor): 'Causewe don't haveit.
WALTER (to R UTHonly): Whatyou tellthe boy things like that
for? (Reaching down into his pants with a rather important
gesture) Here, son
(He hands the boy the coin, but his eyesare directedto his wife's.
TRAVIS takes the money happily.)
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T R A V I S : T hanks, Daddy.
He starts out. R UT H watches bothof them with murder in her eyes.
W A L T E R stands and stares backat her with defiance,and suddenly
reaches into his pocket again on an afterthought.
W A L T E R (without even looking at his son, still staring hardat his
wife): I n fact, here's another fifty cents . . . Buy yourself some
fruit todayor take a taxicab to school or something!
T R A V I S : W hoopee
He leaps up andclasps his father around the middle withhis legs,
and theyface each other in mutual appreciation; slowly W A L T E R
L E E peeks around the boy to catchthe violent rays fromhis wife's
eyes and draws his head backas if shot.
W A L T E R : You better get downnowand get to school, man.
T R A V I S (at the door): O.K. Good-bye.(He exits.)
W A L T E R (after him, pointing with pride): T hat'smy boy. (She
looks at him in disgust and turns back to her work.) You know
what I was thinking 'bout in the bathroom this morning?
R UT H: No.
W A L T E R : How come you always try to be so pleasant!
R UT H: W hat is there to be pleasant 'bout!
W A L T E R : You want to know what I was thinking 'bout in the
bathroom or not!
R UT H: I know what you thinking 'bout.
W A L T E R (ignoring her): 'Bout whatme and W illy Harriswas talk-
ing about last night.
R UT H (immediatelya refrain): W illy Harris is a good-for-nothing
loudmouth.
W A L T E R : A nybody who talks to me has got to be a good-for-
nothing loudmouth, ain't he? A nd what you know about who
is just a good-for-nothing loudmouth? Charlie A tkinswas just
a "good-for-nothing loudmouth" too, wasn't he! W hen he
wanted me to go in the dry-cleaning business with him. A nd
nowhe's grossing a hundred thousand a year. A hundred thou-
sand dollars a year! You still call him a loudmouth!
R UT H (bitterly): Oh, W alter L ee . . .
She folds her head on her arms over the table.
W A L T E R (rising and coming to her and standing over her):You
tired, ain't you? T ired of everything. Me, the boy, the way we
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l i vet hi s beat-upholeeverything. Ain't you? (She doesn't
look up, doesn't answer.) S o t i redmoani ngandgroaningall
the time, but you wouldn't donothing to help,would you?You
couldn't be on my side that longfornothing, could you?
R UT H: Walter, please leaveme alone.
WAL TER : A man needs awoman to back him up ...
R UTH: Walter
WAL TER : Mama would listento you.Youknowshelistento you
more than she do me and Bennie.S hethink moreofyou. All
you have to do is just sit down withherwhenyoudrinking your
coffee one morningand talking 'bout things likeyou do and
(He sits down besideher and demonstrates graphically what he
thinks her methods and tone should be.)you just sipyour cof-
fee, see, and say easy like thatyoubeen thinking 'boutthat deal
Walter L ee is so interestedin, 'boutthe storeandall,and sip
some morecoffee, like what yousaying ain't really that impor-
tant toyouA nd the next thingyouknow,she belistening good
and asking you questionsand whenIcome home Icantell her
the details. This ain't no fly-by-nightproposition, baby.Imean
we figured it out, me and WillyandBobo.
R UTH (witha frown):Bobo?
WAL TER : Yeah.You see, this little liquor store we got inmind cost
seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on
the place be 'bout thirty thousand, see. That be tenthousand
each. Course, there's a couple of hundred you got to payso's
you don't spend your lifejust waitingfor them clownsto let
your licensegetapproved
R UTH: You meangraft ?
WAL TER (frowning impatiently): Don't call itthat. S eethere, that
just goes to show youwhat women understand abouttheworld.
Baby, don't nothing happenfor you inthis world 'lessyou pay
somebody off!
R UTH: Walter, leaveme alone! (She raises herhead andstares at
him vigorouslythen says, more quietly.) Eat your eggs, they
gonna be cold.
WAL TER (straighteningup fromher and looking off): That's it.
There you are. Man say to his woman: I got me adream.His
woman say: Eat your eggs. (Sadly, but gaininginpower.) Man
say: I got to take holdof this here world, baby! And awoman
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Lorraine Hansberry
will say: Eat your eggs and go to work.(Passionately now.)
Man say: I got to change my life, I'm choking to death, baby!
And his woman say (in utter anguishas he brings his fists down
on his thighs) Your eggs is getting cold!
R U T H (softly): Walter, that ain't noneof our money.
WAL T ER (not listeningat all or even lookingat her): This morning,
I was lookin' in the mirror and thinking about i t . . . I'm thirty-
five years old; I been married eleven years and I got a boy who
sleeps in the living room(very, veryquietly)and all I got to
give him is stories about how rich white people live . . .
R U T H : Eat your eggs, Walter.
WAL T ER (slams the tableand jumps up): DAMN MY EGGS
DAMN ALL THE EGGS THAT EVER WAS!
R U T H : T hen go to work.
WALTER (looking up at her): See I'm trying to talk to you 'bout
myself (shaking his head withthe repetition)andall you can
say is eat them eggs and go to work.
R U T H (wearily): H oney, you neversay nothing new.I listento you
every day, every night and every morning, and you neversay
nothing new. (shrugging) So you would rather be Mr. Arnold
than be his chauffeur. SoI would rather be livingin Buck-
ingham Palace.
WAL T ER : T hat is just what is wrong with the colored womanin
this world . . . Don't understand about building their men up
and making 'emfeel like they somebody. L ike they can do some-
thing.
R U T H (drily, but to hurt): There are colored men who do things.
WAL T ER : No thanks to the colored woman.
R U T H : Well, being a colored woman, I guessI can't help myself
none.
She rises and gets the ironing board and sets it up and attacks a
huge pile of rough-dried clothes, sprinkling them in preparation
for the ironing and then rolling them into tight fat balls.
WAL T ER (mumbling): We one group of men tied to a race of
women with small minds!
His sister BENEAT H A enters.She is about twenty,as slimand intense
as her brother. She is not as pretty as her sister-in-law, but her
lean, almost intellectual face has a handsomenessof its own.She
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A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act IScene I
wears a bright-red flannel nightie, and herthick hair stands wildly
about her head. Her speechis a mixtureofmany things; it is
different from the restof thefamily's insofaraseducation has
permeated her sense of EnglishandperhapstheMidwest rather
than the South hasfinallyat lastwonout in her inflection;but
not altogether, because overall of it is a soft slurring and
transformed use of vowels whichis thedecided influence of the
Southside. Shepasses through the room without looking at either
R UTH or W AL TER andgoesto theoutside door and looks, alittle
blindly, out to the bathroom. Shesees that it has been lost to the
Johnsons. She closesthedoor withasleepy vengeanceandcrosses
to the table and sits downalittle defeated.
B EN EATHA: I amgoingtostart timing those people.
W AL TER : You shouldget upearlier.
B EN EATHA (Her facein herhands. She isstill fighting theurge to
go back to bed.): R eallywouldyousuggest dawn? W here's
the paper?
W AL TER (pushingthe paper acrossthetable to her as hestudies
her almost clinically,asthoughhe hasnever seenher before):
You a horrible-looking chick atthis hour.
B EN EATHA(drily): Good morning, everybody.
W AL TER (senselessly): How is schoolcoming?
B EN EATHA (in the same spirit): L ovely. L ovely. And you know,
biology is the greatest, (lookingup athim) Idissected some-
thing that lookedjustlikeyouyesterday.
W AL TER : I just wonderedifyou've made upyour mind andevery-
thing.
B EN EATHA(gaininginsharpness andimpatience): Andwhat did I
answer yesterdaymorningandthe daybefore that?
R UTH(from the ironing board,like someone disinterested andold):
Don't be so nasty, B ennie.
B EN EATHA(still to herbrother): And the daybefore that and the
day before that!
W AL TER (defensively): I 'm interestedinyou. S omething wrong
with that? Ain't many girlswho decide
W AL TER and B EN EATHA(inunison):"to be a doctor." (silence)
W AL TER : Have we figured out yetjust exactlyhowmuch medical
school is going tocost?
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Lorraine Hansberry
RUTH: Walter Lee, why don't you leave the girl alone and get out
of here to work?
B E N E A THA (exits to the bathroom and bangs on the door): Come
on out of there, please! (She comes back into the room.)
WA LTE R (looking at his sister intently): You know the check is
coming tomorrow.
B E N E A THA (turning on him with a sharpness all her own): That
money belongs to Mama, Walter, and it's for her to decide how
she wants to use it. I don't care if she wants to buy a house or
a rocket ship or just nail it up somewhere and look at it. It's
hers. N ot ourshers.
WA LTE R (bitterly): N ow ain't that fine! You just got your mother's
interest at heart, ain't you, girl? You such a nice girlbut if
Mama got that money she can always take a few thousand and
help you through school too can't she?
B E N E A THA : I have never asked anyone around here to do anything
for me!
WA LTE R: No! A nd the line between asking and just accepting when
the time comes is big and wide ain't it!
B E N E A THA (with fury): What do you want from me, B rotherthat
I quit school or just drop dead, which!
WA LTE R: I don't want nothing but for you to stop acting holy
'round here. Me and Ruth done made some sacrifices for you
why can't you do something for the family?
RUTH: Walter, don't be dragging me in it.
WA LTE R: You are in itDon't you get up and go work in some-
body's kitchen for the last three years to help put clothes on her
back?
RUTH: Oh, Walterthat's not fair . . .
WA LTE R: It ain't that nobody expects you to get on your knees
and say thank you, B rother; thank you, Ruth; thank you,
Mama and thank you, Travis, for wearing the same pair of
shoes for two semesters
B E N E A THA (dropping to her knees): WellI do all right?thank
everybody! A nd forgive me for ever wanting to be anything at
all! (pursuing him on her knees across the floor) FORGIVE
ME, FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME!
RUTH: Please stop it! Your mama'll hear you.
WA LTE R: Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so
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crazy 'bout messing 'roundwith sick peoplethengo be anurse
like other womenor just getmarried and be quiet. . .
B EN EATHA: Wellyou finally got itsaid . . . I t took you three years
but you finally got itsaid. Walter,giveup;leaveme aloneit's
Mama's money.
WALTER : He was myfather, too!
B EN EATHA: S o what? He was mine,too andTravis' grand-
fatherbut the insurance money belongstoMama. Pickingon
me is not going tomakehergiveit to you toinvestin anyliquor
stores (underbreath, dropping intoa chair) andI for onesay,
God bless Mama for that!
WALTER (t o R UTHJ : S eedid youhear? Did youhear!
R UTH: Honey, pleasego towork.
WAL TER : N obody inthis houseisever goingtounderstand me.
B EN EATHA: B ecause you'reanut.
WALTER : Who'sanut?
B EN EATHA: Youyouare anut. Theeismad, boy.
WALTER (lookingat his wife and hissister fromthe door,very
sadly): The world's most backward raceofpeople, and that'sa
fact.
B EN EATHA (turning slowlyin her chair):Andthen there are all
those prophetswho would leadus out of thewilderness (WAL-
TER slams out of the house.)intotheswamps!
R UTH: B ennie,why youalways gottabepickin' onyour brother?
Can't you be a little sweeter sometimes? (Door opens. WALTER
walks in. He fumbles withhis cap,startstospeak, clears throat,
looks everywherebut at R UTH. Finally:)
WALTER (to R UTH,) :I need some money forcarfare.
R UTH (looks at him, then warms; teasing, but tenderly): Fifty
cents? (She goes to her bag andgets money.)Heretake a
taxi!
WALTER exits. MAMA enters. She is a woman in her earlysixties,
full-bodied and strong.She is one of those women of acertain
grace and beauty who wearit sounobtrusively thatit takesawhile
to notice. Her dark-brown face is surrounded by the total
whiteness of her hair, and, beinga womanwho has adjustedto
many thingsin life and overcome many more, her face is full of
strength. She has,we cansee,wit and faith of akind that keep her
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Lorraine Hansberry
eyes lit and full of interest and expectancy. She is, in a word, a
beautiful woman. Her bearing is perhaps most like the noble
bearing of the women of the Hereros of Southwest Africarather
as if she imagines that as she walks she still bears a basket or a
vessel upon her head. Her speech, on the other hand, is as careless
as her carriage is preciseshe is inclined to slur everythingbut
her voice is perhaps not so much quiet as simply soft.
M A M A : Who that 'round here slamming doors at this hour?
She crosses through the room, goes to the window, opens it, and
brings in a feeble little plant growing doggedly in a small pot on
the window sill. She feels the dirt and puts it back out.
R U T H : That was Walter Lee. He and Bennie was at it again.
M A M A : M y children and they tempers. Lord, if this little old plant
don't get more sun than it's been getting it ain't never going to
see spring again. (She turns from the window.) What's the
matter with you this morning, R uth? You looks right peaked.
You aiming to iron all them things? Leave some for me. I'll get
to 'em this afternoon. Bennie honey, it's too drafty for you to
be sitting 'round half dressed. Where's your robe?
BE N E A T H A : In the cleaners.
M A M A : Well, go get mine and put it on.
BE N E A T H A : I'm not cold, M ama, honest.
M A M A : I knowbut you so thin . . .
BE N E A THA (irritably): M ama, I'm not cold.
M A M A (seeing the make-down bed as T R A V IS has left it): Lord have
mercy, look at that poor bed. Bless his hearthe tries, don't he?
She moves to the bed T R A V IS has sloppily made up.
R U T H : N ohe don't half try at all 'cause he knows you going to
come along behind him and fix everything. That's just how come
he don't know how to do nothing right nowyou done spoiled
that boy so.
M A M A (folding bedding): Wellhe's a little boy. A in't supposed
to know 'bout housekeeping. M y baby, that's what he is. What
you fix for his breakfast this morning?
R U T H (angrily): I feed my son, Lena!
M A M A : I ain't meddling (underbreath; busy-bodyish) I just no-
ticed all last week he had cold cereal, and when it starts getting
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A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Ac t IScene I
this chilly in thefall a child ought to have some hot grits or
something when he goesout in the cold
R UTH (furious)-. I gavehim hot oatsisthat allright!
M AM A: I ain't meddling, (pause) Put a lot of nice butter on it?
( R UT H shoots her an angry lookand doesnot reply.)Helikes
lots of butter.
R UTH (exasperated):Lena
M AM A (To B EN EATHA. M AM Aisinclined to wander conversationally
sometimes.): What was you andyour brother fussing 'boutthis
morning?
B EN EATHA: I t's not important. M ama.
She gets up and goes to look out at the bathroom,whichis
apparently free, and she picks up her towelsandrushes out.
M AM A: What was theyfightingabout?
R UTH: N ow you knowas wellas I do.
M AM A (shakingher head): B rother still worrying hisself sick about
that money?
R UTH: You knowhe is.
M AM A: You hadbreakfast?
R UTH: S omecoffee.
M AM A: Girl, you better start eatingand looking after yourself
better. You almost thin as Travis.
R UTH: Lena
M AM A: Un-hunh?
R UTH: What are you goingto dowithit?
M AM A: N ow don't you start, child. I t's tooearlyin themorning
to be talking about money. I t ain't Christian.
R UTH: I t'sjust that he got hisheartset onthat store
M AM A: You mean that liquor store that Willy Harris wanthim to
invest in?
R UTH: Yes
M AM A: We ain't no business people, R uth. We justplain working
folks.
R UTH: Ain't nobody business people till theygointo business.
Walter Lee say colored people ain't never goingtostart getting
ahead till they start gamblingonsome different kindsofthings
in the worldinvestmentsand things.
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Lorraine Hansberry
MAMA: What done got into you, girl? Walter Lee done finally sold
you on investing.
RUTH: No. Mama, something is happening between Walter and
me. I don't know what it isbut he needs somethingsome-
thing I can't give him any more. He needs this chance, Lena.
MAMA (frowning deeply): But liquor, honey
RUTH: Welllike Walter sayI spec people going to always be
drinking themselves some liquor.
MAMA: Wellwhether they drinks it or not ain't none of my busi-
ness. But whether I go into business selling it to 'em is, and I
don't want that on my ledger this late in life, (stopping suddenly
and studying her daughter-in-law) Ruth Younger, what's the
matter with you today? You look like you could fall over right
there.
RUTH: I'm tired.
MAMA: Then you better stay home from work today.
RUTH: I can't stay home. She'd be calling up the agency and
screaming at them, "My girl didn't come in today send me
somebody! My girl didn't come in!" Oh, she just have a fit...
MAMA: Well, let her have it. I'll just call her up and say you got
the flu-
RUTH (laughing): Why the flu?
MAMA: 'Cause it sounds respectable to 'em. Something white peo-
ple get, too. They know 'bout the flu. Otherwise they think you
been cut up or something when you tell 'em you sick.
RUTH: I got to go in. We need the money.
MAMA: Somebody would of thought my children done all but
starved to death the way they talk about money here late. Child,
we got a great big old check coming tomorrow.
RUTH (sincerely, but also self-righteously): Now that's your
money. It ain't got nothing to do with me. We all feel like that
Walter and Bennie and meeven Travis.
MAMA (thoughtfully, and suddenly very far away): Ten thousand
dollars
RUTH: Sure is wonderful.
MAMA: Ten thousand dollars.
RUTH: You know what you should do, Miss Lena? You should
take yourself a trip somewhere. To Europe or South America or
someplace
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A R A I S I N I N T HE S UN A c t I Scene I
M AM A (throwing up her hands at the thought): Oh, child!
R UTH: I 'm serious. Just pack up and leave! Go on away and enjoy
yourself some. Forget about the family and have yourself a ball
for once in your life
M AM A (drily): You sound like I 'm just about ready to die. Who'd
go with me? What I look like wandering 'round Europe by my-
self?
R UTH: S hoot these here rich white women do it all the time. They
don't think nothing of packing up they suitcases and piling on
one of them big steamships and swoosh! they gone, child.
M AM A: S omething always told me I wasn't no rich white woman.
R UTH: Well what are you going to do with it then?
M AM A: I ain't rightly decided. (Thinking. She speaks now with
emphasis.) Some of it got to be put away for Beneatha and her
schoolin' and ain't nothing going to touch that part of it. N oth-
ing. (She waits several seconds, trying to make up her mind
about something, and looks at R UTH a little tentatively before
going on.) Been thinking that we maybe could meet the notes
on a little old two-story somewhere, with a yard where Travis
could play in the summertime, if we use part of the insurance
for a down payment and everybody kind of pitch in. I could
maybe take on a little day work again, few days a week
R UTH (studying her mother-in-law furtively and concentrating on
her ironing, anxious to encourage without seeming to): Well,
Lord knows, we've put enough rent into this here rat trap to
pay for four houses by now . . .
M AM A (looking up at the words "rat trap9' and then looking
around and leaning back and sighingin a suddenly reflective
mood): "R at trap" yes, that's all it is. (smiling) I remember
just as well the day me and Big Walter moved in here. Hadn't
been married but two weeks and wasn't planning on living here
no more than a year. (She shakes her head at the dissolved
dream.) We was going to set away, little by little, don't you
know, and buy a little place out in M organ Park. We had even
picked out the house, (chuckling a little) Looks right dumpy
today. But Lord, child, you should know all the dreams I had
'bout buying that house and fixing it up and making me a little
garden in the back (She waits and stops smiling.) And didn't
none of it happen, (dropping her hands in a futile gesture)
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Lorraine Hansberry
R U T H (keeps her head down, ironing): Yes, life can be a barrel of
disappointments, sometimes.
MAMA: Honey, Big Walter would come in here some nights back
then and slump down on that couch there and just look at the
rug, and look at me and look at the rug and then back at me
and I'd know he was down then . . . really down. (After a second
very long and thoughtful pause; she is seeing back to times that
only she can see.) And then, Lord, when I lost that babyl i ttl e
ClaudeI almost thought I was going to lose Big Walter too.
Oh, that man grieved hisself! He was one man to love his chil-
dren.
R U T H : Ain't nothin' can tear at you like losin' your baby.
MAMA: I guess that's how come that man finally worked hisself to
death like he done. Like he was fighting his own war with this
here world that took his baby from him.
R U T H : He sure was a fine man, all right. I always liked Mr.
Younger.
MAMA: Crazy 'bout his children! God knows there was plenty
wrong with Walter Youngerhard-headed, mean, kind of wild
with womenplenty wrong with him. But he sure loved his
children. Always wanted them to have somethingbe some-
thing. That's where Brother gets all these notions, I reckon. Big
Walter used to say, he'd get right wet in the eyes sometimes,
lean his head back with the water standing in his eyes and say,
"Seem like God didn't see fit to give the black man nothing but
dreams but He did give us children to make them dreams seem
worth while." (She smiles.) He could talk like that, don't you
know.
R U T H : Yes, he sure could. He was a good man, Mr. Younger.
MAMA: Yes, a fine manj ust couldn't never catch up with his
dreams, that's all.
BE N E A T H A comes in, brushing her hair and looking up to the
ceiling, where the sound of a vacuum cleaner has started up.
BE NE AT HA: What could be so dirty on that woman's rugs that she
has to vacuum them every single day?
RUTH: I wish certain young women 'round here who I could name
would take inspiration about certain rugs in a certain apartment
I could also mention.
503
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Ac t IScene I
B EN EATHA(shrugging): Howmuch cleaning can ahouse need, for
Christ's sakes.
M AM A (not likingthe Lord'sname used thus): B ennie!
R UTH: Just listento herj ust listen!
B EN EATHA: Oh God!
M AM A: I f you use the Lord'sname just onemore time
B EN EATHA (abit of a whine): Oh, M ama
R UTH: Freshj ust freshassalt, this girl!
B EN EATHA(drily): Wellif the salt loses its savor
M AM A: N ow that will do. I j ust ain't goingtohaveyou 'round
here recitingthe scripturesin vainyouhear me?
B EN EATHA: How did I manageto get oneverybody's wrong side
by j ust walking into aroom?
R UTH: I f you weren't so fresh
B EN EATHA: R uth,I 'mtwenty years old.
M AM A: What timeyou behome fromschool today?
B EN EATHA: Kindof late, (with enthusiasm) M adeline isgoing to
start my guitar lessons today.
(M AM A and R UTH lookup withthesame expression.)
M AM A: Your what kindoflessons?
B EN EATHA: Guitar.
R UTH: Oh, Father!
M AM A: How comeyoudone takenit inyour mindtolearntoplay
the guitar?
B EN EATHA: Ij ust want to, that'sall.
M AM A (smiling): Lord, child, don'tyouknow what to get tired of
this nowlikeyou gottiredofthat littledowith yourself?How
long it going to bebeforeyouplay-acting groupyoujoined last
year? (looking at R UTH)Andwhatwas it theyear before that?
R UTH: The horseback-riding clubforwhichshebought that fifty-
five-dollar riding habit that's been hangingin thecloset ever
since!
M AM A (to B EN EATHA) : Why you got to flit so fromonething to
another, baby?
B EN EATHA(sharply): I j ustwant tolearntoplay theguitar. I sthere
anything wrong with that?
M AM A: Ain't nobody tryingtostop you. I j ustwonders sometimes
why you has to flit sofrom onethingtoanother all thetime.
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Lorraine Hansberry
You ain't never done nothing with all that camera equipment
you brought home
B E N E A T H A : I don't flit!I I experiment with different forms of
expression
R U T H : Like ridinga horse?
B E N E A T H A : People have to express themselvesone way or an-
other.
M A M A : What is it you want to express?
B E N E A T H A (angrily): M e! ( M A M Aand R U T H lookat each other and
burst into raucous laughter.} Don't worryI don't expect you
to understand.
M A M A (to change thesubject): Who you goingout with tomorrow
night?
B E N E A T H A (withdispleasure): George M urchison again.
M A M A (pleased): Ohyou gettinga little sweet on him?
R U T H : You ask me, this child ain't sweeton nobodybut herself
(underbreath) E xpress herself!
(They laugh.)
B E N E A T H A : OhI like Georgeall right, M ama.I meanI likehim
enough to go out with him and stuff, but
R U T H (f or devilment): What does and stuf f mean?
B E N E A T H A : M ind yourown business.
M A M A : Stop picking at her now, R uth. (She chucklesthena sus-
picious sudden look at her daughter as she turns in her chairf or
emphasis.) What DOE S it mean?
B E N E A T H A (wearily): Oh, Ijust meanI couldn't ever really be
serious about George. H e'she's so shallow.
R U T H : Shallowwhat do you mean he's shallow? H e's Rich!
M A M A : H ush, R uth.
B E N E A T H A : I know he's rich. H e knows he's rich, too.
R U T H : Wellwhat other qualities a man got to have to satisfy
you, littlegirl?
B E N E A T H A : You wouldn't even begin to understand. A nybody who
married Walter could not possibly understand.
M A M A (outraged): What kind of way is that to talk about your
brother?
B E N E A T H A : B rotheris a fliplet's faceit.
M A M A (toR U T H ,helplessly): What's a flip?
505
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I Scene I
R UTH (glad to add kindling): She's saying he's crazy.
B EN EATHA: N ot crazy. B rother isn't really crazy yet- hehe' san
elaborate neurotic.
MAMA: Hush your mouth!
BENEATHA: As for George. Well. George looksgoodhe's got a
beautiful car and he takes me to nice places and, as my sister-
in-law says, he is probably the richest boy I will ever get to know
and I even like him sometimes but if the Youngersare sitting
around waiting to see if their little Bennie is going to tie up the
family with the Murchisons, they are wasting their time.
R UTH: You mean you wouldn't marry George Murchison if he
asked you someday? That pretty, rich thing? Honey, I knew you
was odd
B EN EATHA: No I would not marryhim if all I feltfor him was
what Ifeel now. Besides, George's family wouldn't really like it.
MAMA: Why not?
B EN EATHA: Oh, MamaThe Murchisons are honest-to-God-real-
live-rich colored people, and the only people in the world who
are more snobbish than rich white people are rich colored peo-
ple. I thought everybody knew that. I 've met Mrs. Murchison.
She's a scene!
MAMA: You must not dislike people 'cause they well off, honey.
BENEATHA: Why not? It makes just as much sense as disliking
people 'cause they are poor, and lots of people do that.
R UTH (A wisdom-of-the-ages manner. To MAMA.J : Well, she'll get
over some of this
B EN EATHA: Get over it? What are you talking about, R uth? Listen,
I'm going to be a doctor. I'm not worried about who I'm going
to marryyetif I ever get married.
MAMAandR UTH: If!
MAMA: Now, Bennie
B EN EATHA: Oh, I probably will. . . but first I 'm going to be a
doctor, and George, for one, still thinks that's pretty funny. I
couldn't be bothered with that. I am going to be a doctor and
everybody around here better understand that!
MAMA (kindly): 'Course you going to be a doctor, honey, God
willing.
B EN EATHA(drily): God hasn't got a thing to do with it.
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Lorraine Hansberry
MAMA: Beneathathat just wasn't necessary.
BE N E AT H A: Wellneitheris God.I get sickof hearing about God.
MAMA: Beneatha!
BE N E AT H A: I mean it! I'mjust tiredof hearing aboutGod all the
time. What has He got to do with anything? Does he pay tuition?
MAMA: You 'bout to get your fresh little jaw slapped!
R UT H : That's just what she needs, all right!
BE N E AT H A: Why? Why can't I say what I want to around here,
like everybodyelse?
MAMA: It don't sound nicefor a young girlto say things like that
you wasn't brought up that way. Me and your father went to
trouble to get you and Brother to church every Sunday.
BE N E AT H A: Mama, you don't understand. It's all a matter of ideas,
and God is just one idea I don't accept. It's not important. I am
not going out and be immoral or commit crimes because I don't
believe in God. I don't even think about it. It's just that 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 Godthere is only man and it is he who makes miracles!
MAMA absorbs this speech, studies her daughterand rises slowly
and crosses to BE N E AT H Aandslapsher powerfully across the face.
After, there is only silenceand the daughter dropsher eyes from
her mother'sface, and MAMAis very tall before her.
MAMA: N owyou say after me, in my mother's house thereis still
God. (There is a long pauseand BE N E AT H A staresat the floor
wordlessly. MAMA repeats the phrase with precision and cool
emotion.) In my mother's house there is still God.
BE N E AT H A: In my mother's house thereis still God.(a long pause)
MAMA (walking away from BE N E AT H A,too disturbedfor trium-
phant posture. Stopping and turning back to her daughter.):
There are some ideas we ain't going to have in this house. Not
as long as I am at the head of thisfamily.
BE N E AT H A: Yes, ma'am. (MAMA walksout of the room.)
RUT H (almost gently, with profound understanding): You think
you a woman, Bennie but you still a little girl. What you did
was childishso you got treated like a child.
BE N E AT H A: I see. (quietly) I alsosee that everybody thinks it'sall
507
A R A I S I NI N T HE S UN A c t IScene I
right for Mama to be atyrant.But all thetyrannyin theworld
will never put a God in theheavens! (She picksup her books
and goes out. Pause.)
R UTH (goes to MAMA' Sdoor):S hesaid she wassorry.
MAMA (coming out,goingto herplant): They frightens me, R uth.
My children.
R UTH: You got good children, Lena. They j ust alittle offsome-
timesbut they' re good.
MAMA: N othere' ssomething come down between me andthem
that don' t let us understand each other and I don' tknow what
it is. One done almost lost hismind thinking ' boutmoneyall
the time and the other done commencetotalk about thingsI
can' t seem to understandin noformorfashion. Whatis it that' s
changing, R uth?
R UTH (soothingly, older than her years): N ow . . . youtaking it all
too seriously. Youjust gotstrong-willed childrenand it takesa
strong woman like you tokeep 'eminhand.
MAMA (looking at her plantandsprinklingalittle water onit):
They spirited all right, my children. Got toadmit they got
spiritBennie and Walter. Like this littleoldplant that ain' t
never had enough sunshine or nothingandlook at i t . . .
She has her back to R UTH, who has had tostop ironingandlean
against something and put thebackof herhandto herforehead.
R UTH (trying tokeep MAMAfrom noticing): You . . . sure . . . loves
that little oldthing, don' tyou? . . .
MAMA: Well, I always wantedme agarden like Iused to seesome-
times at the back of thehouses down home. This plantisclose
as I ever got to having one. (She looksout of the windowas
she replaces theplant.) Lord, ain' t nothingasdrearyas theview
from this window on a dreary day,isthere?Whyain' t you
singing this morning, R uth? Sing that "NoWays Tired."That
song always liftsme up so (She turns atlast to seethat R UTH
has slipped quietlyto thefloor,in astate ofsemiconsciousness.)
R uth! R uthhoneywhat' s thematter with you . . . R uth!
508
S C E N E I I
It is the following morning;aSaturday morning, andhouse clean-
ing is in progressat the Y O U N G E R S . Furniture hasbeen shoved
hither and yon and M A MA isgivingthe kitchen-areawalls awash-
ing down. B E N E A T H A , in dungarees, withahandkerchief tied
around herface, isspraying insecticide intothecracks in thewalls.
As they work, theradiois on and aSouthside disk-jockey program
is inappropriatelyfilling thehouse witharather exoticsaxophone
blues. T R A V I S , the sole idle one,isleaningon his arms, lookingout
of the window.
T R A V I S : G randmama, that stuff B ennie isusing smells awful. C an
I go downstairs, please?
M A M A : Did you get allthem chores done already?I ain't seenyou
doing much.
T R A V I S : Y es'mf inis hedearly. Where didM ama gothis morning?
M A M A (looking at B E N E A T H A , ) : S he had to go on alittle errand.
The phone rings. B E N E A T H A runstoanswerit andreaches it before
WA L T E R , who has entered from bedroom.
T R A V I S : Where?
M A M A : T o tend to her business.
B E N E A T H A : H aylo . . . (disappointed) Y es, he is. (She tosses the
phone toWA L T E R , who barely catches it.) It's Willie H arris
again.
WA L T E R (as privatelyaspossible under M A M A 'Sgaze): H ello, Wil-
lie. Did you get thepapers from thelawyer? . . . N o, not yet. I
told you the mailman doesn't gethere till ten-thirty . . . N o, I'll
come there . . . Y eah! R ight away. (Hehangs up andgoes for
his coat.)
B E N E A T H A : B rother, wheredidR uthgo?
WA L T E R (as he exits):H ow should I know!
T R A V I S : A w comeon, G randma.C an I gooutside?
M A M A : O h, I guess so. Y oustay rightinfrontof thehouse, though,
and keep a good lookout for thepostman.
T R A V I S : Y es'm. (He darts into bedroomforstickball and bat,
reenters, and sees B E N E A T H Aon herknees spraying under sofa
with behind upraised. He edges closer to thetarget,takes aim,
and lets her have it. Shescreams.) L eave them poorlittle cock-
509
A R A I S I NI N T H E S U N A c t I Scene I I
roaches alone, they ain't bothering younone! (He runs as she
swings thespraygun at himviciously and playfully.) Grandma!
Grandma!
M A M A : Lookout there, girl, before you bespilling some of that
stuff on that child!
T R A V I S(safely behind t he bastion of M AM A): That's rightlook
out, now! (Heexits.)
B E N E A T H A(drily): I can't imagine that it would hurt himit has
never hurt theroaches.
M AM A: Well, little boys' hides ain't as tough as S outhside roaches.
You bettergetover there behind thebureau. I seen one marching
out of there like N apoleon yesterday.
B EN EATHA: There's really onlyone way to get rid of them,
M ama
M AM A: How?
B EN EATHA: S et fire tothis building! M ama, where did R uth go?
M AM A (lookingat herwith meaning):To the doctor, I think.
B EN EATHA: The doctor? What'sthematter? (Theyexchange
glances.) You don't think
M AM A (withhersense of drama):N ow I ain't saying what I think.
B ut I ain't never been wrong 'bout a woman neither. (The phone
rings.)
B EN EATHA (at thephone): Hay-lo .. . (pause, and a moment of
recognition.) Wellwhen did you get back! . . . And how was
it? ... Ofcourse I 've missed youin my way . . . This morning?
N o . . . house cleaning and all that andM ama hates it if I let
people come over when thehouse is like this . . . You have? Well,
that's di f f erent . . . What is itOh,whatthehell, comeon
over .. . R ight, see youthen. Arrividerci. (She hangs up.)
M AM A (whohaslistenedvigorously, as is her habit): Who is that
you inviting over here with this house looking like this? You
ain't got the pride you was born with!
B E N E A T H A : Asagai doesn't care how houses lookM amahe' s an
intellectual.
M AM A: Who?
B E N E A T H A : A sagai Joseph Asagai. He's an A frican boy I met on
campus. He's beenstudying in Canada all summer.
M AM A: What's hisname?
B E N E A T H A : Asagai, Joseph. A h-sah-guy . . . He's from N igeria.
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Lorraine Hansberry
MAMA: Oh, that's the little country that was foundedby slaves
way back . . .
B E N E AT H A: N o, M amathat's Liberia.
MAMA: I don't thinkI nevermet no A frican before.
B E N E A T H A : Well, do me afavor and don'task him a wholelot of
ignorant questions about Africans. I mean, do they wear clothes
and allthat
MA MA : Well, now, I guessif you thinkwe so ignorant 'round here
maybe you shouldn't bring your friends here
B E N E AT H A: It'sjust that peopleask such crazy things.All anyone
seems to know about whenit comesto A fricais T arzan
MAMA (indignantly): Why shouldI know anything about A frica?
B E N E AT H A: Why do you give moneyat churchfor the missionary
work?
MAMA: Well, that's to help save people.
B E N E A T H A : You mean save themfrom heathenism
MAMA (innocently): Yes.
B E N E AT H A: I'mafraid they need more salvation fromthe B ritish
and the French.
R U T H comesin forlornlyand pulls off her coat with dejection.They
both turn to look at her.
R U T H (dispiritedly): Well,I guess fromall the happy facesevery-
body knows.
B E N E A T H A : You pregnant?
MA MA : Lord have mercy, I sure hope it's a little old girl. T ravis
ought to have a sister.
B E N E AT H A andR U T H give her a hopeless lookfor this
grandmotherly enthusiasm.
B E N E A T H A : H ow far alongare you?
R U T H : T wo months.
B E N E A T H A : Did you meanto? I meandid you planit or was it an
accident?
MAMA: What do you know about planning or not planning?
B E N E A T H A : Oh, Mama.
R U T H (wearily): She's twenty years old, Lena.
B E N E AT H A: Did you planit, R uth?
R U T H : Mind your own business.
B E N E A T H A : It is mybusinesswhereis he goingto live, on the
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I Scene II
roof? (There is silence following the remarkas the three women
react to the sense of it.) GeeI didn't mean that, R uth, honest.
Gee, I don'tfeel like that at all. I I think it is wonderful.
RUTH (dully): Wonderful.
BENEATHA: Yesreally.
MAMA (looking at RUTH, worried): Doctorsay everything goingto
be all right?
RUTH (far away): Yesshe says everything is going to be fine . . .
MAMA (immediately suspicious): "S he"What doctoryou went
to?
RUTH folds over, near hysteria.
MAMA (worriedly hovering over R UTH): R uthhoneywhat's the
matter withyouyousick?
RUTH has her fists clenched on her thighsand is fighting hardto
suppress a scream that seems to be rising in her.
BENEATHA: What's the matter with her, M ama?
MAMA (workingherfingersin R UTH'S shoulders to relax her): She
be all right. Women gets right depressed sometimes when they
get her way. (speakingsoftly, expertly, rapidly) Now you just
relax. That's right. . . just lean back, don't think 'bout nothing
at al l . . . nothing at al l
R UTH: I 'm all right. . .
The glassy-eyed look meltsand thenshe collapses intoa fit of heavy
sobbing. The bell rings.
BENEATHA: Oh, myGodthat mustbe Asagai.
MAMA (toR UTH): Come on now, honey.You needto lie down
and rest awhile . . . then have some nice hot food.
They exit, RUTH'S weighton her mother-in-law. BENEATHA, herself
profoundly disturbed, opens the door to admit a rather dramatic-
looking young man with a large package.
AS AGAI : Hello, Alaiyo
BENEATHA (holding the door open and regarding him with
pleasure): Hello . . . (long pause)Wellcome in. And please
excuse everything. My mother was very upset about my letting
anyone come here with the place like this.
ASAGAI (coming into the room): You look disturbed too . . . I s
something wrong?
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Lorraine Hansberry
BENEATHA:(still at the door, absently): Yes . . . we've all got acute
ghetto-itus. (She smiles and comes toward him, finding a ciga-
rette and sitting.) Sosit down! No! Wait! (She whips the
spraygun offsofa whereshe had left it and putsthe cushions
back. At last perches on arm of sofa. He sits.) So, how was
Canada?
A SA G A I (a sophisticate): Canadian.
BE NE AT HA (looking at him): Asagai, I 'm very glad you are
back.
A SA G A I (looking backat her in turn):Are you really?
B E N E A T H A : Yesvery.
A SA G A I : Why?you were quite glad whenI went away. What
happened?
B E N E A T H A : You went away.
A SA G A I : A hhhhhhhh.
B E N E A T H A : B eforeyou wantedto be so serious before therewas
time.
A SA G A I : How much time must there bebefore one knows what
one feels?
B E N E A T H A (Stalling this particular conversation.Her hands pressed
together, in a deliberately childish gesture.): What did you bring
me?
ASAG AI (handingher the package): Openit and see.
B E NE AT HA (eagerly opening the packageand drawingout some
records and thecolorful robes of a Nigerian woman): Oh, As-
agai! . . . You got them for me! . . . Howbeautiful. . . and the
records too! (She lifts out the robes and runs to the mirror with
them and holds thedrapery up in frontof herself.)
A SA G A I (coming to her at the mirror): I shall haveto teachyou
how to drape it properly. (He flings the material about her for
the moment and stands back to look at her.) Ah Oh-pay-gay -
day, oh-gbah-mu-shay. (a Yoruba exclamationfor admiration)
You wear it well. . . very well. . . mutilated hair and all.
B E NE AT HA (turning suddenly): Myhairwhat's wrong withmy
hair?
A SA G A I (shrugging): Wereyou born withit like that?
B E N E A T H A (reaching up to touch it): No ... of course not. (She
looks back to the mirror, disturbed.)
A SA G A I (smiling): How then?
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Ac t IScene I I
BEN EATHA: You know perfectly well how...ascrinklyas
yours . . . that's how.
AS AG AI : And it isuglyto youthat way?
B EN EATHA (quickly): Oh, nonotugly . . .(more slowly, apolo-
getically) But it's sohard tomanage when it's, wellraw.
AS AG AI : And so to accommodate thatyoumutilate it every
week?
B EN EATHA: I t'snot mutilation!
AS AG AI (laughing aloud at herseriousness): Oh . . . please! I am
only teasing you becauseyou are sovery serious about these
things. (He stands back fromher and foldshisarms across his
chest as he watches herpullingat herhairandfrowningin the
mirror.) Do you remember the firsttime you met me at
school? . . . (Helaughs.) Youcame up to me and you said
and I thought youwere themost serious little thingI hadever
seenyou said: (Heimitates her.) "Mr. A sagaiI want very
much to talk with you. About Africa.Yousee,Mr. Asagai, I am
looking for my identity!" (Helaughs.)
B EN EATHA (turningto him, not laughing): Yes .(Her face is
quizzical, profoundly disturbed.)
AS AG AI (still teasingand reachingout andtaking her face in his
hands and turning her profile tohim): Wel l ...it is true that
this is not so muchaprofileof aHollywood queenasperhaps
a queen of theN ile (a mockdismissal of theimportance of
the question) But what doesitmatter? Assimilationismis so
popular inyour country.
B EN EATHA (wheeling, passionately, sharply):I am not anassimi-
lationist!
AS AG AI (the protest hangsin the room for a moment and AS AG AI
studies her, his laughter fading): S uchaserious one. (There is
a pause.) S oyoulikethe robes?Youmust take excellent care
of themtheyarefrommysister's personal wardrobe.
B EN EATHA (with incredulity): Youyousent all the wayhome
for me?
AS AG AI (with charm): For youIwould domuch more . . . Well,
that is what I came for.Imustgo.
B EN EATHA: Willyou call meMonday?
AS AG AI : Yes . . . Wehave agreat deal totalk about. I mean about
identity and time and all that.
Lorraine Hansberry
B E N E A T H A : T ime?
A S A G A I : Yes. A bout how much time one needsto know what one
feels.
B E N E A T H A : You see!You never understood that thereis more than
one kind of feeling which can exist between a man and a
womanor, at least, there should be.
AS AG AI (shaking his head negatively but gently): No. Betweena
man and a woman there needbe onlyone kindof feeling.I have
that for you . . . Now even . . . right this moment. . .
B E N E A T H A : I knowandby itsel fit won'tdo. I can find that
anywhere.
A S A G A I : For a woman it shouldbe enough.
BENEATHA: I knowbecause that's what it says in all the novels
that men write. B ut it isn't. G o ahead and laugh but I 'm not
interested in being someone's little episode in A merica or(with
feminine vengeance) one of them! ( A S A G A I has burst into
laughter again.) That's funny as hell, huh!
A S A G A I : I t's just thatevery A merican girlI have knownhas said
that to me. White bl ackin this you are all the same. A nd the
same speech, too!
B E N E A T H A (angrily): Yuk, yuk, yuk!
A S A G A I : I t's how you can be sure that the world's most liberated
women are not liberated at all. You all talk about it too much!
M AM A enters and is immediatelyall social charm because of the
presence of a guest.
B E N E A T H A : OhM ama this is M r. A sagai.
M A M A : H ow do you do?
A S A G A I (total politeness to an elder): How do you do, M rs.
Younger. Pleaseforgive me for coming at such an outrageous
hour on a S aturday.
M A M A : Well, you are quite welcome. I just hopeyou understand
that our house don't always look likethis, (chatterish) You
must come again. I would loveto hear all about (not sureof
the name)your country. I think it's so sad the way our A mer-
ican Negroes don't know nothing about A frica 'cept T arzan and
all that. A nd all that money they pour into these churches when
they ought to be helping you people over there drive out them
French and E nglishmen done taken away your land.
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I Scene I I
The motherflashes a slightly superior look at her daughter upon
completion of the recitation.
AS AG AI (taken aback by this suddenand acutely unrelated expres-
sion of sympathy): Yes . . . yes . . .
MAMA (smiling at him suddenly and relaxing and looking him
over): How many milesis it from hereto whereyoucome from?
AS AG AI : Many thousands.
MAMA (looking at him as she would W AL TER J :I bet you don'thalf
look after yourself, being away from your mama either.I spec
you better come 'round herefrom time to time to getyourself
some decent home-cooked meals . . .
AS AG AI (moved): Thank you. Thankyouvery much. (Theyare
all quiet, then) W el l ... I must go. I will call you Monday,
Alaiyo.
MAMA: W hat's that he call you?
AS AG AI : Oh"Alaiyo." I hope you don't mind.I t is what you
would call a nickname, I think. I t is a Yoruba word. I am a
Yoruba.
MAMA (lookingat B EN EATHAJ : I I thought he was from(unc er-
tain)
AS AG AI (understanding): N igeriais my country. Yoruba is my
tribal origin
B EN EATHA: You didn't tell us what Alaiyo means ... for all I
know, you might be calling meL ittle I diot or something . . .
AS AG AI : W el l ... let me see ... I do not know how just to explain
i t . . . The sense of a thing can be so different when it changes
languages.
B EN EATHA: You're evading.
AS AG AI : N oreally it is difficult. . . (thinking) I t means ... it
means One for W hom B read Food I sN ot Enough.(He looks
at her.) I s that allright?
B EN EATHA (understanding, softly): Thank you.
MAMA (looking from one to the other and not understanding any
of it): W ell. . . that's nice . . . You must come see us again
Mr.
AS AG AI : Ah-sah-guy . . .
MAMA: Yes . . . Do come again.
AS AG AI : G ood-bye. (Re exits.)
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Lorraine Hansberry
M A M A (after him): Lord, that's a pretty thing just wentout here!
(insinuatingly, to her daughter) Yes, I guessI see why we done
commence to get so interested in A frica 'round here. M ission-
aries my aunt Jenny! (She exits.)
B E N E A T H A : Oh, M ama! . . .
She picks up the Nigerian dress and holds it up to her in front of
the mirror again. She sets the headdress on haphazardly and then
notices her hair again and clutches at it and then replaces the
headdress and frowns at herself. Thenshe startsto wrigglein front
of the mirror as she thinks a Nigerian woman might. T R A V IS enters
and stands regarding her.
T R A V IS : What's the matter girl,you crackingup?
BENEATHA: Shut Up.
She pulls the headdress off and looksat herself in the mirrorand
clutches at her hair againand squinchesher eyesas if tryingto
imagine something. Then, suddenly, she gets her raincoat and
kerchief and hurriedly prepares for going out.
M A M A (coming back into the room): S he's resting now. T ravis,
baby, run next door and ask M iss Johnson to please let me have
a little kitchen cleanser. T his here can is empty as Jacob's kettle.
T R A V IS : I just camein.
M A M A : Do as you told. (He exits and she looksat her daughter.)
Where you going?
B E N E A T H A (halting at the door): T o becomea queenof the N ile!
She exits in a breathless blazeof glory. R U T Happearsin the
bedroom doorway.
M A M A : Who told you to get up?
R U T H : A in't nothing wrong with me to be lying in no bed for.
Where did B enniego?
M A M A (drumming her fingers): Far as I could make outto E gypt.
(R U T H just looks at her.) What timeis it gettingto?
R U T H : T en twenty. A nd the mailman going to ring that bell this
morning just like he done every morning for the last umpteen
years.
T R A V IS comes in withthe cleanser can.
T R A V IS : S he say to tell you that she don't have much.
M A M A (angrily): Lord, some peopleI could name sureis tight-
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act IScene I I
fisted! (directing her grandson) Marktwo cansof cleanser
down on the list there. I f shethat hardup forkitchen cleanser,
I sure don't want to forget to get her none!
R UTH: Lenamaybethe womanis just short on cleanser
MAMA (not listening):Much baking powderas shedone bor-
rowed from me all these years,shecouldofdone gone intothe
baking business!
The bell sounds suddenly andsharply and all threeare
stunnedserious and silentmid-speech.Inspite of all theother
conversations and distractionsof the morning,thisiswhat they
have been waitingfor, even TR AV I S ,who looks helplessly from
his mother to his grandmother. R UTHis the first tocometo life
again.
R UTH (toTR AV I S ,) : Get down themsteps, boy! (TR AV IS snaps to
life andflies out to get the mail.)
MAMA (hereyes wide,her handto her breast):Youmean itdone
really come?
R UTH (excited): Oh, Miss Lena!
MAMA (collecting herself): Wel l . . .I don'tknow whatwe all so
excited about 'round here for. We known it wascomingfor
months.
R UTH: That'sa wholelot different fromhavingitcome andbeing
able to hold it in your hands . . . apiece ofpaper worth ten
thousand dollars . . . ( TR AV I S bursts back into the room. He
holds the envelope high abovehishead, likealittle dancer, his
face is radiant and he isbreathless. Hemovesto hisgrandmother
with sudden slow ceremony and puts the envelope into her
hands. She acceptsit, and then merely holdsit andlooksatit.)
Come on! Open i t . . . Lord have mercy, Iwish Walter Lee was
here!
TR AV I S : Open it, Grandmama!
MAMA (staring at it):N ow you all bequiet. I t's just acheck.
R UTH: Open i t . . .
MAMA (still staring at it): N ow don't act silly . . . Weain't never
been no people to act silly 'bout no money
R UTH (swiftly): We ain't neverhad none beforeOPENI T!
MAMAfinally makesagood strong tear andpulls out thethin blue
518
Lorraine Hansberry
slice of paper and inspectsit closely. The boy and hismother study
it raptly over MAMA'S shoulders.
MAMA: Travis! (Sheis counting off withdoubt.) Isthat theright
number of zeros?
T R AV IS: Yes'm . . . tenthousand dollars. Gaalee, Grandmama, you
rich.
MAMA (She holds the check away from her, still looking at it.
Slowly herface sobers intoamaskofunhappiness.):T enthou-
sand dollars. (She handsit to R UT H.) Put it away somewhere,
R uth. (She does not lookat R UT H;her eyes seemto beseeing
something somewhere veryfar off.) T en thousand dollars they
give you. T en thousand dollars.
T R AV IS (to his mother, sincerely): What' sthematter with Grand-
mamadon' t she want to be rich?
R UT H (distractedly): You go on out andplay now, baby. ( T R AV IS
exits.MAMA starts wiping dishes absently, hummingintentlyto
herself. R UT H turns to her, with kind exasperation.) You' ve
gone and got yourself upset.
MAMA (not lookingat her):I specif it wasn' t for you al l . . . I
would just put that money away or give it to the churchor
something.
R UT H: Now what kindof talkisthat.Mr. Younger would just be
plain mad if he could hearyou talking foolish like that.
MAMA (stopping and staring off): Yes ... hesure would, (sighing)
We got enough to do with that money, allright. (She halts then,
and turns and looks at her daughter-in-law hard; R UT H avoids
her eyes and MAMA wipesher hands with finalityandstarts to
speak firmly to R UT H.,) Wheredid you gotoday, girl?
R UT H: T o the doctor.
MAMA (impatiently): Now, R uth . . . youknow better than that.
Old Doctor Jones is strange enough in his way butthere ain' t
nothing ' bout him make somebody slipand callhim "she"
like you done this morning.
R UT H: Well, that' s what happenedmytongue slipped.
MAMA: You went to seethat woman, didn' t you?
R UT H (defensively, giving herself away): What woman youtalking
about?
A R A I S I NI N T H E S U N A c t I Scene I I
M AM A (angrily): That woman who ( W A L T E Renters ingreat ex-
citement.)
W AL TER : Did it come?
M AM A (quietly): Can'tyougive people aChristian greeting before
you start asking about money?
W AL TER (toR UTH) :Did it come? ( R UTH unfolds thecheck and
lays it quietlybefore him,watchinghimintently withthoughts
of her own. W AL T E R sits downandgrasps itclose andcounts
off the zeros.) Tenthousand dollars( Heturns suddenly, fran-
tically to his mother and draws some papers out of his breast
pocket.) M ama look. OldW illy Harrisput everythingon pa-
per
M AM A: S on I think youought totalk toyour wife . . . I 'll go on
out and leaveyou aloneif you want
W AL TER : I can talkto her later M ama, look
M AM A: S on
W AL TER : W I L L S OM EBODY PL EAS E L ISTENTO M ETODAY!
M AM A (quietly): I don't 'lownoyellin' inthishouse, W alter L ee,
and you know it ( W A L T E R staresattheminfrustration and
starts to speak several times.) Andthere ain't goingto be no
investing in no liquor stores.
W AL T E R : But, M ama,youain't even looked at it.
M AM A: I don'taim tohavetospeak onthat again, (along pause)
W AL TER : Youain't lookedat it and you don't aim to have to speak
on that again? You ain't even lookedat it and youhavede-
cided (crumpling his papers) W ell,youtell that to my boy
tonight when you put him tosleep on theliving-room couch . . .
(turning to M AM Aand speaking directly toher) Yeah andtell
it to mywife, M ama, tomorrow whenshe has to go out of here
to look after somebody else's kids.Andtellit to me, M ama,
every time weneed a newpairofcurtainsand I havetowatch
you go and workinsomebody's kitchen. Yeah, you tell me then!
( W AL TER starts out.)
R UT H: W hereyougoing?
W AL TER : I 'm going out!
R UT H: W here?
W AL TER : Justout ofthis house somewhere
R UT H (gettingher coat): I 'll come too.
W AL TER : I don't wantyou tocome!
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Lorraine Hansberry
R U T H : I got something to talk to you about, Walter.
WA L TE R: That's too bad.
M A M A (still quietly): Walter L ee( S h e waits and be finally turns
and looks at her.) Sit down.
WA L T E R : I'm a grown man, M ama.
M A M A : A in't nobody said you wasn't grown. But you still in my
house and my presence. A nd as long as you areyou'll talk to
your wife civil. Now sit down.
RUT H (suddenly): Oh, let him go on out and drink himself to
death! He makes me sick to my stomach! (She flings her coat
against him and exits to bedroom.)
WA L T E R (violently flinging the coat after her): A nd you turn mine
too, baby! (The door slams behind her.) T hat was my biggest
mistake
M A M A (still quietly): Walter, what is the matter with you?
WA L T E R : M atter with me? A in't nothing the matter with me!
M A M A : Yes there is. Something eating you up like a crazy man.
Something more than me not giving you this money. T he past
few years I been watching it happen to you. You get all nervous
acting and kind of wild in the eyes ( WA L T E R jumps up impa-
tiently at her words.) I said sit there now, I'm talking to you!
WA L T E R : M amaI don't need no nagging at me today.
M A M A : Seem like you getting to a place where you always tied up
in some kind of knot about something. But if anybody ask you
'bout it you just yell at 'em and bust out the house and go out
and drink somewheres. Walter Lee, people can't live with that.
R uth's a good, patient girl in her way but you getting to be
too much. Boy, don't make the mistake of driving that girl away
from you.
WA L T E R : Whywhat she do for me?
M A M A : She loves you.
WA L T E R : M ama I'm going out. I want to go off somewhere and
be by myself for a while.
M A M A : I'm sorry 'bout your liquor store, son. It just wasn't the
thing for us to do. T hat's what I want to tell you about
WA L T E R : I got to go out, M ama (He rises.)
M A M A : It's dangerous, son.
WA L T E R : What's dangerous?
M A M A : When a man goes outside his home to look for peace.
52,1
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Ac t IScene I I
W AL TER (beseechingly): Thenwhycan't there never be nopeace
in this house then?
MAMA: You done foundit insome other house?
W AL TER : N othereain'tnowoman!W hy dowomen always think
there's a woman somewhere whena mangetsrestless, (picks
up the check) Do youknow what this money meansto me? Do
you know what this moneycan do for us? (putsit back)
M amaM amaI want somany things . . .
MAMA: Yes, son
W AL TER : I want so many things that theyaredriving mekind of
crazy . . .M amalook at me.
MAMA: I 'm looking at you.You agood-looking boy. You got a
job, a nice wife,a fine boy and
W AL TER : A job. (looksat her) Mama, a job? Iopen andclose
car doors all day long. I drivea manaroundin hislimousine
and I say, "Yes, sir; no,sir; very good,sir; shall I take theDrive,
sir?" Mama, that ain't nokind of job . . .that ain't nothing at
all. (very quietly) Mama, I don'tknowif I canmake you un-
derstand.
MAMA: Understand what, baby?
W AL TER (quietly): S ometimes it's like I can see thefuture stretched
out in front of mej ust plainasday. The future,Mama. Hang-
ing over there at the edgeof mydays. Just waiting for me a
big, looming blank spacefull of nothing. Just waitingfor me.
But it don't have to be.(Pause. Kneeling besideherchair.)
M amasometimes when I 'mdowntown and Ipass them cool,
quiet-looking restaurants where them white boys aresitting back
and talking 'bout things . . .sitting there turning deals worth
millions of dollars . . . sometimes I seeguys don'tlook much
older thanme
MAMA: S onhowcomeyoutalksomuch 'bout money?
W AL TER (with immense passion): Because it is life,Mama!
MAMA (quietly): Oh(very quietly) S o nowit's life.Money is life.
Once upon a time freedom usedto be lifenowit's money.I
guess the world really dochange . . .
W AL TER : N o i twas always money, Mama. W e justdidn't know
about it.
MAMA: N o . . . something haschanged. (She looks at him.) You
5 2 ,2 .
Lorraine Hansberry
something new, boy. In my time we was worried about not being
lynched and getting to the North if we could and how to stay
alive and still have a pinch of dignity too . . . Now here come
you and Beneathatalking 'bout things we never even thought
about hardly, me and your daddy. You ain't satisfied or proud
of nothing we done. I mean that you had a home; that we kept
you out of trouble till you was grown; that you don't have to
ride to work on the back of nobody's streetcarYou my chil-
drenbut how different we done become.
W A L T E R (A long beat. He pats her hand and gets up): You just
don't understand, Mama, you just don't understand.
MA MA : Sondo you know your wife is expecting another baby?
( " W A L T E R stands, stunned, and absorbs what his mother has said.)
T hat's what she wanted to talk to you about. ( W A L T E R sinks
down into a chair.) T his ain't for me to be tellingbut you
ought to know. (She waits.) I think R uth is thinking 'bout
getting rid of that child.
W A L T E R (slowly understanding): Nono R uth wouldn't do
that.
MA MA : W hen the world gets ugly enough a woman will do any-
thing for her family. The part thafs already living.
W A L T E R : You don't know R uth, Mama, if you think she would
do that.
R U T H opens the bedroom door and stands there a little limp.
R U T H (beaten): Yes I would too, W alter. (Pause.) I gave her a
five-dollar down payment.
There is total silence as the man stares at his wife and the mother
stares at her son.
MA MA (presently): Well(tightly) W ell son, I'm waiting to hear
you say something . . . (She waits.) I'm waiting to hear how
you be your father's son. Be the man he was . . . (Pause. The
silence shouts.) Your wife say she going to destroy your child.
A nd I'm waiting to hear you talk like him and say we a people
who give children life, not who destroys them (She rises.) I'm
waiting to see you stand up and look like your daddy and say
we done give up one baby to poverty and that we ain't going to
give up nary another one . . . I'm waiting.
5 2 -3
A R AI S I NI N THE S UN Act II Scene I
WALTER: Ruth(He can say nothing.)
MAMA: If you a son of mine, tell her! (WALTER picksup his keys
and his coat and walks out. She continues, bitterly.) You ...
you are a disgrace to your father's memory. Somebody get me
my hat!
ACT I I
S CE N E I
Time Later the same day.
At riseR UTH is ironing again. She has the radio going. Presently
BENEATHA'S bedroom door opensand RUTH'S mouth fallsand she
puts down the iron in fascination.
R UTH: What have we got on tonight!
BENEATHA (emerging grandly fromthe doorwayso thatwe can see
her thoroughly robed in the costume Asagai brought): You are
looking at what a well-dressed Nigerian woman wears (She
parades for RUTH, her hair completely hiddenby the headdress;
she is coquettishly fanning herself withan ornate oriental fan,
mistakenly more like Butterfly than any Nigerian that ever was.)
Isn't it beautiful? (She promenades to the radio and, with an
arrogant flourish, turns off the good loud blues thatis playing.)
Enough of this assimilationist junk! (RUTH followsher withher
eyes as she goes to the phonograph and puts on a record and
turns and waits ceremoniously for the music to come up. Then,
with a shout-) OCOMOGOSIAY!
RUTH jumps. The music comes up, a lovely Nigerian melody.
B ENEATHA listens, enraptured,her eyesfar awayif backto the
past." She beginsto dance. R UTHis dumfounded.
RUTH: What kind of dance is that?
BENEATHA: Afolk dance.
R UTH (Pearl Bailey): What kindof folksdo that, honey?
BENEATHA: It'sfrom Nigeria. It's a danceof welcome.
RUTH: Who you welcoming?
BENEATHA: The men back to the village.
Lorraine Hansberry
R U T H : Where theybeen?
B E N E A T H A : H ow should Iknowout hunting or something. A ny-
way, they are coming back now . . .
R U T H : Well, that's good.
B E N E A T H A (withthe record):
A lundi, alundi
A lundi alunya
Jop pu ajeepua
Ang gu soooooooooo
A i yai yae . . .
A yehayealundi. . .
WA L T E R comes in during this performance;he has obviously been
drinking. He leans against the door heavily and watches his sister,
at first with distaste. Then hiseyes look off"back to the past"
as helifts both his fists to the roof, screaming.
WA L T E R : YEAH ... A N D ETHIOPIA STRETCH FORTH H E R
H A N DS A GA IN ! .. .
R U T H (drily, lookingat him):Yes and A frica sure is claiming her
own tonight. (She gives them both up and starts ironing again.)
WA L T E R (all in a drunken, dramatic shout): Shut up! . . . I'm dig-
ging them drums . . . them drums move me! . . . (He makes his
weaving way to his wife's face and leansin closeto her.) In my
heart of hearts(He thumps his chest.)I am much warrior!
R U T H (without even looking up): In your heart of hearts you are
much drunkard.
WA L T E R (coming away from her and starting to wander around
the room, shouting): Me and Jomo . . . (Intently, in hissister's
face. She has stopped dancing to watch him in this unknown
mood.) T hat's my man, Kenyatta. (shouting and thumping his
chest) FL A MIN G SPEAR!H OT DA MN ! (He is suddenlyin
possession of an imaginaryspear and actively spearing enemies
all over the room.) OCOMOGOSIAY. . .
B E N E A T H A (to encourage WA L T E R , thoroughly caught up with this
side of him): OCOMOGOSIAY, FL AMING SPEAR!
WA L T E R : THE L ION IS WA KIN G . . . OWIMOWEH! (He pulls
his shirt open andleaps up on the table and gestures with his
spear.)
5 2 -5
A R A I S I NI N T H E S U N A c t I IScene I
B EN EATHA: OWI MOWEH!
WAL TER (On the table, veryfar gone, his eyespure glass sheets.
He sees whatwe cannot,that he is aleader of hispeople, a great
chief, a descendant of Chaka, andthat thehour tomarch has
come.): L isten, my black brothers
B E N E AT HA: OCOMOGOS I AY!
WAL TER : Doyou hear thewaters rushing against theshores of
the coastlands
B EN EATHA: OCOMOGOS I AY!
WAL TER : Doyouhear thescreeching of thecocks inyonder hills
beyond wherethe chiefsmeet incouncil for thecoming of the
mightywar
B E N E A T H A : OCOMOGOS I AY!
And now the lighting shifts subtlytosuggest theworld of WAL TER ' S
imagination, and themood shifts from pure comedy. It is the inner
WAL TER speaking: the Southside chauffeur has assumed an
unexpected majesty.
WAL TER : Doyouhear thebeating of thewings of thebirds flying
low over the mountainsand the lowplaces of our land
B E N E AT HA: OCOMOGOS I AY!
WAL TER : Do you hearthesinging of thewomen, singing the war
songs of ourfathersto thebabies in thegreat houses? S inging
the sweet war songs! (The doorbell rings.) OH, DO YOU
HEAR , MYBLACK B R OTHER S !
B EN EATHA (completely gone): Wehear you, Flaming S pear
R UT H shuts off the phonograph and opens thedoor. GE OR GE
MU R CH I S ON enters.
WAL TER : Tellingus to preparefor theGR EATN ES S OF THE
TI ME! (Lights backtonormal. Heturns andsees GEOR GE. )
B lack B rother! (He extends hishand for thefraternal clasp.)
GE OR GE : B lack B rother, hell!
R UTH (havinghad enough, and embarrassed for the family):
B eneatha, you gotcompany what' sthematter with you?
Walter L ee Younger,getdownoffthat tableandstop acting
like a f ool. . .
WAL TER comes down offthe table suddenly andmakes aquick
exit to the bathroom.
5*6
Lorraine Hansberry
RUTH: He's had a little to drink ... I don't know what her excuse
is.
G E O RG E (to B E N E A THA ) : Look honey, we're going to the theatre
we're not going to be in i t ... so go change, huh?
BE NE ATHA looks at him and slowly, ceremoniously, lifts her hands
and pulls off the headdress. Her hair is close-cropped and
unstraightened. G E O R G E freezes mid-sentence and R UT H'S eyes all
but fall out of her head.
G E O RG E : What in the name of
RUTH (touching B E N E A THA 'S hair): G irl, you done lost your natural
mind!? Look at your head!
G E O RG E : What have you done to your headI mean your hair?
B E N E A THA : N othingexcept cut it of f .
RUTH: Now that's the truthit' s what ain't been done to it! You
expect this boy to go out with you with your head all nappy
like that?
BE NE ATHA (looking at G E O RG E ) : That's up to George. If he's
ashamed of his heritage
G E O RG E : O h, don't be so proud of yourself , B enniej ust because
you look eccentric.
B E N E A THA : How can something that's natural be eccentric?
G E O RG E : That's what being eccentric means being natural. G et
dressed.
B E N E A THA : I don't like that, George.
RUTH: Why must you and your brother make an argument out of
everything people say?
B E N E A THA : Because I hate assimilationist Negroes!
RUTH: Will somebody please tell me what assimila-whoever
means!
G E O RG E : O h, it's just a college girl's way of calling people Uncle
Toms but that isn't what it means at all.
RUTH: Well, what does it mean?
BE NE ATHA (cutting G E O R G E off and staring at him as she replies to
RUTH) : It means someone who is willing to give up his own
culture and submerge himself completely in the dominant, and
in this case oppressive culture!
G E O R G E : O h, dear, dear, dear! Here we go! A lecture on the Af-
rican past! O n our G reat West A f rican Heritage! In one second
5 2 -7
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I IScene I
we will hear all about the great Ashanti empires;thegreat S on-
ghay civilizations;and the great sculptureof Beninandthen
some poetry in theBantuand thewhole monologue willend
with the wordheritage*(nastily) Let's faceit, baby,your her-
itage is nothingbut abunchofraggedy-assed spirituals andsome
grass huts!
BEN EATHA: GR AS S HUTS! ( R UTH crosses to her and forcibly
pushes her toward the bedroom.) S eethere . . . you arestanding
there in your splendid ignorance talking about peoplewhowere
the first to smelt ironon the faceof theearth! ( R UTHis pushing
her through the door.) The Ashanti were performing surgical
operations when the English ( R U T H pulls the door to, with
BEN EATHA on the other side, and smiles graciously at GEO R GE.
BEN EATHA opens the doorand shoutsthe end of the sentence
defiantly at GEO R GE.,) were still tatooing themselves with blue
dragons! (She goes back inside.)
R UTH: Havea seat, George.(They bothsit. R UTH foldsher hands
rather primly on herlap, determined todemonstrate thecivili-
zation of thefamily.) Warm, ain'tit? I mean for S eptember.
(pause) Just like they alwayssayabout Chicago weather: I fit's
too hot or cold for you, just waitaminuteandit'll change. (She
smiles happily at this clicheof cliches.) Everybody sayit's got
to do with them bombs andthings they keep setting off. (pause)
Would you likea nice cold beer?
GEO R GE: N o, thank you.I don't carefor beer.(Helooks at his
watch.) I hope she hurries up.
R UTH: What timeis the show?
GEO R GE: I t's an eight-thirty curtain. That'sjust Chicago, though.
I n N ew York standard curtain time iseight forty. (He israther
proud of this knowledge.)
R UTH (properly appreciating it): You get to N ewYork alot?
GEO R GE (offhand): Few times ayear.
R UTH: O hthat's nice. I 've never been to N ewYork. (WALTER
enters. Wefeel he has relieved himself,but the edge of unreality
is still with him.)
WALTER : N ew York ain't got nothing Chicago ain't.Just abunch
of hustling people all squeezedup togetherbeing "Eastern."
(He turns hisface intoa screwof displeasure.)
GEO R GE: O hyou' vebeen?
528
Lorraine Hansberry
W A L T E R : Plenty of times.
R UT H (shocked at the lie): Walter Lee Younger!
WALTER (staring her down): Plenty! (pause) W hat we got to drink
in this house? W hy don't you offer this man some refreshment.
(to G E O R G E J They don't know how to entertain people in this
house, man.
G E O R G E : T hank youI don't really care for anything.
WA L T E R (feeling his head; sobriety coming): Where's Mama?
R U T H : She ain't come back yet.
WALTER (looking MU R C H ISO N over from head to toe, scrutinizing
his carefully casual tweed sports jacket over cashmere V-neck
sweater over soft eyelet shirt and tie, and soft slacks, finished
off with white buckskin shoes): Why all you college boys wear
them faggoty-looking white shoes?
R U T H : Walter Lee!
G E O R G E MU R C H ISO N ignores the remark.
W A L T E R (to R U T H ) : Well, they look crazy as hellwhite shoes,
cold as it is.
R UT H (crushed): You have to excuse him
W A L T E R : No he don't! Excuse me for what? W hat you always
excusing me for! I'll excuse myself when I needs to be excused!
(a pause) They look as funny as them black knee socks Beneatha
wears out of here all the time.
R U T H : It's the college style, Walter.
W A L T E R : Style, hell. She looks like she got burnt legs or something!
R U T H : O h, W alter
WALTER (an irritable mimic): O h, W alter! O h, Walter! (to MU R -
CHISO N,) How's your old man making out? I understand you
all going to buy that big hotel on the Drive? (He finds a beer
in the refrigerator, wanders over to MU R C H ISO N , sipping and
wiping his lips with the back of his hand, and straddling a chair
backwards to talk to the other man.) Shrewd move. Your old
man is all right, man. (tapping his head and half winking for
emphasis) I mean he knows how to operate. I mean he thinks
big, you know what I mean, I mean for a home, you know? But
I think he's kind of running out of ideas now. I'd like to talk to
him. Listen, man, I got some plans that could turn this city
upside down. I mean think like he does. Big. Invest big, gamble
529
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Ac t I IScene I
big, hell, lose big if you haveto, you know whatImean. I t's
hard to find a man on this whole S outhside whounderstands
my kind of thinkingyou dig?(He scrutinizes M UR C HI S O N
again, drinks his beer, squintshis eyesandleansin close, con-
fidential, man to man.) M e and youought to sitdown andtalk
sometimes, man. M an, I got mesome ideas . . .
M UR C HI S O N (with boredom):Yeahsometimeswe'll have to do
that, Walter.
WAL TER (understanding the indifference, and offended): Yeah
well, when you get the time, man.Iknowyou abusy little boy.
R UTH: Walter,please
WAL TER (bitterly, hurt):I know ain'tnothing inthis world asbusy
as you colored college boys with your fraternitypinsandwhite
shoes . . .
R UTH (coveringher face withhumiliation): O h, Walter L ee
WAL TER : I see you all all the timewiththebooks tucked under
your armsgoing to your(British Aa mimic) "clahsses."
And for what! What the hellyoulearning over there?Fillingup
your heads(counting off on his fingers)with the sociology
and the psychologybut they teachingyou how to be aman?
How to take over and run theworld? They teaching you how
to run a rubber plantation or a steel mill? N awj ust to talk
proper and read books and wear them faggoty-looking white
shoes . . .
G EO R G E (lookingat him withdistaste, alittle above itall): You're
all wacked up with bitterness, man.
WAL TER (intently, almost quietly, betweenthe teeth,glaringat the
boy): And you ain' tyou bitter, man?Ain't you justabout had
it yet? Don't you see no stars gleaming thatyou can'treachout
and grab? Youhappy?You contented son-of-a-bitchyou
happy? You got it made? Bitter? M an,I 'm avolcano. Bitter?
Here I am agiantsurroundedbyants! Antswho can'teven
understand what it is the giantistalking about.
R UTH (passionately andsuddenly): O h, Walterain't you with
nobody!
WAL TER (violently): N o! 'C ause ain't nobody withme! N oteven
my own mother!
R UTH: Walter, that'sa terrible thingtosay!
530
Lorraine Hansberry
B E N E A T H A enters, dressedfor the evening in a cocktaildress and
earrings, hair natural.
G E O R G E : Wel l hey( crosses to B E N E A T H A ; thoughful, with em-
phasis, since thisis areversal) You look great!
WA L T E R (seeinghissister's hair for the firsttime): What's themat-
ter with your head?
B E N E A T H A(tiredof the jokes now): I cut itoff, B rother.
WA L T E R (coming closeto inspectit andwalking around her): Well,
I'll be damned. So that'swhat they mean by the A fricanbush . . .
B E N E A T H A : H a ha. L et's go, G eorge.
G E O R G E (lookingat her):Youknow something? Ilike it.It's sharp.
I mean it reallyis.(helps her intoher wrap)
R UT H : YesI think so, too. (She goesto themirrorandstartsto
clutch at her hair.)
WA L T E R : O h no! You leave yours alone, baby. Youmight turn out
to have a pin-shaped head or something!
B E N E A T H A : See you all later.
R UT H : H ave a nice time.
G E O R G E : T hanks. G ood night. (Half out thedoor,hereopens it.
To WA L T E R .) G ood night, Prometheus!
BENEATHA andGEORGE exit.
WA L T E R (toR UT H ) :Who is Prometheus?
R U T H : I don't know. Don't worry aboutit.
WA L T E R (infury, pointing after G E O R G E ) : See therethey get to a
point where they can't insult you man to manthey got to go
talk about something ain't nobody never heard of!
R UT H : H ow do you know it was an insult? (to humor him)
Maybe Prometheus is a nice fellow.
WA L T E R : Prometheus!I bet there ain't evennosuch thing! I bet
that simple-minded clown
R UT H : Wal ter( She stops whatshe isdoingandlooks athim.)
WA L T E R (yelling): Don't start!
R UT H : Start what?
WA L T E R : Your nagging! Wherewas I? Who was Iwith? H owmuch
money did I spend?
R UT H (plaintively): Walter L eewhy don't we just try to talk
about i t . . .
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act II Scene I
WALTER (not listening): I been out talking with people who un-
derstand me. People who care about the things I got on my
mind.
RUTH (wearily): I guess that means people like Willy Harris.
WAL TER: Yes, people like Willy Harris.
RUTH (with a suddenflashof impatience):Why don't you all just
hurry up and go into the banking business and stop talking
about it!
WAL TER: W hy? You want to knowwhy? 'Causewe all tiedup in
a race of people that don't know how to do nothing but moan,
pray and have babies! (The line is too bitter even for him and
he looks at her and sits down.)
RUTH: Oh, Walter . . . (softly) Honey, why can't you stop fighting
me?
WAL TER (without thinking): Who'sfighting you!Who even cares
about you? (This line beginsthe retardationof his mood.)
RUTH: W ell(She waits a long time,and then with resignation
starts to put away her things.) I guess I might as well go on to
bed . . . (more orless to herself) I don't know where we lost it
. . . but we have . . . (then, to him) I I 'm sorry about this new
baby, Walter. I guess maybe I better go on and do what I
started ... I guess I just didn't realize how bad things was with
us ... I guess Ijust didn't really realize(She starts out to the
bedroom and stops.) You want some hot milk?
W AL TER: Hot milk?
RUTH: Yeshot milk.
W AL TER: Why hotmilk?
RUTH: 'Causeafter all that liquoryou come home withyou ought
to have something hot in your stomach.
WALTER: I don't want no milk.
RUTH: You want some coffee then?
WAL TER: No, I don't want no coffee. I don't want nothing hot to
drink, (almost plaintively) Why you always tryingto giveme
something toeat?
RUTH (standing and lookingat himhelplessly): What elsecan I
give you, Walter Lee Younger?
She stands and looks at him and presently turns to go out again.
He lifts his head and watches her going away fromhim in a new
5 3 2 .
Lorraine Hansberry
mood which began to emerge when he askedher "Who cares about
you?"
W A L T E R : It's been rough, ain't it, baby? (She hearsand stopsbut
does not turn around and he continues to her back.) I guess
between two people there ain't never as much understood as
folks generally thinks thereis. I mean like betweenme and you
(She turns toface him.) How we gets to the place where we
scared to talk softness to each other. (He waits, thinking hard
himself.) W hy you think it got to be like that? (He is thought-
ful, almost as a child would be.) R uth, what is it gets into people
ought to be close?
R UT H: I don't know, honey. I think about it a lot.
W A L T E R : On account of you and me, you mean? T he way things
are with us. T he way something done come down between us.
R UT H: T here ain't so much between us, W alter . . . Not when you
come to me and try to talk to me. T ry to be with me ... a little
even.
W A L T E R (total honesty): Sometimes . . . sometimes . . . I don't even
know how to try.
R U T H: W alter
W A L T E R : Yes?
R UT H (coming to him, gently and with misgiving, but coming to
him): Honey . . . life don't have to be like this. I mean sometimes
people can do things so that things are better . . . You remember
how we used to talk when T ravis was born . . . about the way
we were going tolive . . . the kind of house . . . (She is stroking
his head.) Well, it's all starting to slip away from us ...
He turns her to him and they look at each other and kiss, tenderly
and hungrily. The door opensand M A M A entersWALTER breaks
away and jumps up. A beat.)
W A L T E R : M ama, where haveyoubeen?
M A M A : M ythem steps is longer than they used to be. Whew!
(She sits down and ignores him.) How you feeling this evening,
R uth?
R UT H shrugs, disturbed at having been interrupted and watching
her husband knowingly.
W A L T E R : M ama, where haveyou beenall day?
533
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Ac t I IScene I
M AM A (still ignoringhim andleaningon thetable andchanging to
more comfortable shoes): Where's Travis?
R UTH: I let him go out earlierand heain't come back yet. Boy, is
he going to get it!
WAL TER : M ama!
M AM A (asifshe has heard him for the firsttime): Yes, son?
WAL TER : Wheredid you gothis afternoon?
M AM A: I went downtown totendtosome business thatI had to
tend to.
WAL TER : What kindof business?
M AM A: You know better than toquestion melikeachild, Brother.
WAL TER (rising and bending overthe table): Where were you,
M ama? (bringing his fists down andshouting) M ama,you
didn't go do something with that insurance money, something
crazy?
The front door opens slowly,interrupting him, and TR AV I Speeks
his head in,less than hopefully.
TR AV I S (t o his mother): M ama, I
R UTH: "M ama I " nothing! You're goingto get it, boy!Get on in
that bedroom and getyourself ready!
TR AV I S : But I
M AM A: Why don'tyou allneverlet thechild explain hisself.
R UTH: Keepout of it now, L ena.
M AM A clampsher lips together, and R UTH advances toward her
son menacingly.
R UTH: A thousand timesIhave toldyou not to go offlike that
M AM A (holdingout herarmsto hergrandson): Wellatleast let
me tell him something. I want him to be the first one tohear
. . . Come here, Travis.(The boyobeys, gladly.) Travis (She
takes him by the shoulder andlooks intohis face.)youknow
that money we got in themail this morning?
TR AV I S : Yes'm
M AM A: Wellwhatyou think your grandmama gone anddone
with that money?
TR AV I S : I don't know, Grandmama.
M AM A (puttingher finger on hisnose foremphasis): S hewent out
and she boughtyou ahouse! (The explosion comes from WAL TER
at the end of the revelationand hejumpsup andturns away
534
Lorraine Hansberry
from all of them in a fury. M A M A continues, to T R A V I S . ) You
glad about the house? I t's going to be yours when you get to be
a man.
T R A V I S : YeahI always wanted to live in a house.
M A M A : A ll right, gimme some sugar then ( T R A V I S puts his arms
around her neck as she watches her son over the boy's shoulder.
Then, to T R A V I S , after the embrace.) Now when you say your
prayers tonight, you thank God and your grandfather'cause
it was him who give you the housein his way.
R U T H (taking the boy from M A M A and pushing him toward the
bedroom): Now you get out of here and get ready for your
beating.
T R A V I S : A w, M ama
R U T H : Get on in there(closing the door behind him and turning
radiantly to her mother-in-law) S o you went and did it!
M A M A (quietly, looking at her son with pain): Yes, I did.
R U T H (raising both arms classically): PR A IS E GOD! (Looks at
W A L T ER a moment, who says nothing. She crosses rapidly to her
husband.) Please, honeylet me be glad . . . you be glad too.
(She has laid her hands on his shoulders, but he shakes himself
free of her roughly, without turning to face her.) Oh, W alter . . .
a home . . . a home. (She comes back to M A M A . ) W ellwhere is
it? H ow big is it? H ow much it going to cost?
M A M A : W ell
R U T H : W hen we moving?
M A M A (smiling at her): First of the month.
R U T H (throwing back her head with jubilance): Praise God!
M A M A (tentatively, still looking at her son's back turned against
her and R U T H ) : I t's it's a nice house too . . . (She cannot help
speaking directly to him. An imploring quality in her voice, her
manner, makes her almost like a girl now.) Three bedrooms
nice big one for you and R uth . . . M e and Beneatha still have
to share our room, but T ravis have one of his ownand (with
difficulty) I figure if thenew babyis a boy, we could get one
of them double-decker outfits. . . A nd there's a yard with a little
patch of dirt where I could maybe get to grow me a few flow-
ers . . . A nd a nice big basement. . .
R U T H : W alter honey, be glad
M A M A (still to his back, fingering things on the table): 'Course I
535
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I I Scene I
don't want to make it sound fancier than it is ... It's just a plain
little old housebut it's made good and solidand it will be
ours. WalterLeeit makes a difference in a man when he can
walk on floors that belong to him . . .
R UTH: Whereis it?
MAMA (frightened at thistelling): Wellwellit'sout therein
ClybournePark
RUTH'S radiancefades abruptly, and WALTER finally turns slowly
to face his mother with incredulity and hostility.
R UTH: Where?
MAMA (matter-of-factly): Fouro six Clybourne Street, Clybourne
Park.
R UTH: Clybourne Park? Mama, there ain't no colored people living
in Clybourne Park.
MAMA (almost idiotically): Well, I guess there's goingto be some
now.
WALTER (bitterly): So that's the peaceand comfortyou wentout
and bought for us today!
MAMA (raising hereyes to meethis finally): S onI just triedto
find the nicest placefor the least amountof moneyfor my family.
RUTH (trying to recover fromthe shock): Wellwell'course I
ain't one never been 'fraidof no crackers, mind youbutwell,
wasn't there no other houses nowhere?
MAMA: Them houses they put up for coloredin them areasway
out all seem to cost twice as much as other houses. I did the
best I could.
RUTH (Struck senseless withthe news,in its various degrees of
goodness and trouble, she sits a moment, her fists propping her
chin in thought, and then she starts to rise, bringing her fists
down with vigor, the radiance spreading from cheek to cheek
again.):Wellwell!All I can say is if this is my time in life
MY TI M Eto saygood-bye(and shebuilds with momentum
as she starts to circle the room with an exuberant, almost tear-
fully happy release)to these Goddamned cracking walls! (She
pounds the walls.)and these marching roaches! (She wipes
at an imaginary army of marching roaches.) and this cramped
little closet which ain't now or never was no kitchen! . . . then
I say it loud and good, HALLELUJAH! AND GOOD-BYE MIS-
536
Lorraine Hans berry
ERY. . . I DON'T NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR UGLY
FACE AGAIN! (She laughs joyously, having practically de-
stroyed the apartment, and flings her arms up and lets them
come down happily, slowly, reflectively, over her abdomen,
aware for the first time perhaps that the life therein pulses with
happiness and not despair.) Lena?
M AM A (moved, watching her happiness): Yes, honey?
RUTH (looking off): Is there i s there a whole lot of sunli ght?
M AM A (understanding): Yes, child, there's a whole lot of sunlight.
(long pause)
RUTH (collecting herself and going to the door of the room TRAVIS
is in): WellI guess I better see 'bout Travis, (to M AM A) Lord,
I sure don't feel like whi ppi ng nobody today! (She exits.)
M AM A (The mother and son are left alone now and the mother
waits a long time, considering deeply, before she speaks.): Son
you you understand what I done, don't you? (WALTER is si-
lent and sullen.) I I just seen my fami ly falli ng apart today . . .
just falling to pieces in front of my eyes . . . We couldn't of gone
on like we was today. We was going backwards 'stead of for-
wardstalki ng 'bout killing babies and wishing each other was
dead . . . When it gets like that in li feyou just got to do some-
thi ng di fferent, push on out and do something bigger . . . (She
waits.) I wish you say something, son . . . I wish you'd say how
deep inside you thi nk I done the ri ght thi ng
WALTER (crossing slowly to his bedroom door and finally turning
there and speaking measuredly): What you need me to say you
done right for? You the head of this fami ly. You run our lives
like you want to. It was your money and you did what you
wanted with it. So what you need for me to say it was all right
for? (bitterly, to hurt her as deeply as he knows is possible) So
you butchered up a dream of mi ne you who always talki ng
'bout your children's dreams . . .
M AM A: Walter Lee
He just closes the door behind him. M AM A sits alone, thinking
heavily.
537
S C E N E II
Time Friday night. A fewweeks later.
At rise Packing crates marktheintentionofthe familyto move.
B ENEA T H A and G EO R G E come in,presumably from anevening out
again.
G EO R G E: O .K. . . . O .K., whatever you say . . . (Theyboth sit on
the couch. He triesto kiss her.Shemoves away.) Look, we've
had a nice evening; let's notspoil it, huh? . . .
He again turnsher headandtriestonuzzlein and sheturns away
from him, not withdistastebut withmomentary lackofinterest;
in a mood to pursue what they were talking about.
B ENEA T H A : I'm tryingtotalktoyou.
G EO R G E: We always talk.
B ENEA T H A : Yes andI love totalk.
G EO R G E (exasperated, rising):Iknowit and I don'tmind it some-
times . . . I want you to cut itout, seeT hemoody stuf f ,Imean.
I don't like it. You're anice-looking gi r l . . .all over. T hat'sall
you need, honey,forget the atmosphere. G uys aren't goingto
go for the atmospherethey'regoingto go forwhat they see.
B e glad for that. DroptheG arbo routine. Itdoesn't gowith you.
A s for myself, I wanta nice( gropi ng)simple (thought-
fully)sophisticated girl. . . not a poetO .K.? (Hestarts to
kiss her, she rebuffs himagainand hejumps up.)
B ENEA T H A : Why are youangry, G eorge?
G EO R G E: B ecause thisisstupid! I don't go outwith you todiscuss
the nature of "quiet desperation" or tohearallabout your
thoughtsbecausetheworld will go onthinking what it thinks
regardless
B ENEA T H A : T henwhyreadbooks? Why go toschool?
G EO R G E (withartificial patience,counting on his fingers): It's sim-
ple. You readbookstolearn f actsto getgrades topass the
courseto get a degree. T hat'sall i thasnothingto dowith
thoughts, (a long pause)
B ENEA T H A : I see. (Hestarts tosit.) G ood night, G eorge.
G EO R G E looks at her alittleoddly,andstarts to exit. Hemeets
M A M A comingin.
538
Lorraine Hansberry
GEORGE: Ohhello, Mrs. Younger.
MA MA : Hello, George, how you feeling?
GEORGE: Finefine, how are you?
MA MA : Oh, a little tired. You know them steps can get you after
a day's work. You all have a nice time tonight?
GEORGE: Yesafine time. A fine time.
MAMA: Well, good night.
GE OR GE : Good night. (He exits. MA MA closesthe door behind
her.) Hello, honey. What you sitting like that for?
B EN EA T HA : I'm just sitting.
MAMA: Didn't you have a nice time?
B EN EA T HA : No.
MAMA: N o? What's the matter?
B EN EA T HA : Mama, Georgeis afoolhonest. (She rises.)
MA MA (Hustling around unloading the packagesshe has entered
with. She stops.): Is he, baby?
B EN EA T HA : Yes.
B EN EA T HA makesup T RA VIS' bed as she talks.
MA MA : You sure?
BENEATHA: Yes.
MA MA : WellI guessyou betternot waste your time withno fools.
B EN EA T HA looks up at her mother, watching her put groceriesin
the refrigerator. Finally she gathers up her things and starts into
the bedroom. At the door she stops and looks back at her mother.
BENEATHA: Mama
MA MA : Yes, baby
BENEATHA: Thank you.
MA MA : For what?
BENEATHA: For understanding me this time.
She exits quickly and the mother stands, smiling a little, looking
at the place where B EN EA T HA just stood. RU T H enters.
RUTH: Now don'tyou fool withany of this stuff, Lena
MA MA : Oh, I just thought I'd sort a few things out. Is B rother
here?
RU T H: Yes.
MAMA (with concern):Is he
RU T H (readinghereyes): Yes.
539
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I I Scene I I
M AM A is silent and someone knockson the door. M AM A and R UTH
exchange weary and knowing glancesand R UTH opens it to admit
the neighbor, M R S . J OHN S ON ^who is a rather squeaky wide-eyed
lady of no particular age, witha newspaper underher arm.
MAMA (changing her expression to acute delightand a ringing
cheerful greeting): Ohhello there, Johnson.
JOHN S ON (This is a woman who decided longago to be enthu-
siastic about EVERYTHING in life and she is inclinedto wave
her wrist vigorously at the height of her exclamatory com-
ments.): Hello there, yourself! H'you this evening, R uth?
R UTH (not much of a deceptive type): Fine, Mis' Johnson, h'you?
J OHN S ON : Fine, (reaching out quickly, playfully, and patting
RUTH'S stomach) Ain't you starting to poke out none yet! (She
mugs with delight at the over-familiar remark and her eyes dart
around looking at the crates and packing preparation; MAMA'S
face is a cold sheet of endurance.) Oh, ain'twe getting ready
round here, though! Yessir! Lookathere! I 'm telling you the
Youngers is really getting ready to "move on up a little
higher!"-Bless God!
M AM A (a little drily, doubtingthe total sincerity of the Blesser):
Bless God.
J OHN S ON : He's good, ain't He?
M AM A: Oh yes, He's good.
J OHN S ON : I mean sometimes He works in mysterious ways . . . but
He works, don't He!
M AM A (the same): Yes, He does.
J OHN S ON : I 'mjust soooooo happyfor y'all. And this here child
(aboutR UTH) looks likeshe could justpop open with happiness,
don't she. Where's all the restof the family?
M AM A: Bennie's goneto bed
J OHN S ON : Ain't no . . . (The implication is pregnancy.) sickness
done hityouI hope . . . ?
M AM A: N oshejust tired.S he was out this evening.
J OHN S ON (Allis a coo,an emphatic coo): A wain't that lovely.
S he still going out with the little M urchison boy?
M AM A(drily): Ummmm huh.
^This characterand thesceneof her visit were cut fromthe original production and
early editionsof theplay.
540
Lorraine Hansberry
J OHNS ON: That's lovely. You sure got lovely children, Younger.
Me and Isaiah talks all the time 'bout what fine children you
was blessed with. We sure do.
MAMA: Ruth, give Mis' Johnson a piece of sweet potato pie and
some milk.
J OHNS ON: Oh honey, I can't stay hardly a minute I just dropped
in to see if there was anything I could do. (accepting thefood
easily) I guess y'all seen the news what's all over the colored
paper this week . . .
MAMA: No didn't get mine yet this week.
J OHNS ON (lifting her head and blinking withthe spiritof catas-
trophe): You mean you ain't read 'bout them colored people
that was bombed out their place out there?
RUTH straightens with concern and takes the paper and reads it.
J OHNS ON notices her andfeeds commentary.
J OHNS ON: Ain't it something how bad these here white folks is
getting here in Chicago! Lord, getting so you think you right
down in Mississippi! (with a tremendous and rather insincere
sense of melodrama) 'Course I thinks it's wonderful how our
folks keeps on pushing out. You hear some of these Negroes
round here talking 'bout how they don't go where they ain't
wanted and all thatbut not me, honey! (This is alie.) Wil-
hemenia Othella Johnson goes anywhere, any time she feels like
it! (with head movement for emphasis) Yes I do! Why if we
left it up to these here crackers, the poor niggers wouldn't have
nothing(She clasps her hand over her mouth.) Oh, I always
forgets you don't 'low that word in your house.
MAMA (quietly, looking at her): No I don't 'low it.
J OHNS ON (vigorouslyagain): Me neither!I was just telling Isaiah
yesterday when he come using it in front of me I said, "Isaiah,
it's just like Mis' Younger says all the time "
MAMA: Don't you want some morepie?
J OHNS ON: N ono thank you; this was lovely. I got to get on over
home and have my midnight coffee. I hear some people say it
don't let them sleep but I finds I can't close my eyes right lessen
I done had that laaaast cup of coffee . . . (She waits. A beat.
Undaunted.) My Goodnight coffee, I calls it!
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Ac t I I Scene I I
M AM A (with much eye-rolling andcommunication between herself
andR UTH): R uth,why don'tyougive M is' Johnson some coffee?
R UTH gives M AM Aan unpleasant look for herkindness.
JO H N S O N (acceptingthe coffee) : Where's Brother tonight?
M AM A: He's lying down.
JO H N S O N : M M mmmmm,hesure gets hisbeauty rest, don't he?
Good-looking man. S ureis agood-looking man! (reachingout
to patR UTH'S stomachagain) Iguess that'showcome wekeep
on having babies around here. (She winks at M AM A.) O nething
'bout Brother, he always knowhow tohaveagood time.And
soooooo ambitious!I bet it was hisideay'allmovingout to
Clybourne Park. LordI betthis time next month y'all's names
will have beenin the papersplenty(holdingup herhands to
markoff each wordof the headline she can see infront ofher)
"N EGR O ES I N VADE CLYBO UR N E PAR K-BO M BED!"
M AM A (Sheand R UTH lookat the woman in amazement.) : We
ain't exactly movingout thereto getbombed.
JO H N S O N : O h,honeyyouknowI 'mpraying to Godevery day
that don't nothing like that happen! But youhavetothinkof
life like itisand these here Chicago peckerwoods issome
baaaad peckerwoods.
M AM A (wearily) : We done thought about allthat M is' Johnson.
BEN EATHA comesout of the bedroomin herrobe andpasses
through to the bathroom. M R S . JO H N S O N turns.
JO H N S O N : Hello there, Bennie!
BEN EATHA(crisply) : Hello, M rs. Johnson.
JO H N S O N : How isschool?
BEN EATHA(crisply) : Fine, thank you. (She goes out.)
JO H N S O N (insulted) : Gettingso she don'thave much to say to
nobody.
M AM A: The childwas on her way to thebathroom.
JO H N S O N : Iknowbut sometimesshe actlike ain't gottime to
pass the time of daywith nobody ain'tbeentocollege. O hI
ain't criticizingher none. I t's j ustyouknowhowsome of our
young people gets when theyget alittle education. (M AM A and
R UTH say nothing,just lookat her.) Yeswell.Well, Iguess I
better get onhome, (unmoving) 'CourseI canunderstandhow
she must be proudandeverythingbeingtheonlyone in the
54*
Lorraine Hansberry
family to make somethingof herself.I knowjust beinga chauf-
feur ain't neversatisfied Brother none. He shouldn't feel like
that, though. Ain't nothing wrong with being a chauffeur.
M AM A: There's plenty wrong with it.
J O HN S O N : What?
M AM A: Plenty. My husband always said beingany kindof a
servant wasn't a fit thing for a man to have to be. He always
said a man's hands was made to make things, or to turn the
earth wi thnot to drive nobody'scar for ' emor (She looks
at her own hands.) carry they slop jars. And my boy is just like
hi mhe wasn't meant to wait on nobody.
J O HN S O N (rising, somewhat offended): M mmmmmmmm. The
Youngers is too much for me! (She looks around.) You sure
one proud-acting bunch of colored folks. WellI always thinks
like Booker T. Washington said that time"Education has
spoiled many a good plow hand"
M AM A: Is that what old BookerT. said?
J O HN S O N : He sure did.
M AM A: Well, it soundsjust like him. The fool.
J O HN S O N (indignantly):Wellhewas one of our great men.
MAMA: Who said so?
J O HN S O N (nonplussed): You know, me and you ain't never agreed
about some things, Lena Younger. I guess I better be going
R U TH (quickly): Good night.
J O HN S O N : Good night. Oh (thrusting it at her) You can keep
the paper! (with atrill) 'Night.
M AM A: Good night, Mis' J ohnson. (M R S . J O HN S O N exits.)
R U TH: If ignorance was gold . . .
MAMA: S hush. Don't talk about folks behind their backs.
R U TH: You do.
M AM A: I'm old and corrupted. (BEN EATHA enters.)You was rude
to Mis' J ohnson, Beneatha, and I don't like it at all.
BEN EATHA (at herdoor): M ama, if thereare two thingswe, as a
people, have got to overcome, one is theKlu Klux Klanand
the other is Mrs. J ohnson. (She exits.)
MAMA: Smart aleck. (The phone rings.)
R U TH: I'll get it.
M AM A: Lord, ain't this a popular place tonight.
R U TH ( at th e phone): HelloJ usta minute, (goesto door) Wal-
543
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I IScene I I
ter, it's Mrs. Arnold. (Waits. Goes back to the phone.Tense.)
Hello. Yes, this is his wife speaking . . .He's lying down now.
Yes . . . well, he'll be intomorrow. He's been very sick. YesI
know we should have called, but weweresosure he'dbeable
to come in today. Yesyes, I 'mverysorry. Yes . . . Thank you
very much. (She hangsup. W AL TERisstanding in the doorway
of the bedroom behind her.) That wasMrs. Arnold.
W AL TER(indifferently): W as it?
R UTH: S he saidif you don'tcomeintomorrow that they aregetting
a new man . . .
W AL TER : Ain't thatsadain't that crying sad.
R UTH: S he said Mr. Arnold has had totake a cab forthree days . . .
W alter, you ain't beento workfor three days! (Thisis areve-
lation to her.) W hereyou been, W alterL eeYounger! ( W AL TER
looks at her and starts to laugh.) You're goingtolose your job.
W AL TER : That's right. . . (Heturns on theradio.)
R UTH: Oh, W alter, andwith your mother working like a dogevery
day
A steamy,deep blues pours into the room.
W AL TER : That'ssadtooEverything issad.
MAMA: W hat you been doingfor these three days, son?
W AL TER : Mamayou don't knowall thethingsa manwhat got
leisure can find to do inthis city . . . W hat's thisFridaynight?
W ellW ednesdayI borrowed W illy Harris' car and Iwent for
a drive . . . just me andmyself and Idrove anddrove . . . W ay
out. . . way past S outh Chicago, and Iparked the car and I sat
and looked at the steel mills all daylong. Ijust sat in the car
and looked at thembigblack chimneysforhours. ThenIdrove
back and I went to the Green Hat. (pause) And Thursday
Thursday I borrowedthe car againand I got in it and Ipointed
it the other way and I drovethe other wayf or hoursway,
way up to W isconsin, and I lookedat the farms.I justdrove
and looked at thefarms. Then I drove back and Iwent to the
Green Hat. (pause) AndtodaytodayIdidn'tget thecar.To-
day I just walked. All over the S outhside.And Ilookedat the
N egroes and they looked at me and finally I justsatdownon
the curb at Thirty-ninth and S outh Parkwayand I justsatthere
and watched the N egroes go by. AndthenIwentto theGreen
544
Lorraine Hansberry
Hat. You allsad? You all depressed?And youknow where I
am going rightnow
R U T H goes out quietly.
M AM A: Oh,Big Walter,is thisthe harvest of our days?
WAL T E R : You know what I like about theGreen Hat?Ilike this
little cat they got there whoblows a sax . . . Heblows. Hetalks
to me. He ain't but 'bout five feet tall and he's got aconked
head and his eyesis always closedand he'sall music
M AM A (risingand getting some papers out of her handbag): Wal-
ter
WAL T E R : And there's this other guy whoplays thepiano . . . and
they got a sound. I mean they canwork onsome music . . . T hey
got the best little combo in theworld in theGreen Hat. . . You
can just sit there and drink and listento them threemenplay
and you realize that don't nothing matter worth adamn, but
just beingthere
M AM A: I've helped do it to you, haven'tI, son? Walter Ibeen
wrong.
WAL T E R : Nawyou ain't never been wrong about nothing,
M ama.
M AM A: L istento me, now. I say I been wrong, son. T hat Ibeen
doing to you what the rest of theworld been doingtoyou. (She
turnsoff the radio.) Walter(She stops and helooks upslowly
at her and she meets his eyes pleadingly.) Whatyouain't never
understood is that I ain't got nothing, don't ownnothing, ain't
never really wanted nothing that wasn't foryou. T here ain't
nothing as precious to me . . .T here ain't nothing worth holding
on to, money, dreams, nothing elseifitmeans ifitmeans it's
going to destroy my boy. (She takesan envelopeout of her
handbag and puts it in frontofhim and hewatchesher without
speaking or moving.) I paid the man thirty-fivehundred dollars
down on the house. T hat leaves sixty-fivehundred dollars. M on-
day morning I want you totake this money andtake three thou-
sand dollars and put it in asavings accountforBeneatha's med-
ical schooling. T he rest you put in a checking accountwith
your name on it. Andfrom now on anypenny that comeout of
it or that go in it is for you to look after. For you todecide.
(She drops her hands a little helplessly.) Itain't much, but it's
545
A R A I S I NI N T HE S UN A c t I IScene I I
all I got in theworldand I 'mputtingit inyour hands. I 'mtelling
you to be the headofthis family fromnow onlike yousupposed
to be.
W AL TER (stares at the money):Youtrust melike that, Mama?
MAMA: I ain't never stop trusting you. L ike Iain't never stop loving
you.
She goes out,and W AL TER sits lookingat themoneyon thetable.
Finally, in a decisive gesture, hegetsup,and, inmingled joy and
desperation, picks up the money.At thesame moment, TR AV I S
enters for bed.
TR AV I S : W hat'sthe matter, Daddy? Youdrunk?
W AL TER (sweetly, more sweetly thanwehaveever knownhim):
N o, Daddy ain't drunk. Daddy ain't goingtoneverbedrunk
again . . .
TR AV I S : W ell, good night, Daddy.
The F ATHER has come from behindthe couch andleans over,
embracing his son.
W AL TER : Son, I feel like talkingto youtonight.
TR AV I S : About what?
W AL TER : Oh, abouta lot ofthings. About you andwhat kind of
man you going to bewhen yougrow up ... S onson, what do
you want to bewhenyougrowup?
TR AV I S : A bus driver.
W AL TER (laughingalittle): A what? Man, that ain'tnothingto
want to be!
TR AV I S : W hy not?
W AL TER : 'Cause,manit ain'tbig enoughyouknow what I
mean.
TR AV I S : I don't know then. I can't make up mymind. S ometimes
Mama asks me that too. Andsometimes when Itellher I just
want to be like youshesaysshedon't wantme to belike that
and sometimes shesays shedoes . . .
W AL TER (gatheringhim up in hisarms): Youknow what, Travis?
I n seven yearsyou goingto beseventeen years old. Andthings
is going to beverydifferent with us inseven years, Travis . . .
One day when you are seventeen I 'll come homehome from
my office downtown somewhere
TR AV I S : You don't workin no office, Daddy.
546
Lorraine Hansberry
W A L T E R : Nob u tafter tonight. A fter what your daddy gonnado
tonight, there's going to be offices a whole lot of offices . . .
T R A V I S : W hat you gonna do tonight, Daddy?
W A L T E R : You wouldn't understand yet, son, but your daddy's
gonna make a transaction . . . a business transaction that's going
to change our lives . . . T hat's how come one day when you 'bout
seventeen years old I'll come home and I'll be pretty tired, you
know what I mean,after a day of conferencesand secretaries
getting things wrong the way they do ... 'cause an executive's
life is hell, man(The more he talks the farther away he gets.)
A nd I 'll pull the car up on the driveway . . . just a plain black
Chrysler, I think, with whitewallsno black tires. More ele-
gant. R ich people don't have to be flashy . . . though I 'll have to
get something a little sportier for R ut hmaybe a Cadillac con-
vertible to do her shopping in ... A nd I 'll come up the steps to
the house and the gardener will be clipping away at the hedges
and he'll say, "Good evening, Mr. Younger." A nd I'll say,
"Hello, Jefferson, how are you this evening?" A nd I 'll go inside
and R uth will come downstairs and meet me at the door and
we'll kiss each other and she'll take my arm and we'll go up to
your room to see you sitting on the floor with the catalogues of
all the great schools in A merica around you . . . A ll the great
schools in the world! A nd and I 'll say, all right sonit 's your
seventeenth birthday, what is it you've decided? . . . Just tell me
where you want to go to school and you'll go. Just tell me, what
it is you want tob eand you'll be it . . . W hatever you want to
beYessir! (He holdshis arms openfor T R A V I S .)You just
name it, son . . . ( "T R A V ISleaps into them.) and I hand you the
world!
W A L T E R 'S voice has risen in pitch and hysterical promise and on
the last linehe lifts T R A V I S high.
Blackout
S CE NE I I I
Time Saturday, moving day, one week later.
Before the curtain rises, R UT H'S voice,a strident, dramatic church
alto, cuts through the silence.
547
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I IScene HI
It is, in the darkness,atriumphantsurge, apenetratingstate-
ment of expectation: "Oh,Lord, I don't feel noways tired! Chil-
dren, oh, glory hallelujah!"
As the curtainriseswe seethat R UTHisalone in theliving room,
finishing up thefamily's packing. It ismoving day. She isnailing
crates and tying cartons. B EN EATHAenters, carrying aguitar case,
and watches herexuberant sister-in-law.
R UTH: Hey!
B EN EATHA (putting away the case):Hi.
R UTH (pointingat apackage): Honeylook inthat package there
and see what I foundonsale this morningat theSouth Center.
( R UTH gets up and movesto thepackage anddraws outsome
curtains.) Lookaherehand-turnedhems!
B EN EATHA: How do youknowthewindow size outthere?
R UTH (who hadn't thought of that): OhWell,they bound to fit
something in the whole house. Anyhow, they was too good a
bargain to passup. ( R UTH slapsherhead, suddenly remember-
ing something.): Oh, B ennieImeant to put aspecial note on
that carton over there. That'syour mama's good chinaand she
wants 'em to bevery careful withit.
BENEATHA: I'll do it.
B ENEATHA finds a pieceof paper andstarts todraw largeletters
on it.
R UTH: You know what I'mgoingto dosoonas I get in thatnew
house?
B ENEATHA: What?
R UTH: HoneyI 'mgoing to run me a tub ofwater up tohere . . .
(with herfingers practicallyup to hernostrils) And I'mgoing
to get ini tand I amgoingto s i t . . .and s i t . . .and sit inthat
hot water and the firstperson whoknocks totell me tohurry
up and comeout
B EN EATHA: Gets shot atsunrise.
R UTH (laughing happily): Yousaid it,sister! (noticing how large
B EN EATHA is absent-mindedly making thenote) Honey, they
ain't going to read that from noairplane.
B EN EATHA (laughing herself):I guess I always think things have
more emphasisif theyarebig, somehow.
R UTH (lookingup at her andsmiling): You andyour brother seem
548
Lorraine Hansberry
to have that as a philosophy of life. Lord, that man done
changed so 'round here. Youknowyou know what we did last
night? Me and WalterLee?
B E N E A T H A : What?
R U T H (smiling toherself): We went to the movies, (lookingat
B E N E A T H A to see if she understands) We wentto the movies.
You know the last time me and Walter went to the movies
together?
B E N E A T H A : N o.
R U T H : Me neither. T hat's how longit been, (smiling again) B ut
we went last night. T he picture wasn't much good, but that
didn't seem to matter. Wewentand we held hands.
B E N E A T H A : Oh, Lord!
R U T H : We held hands andyou know what?
B E N E A T H A : What?
R U T H : When we come out of the show it was late and dark and
all the stores and things was closed up ... and it was kind of
chilly and there wasn't many people on the streets . . . and we
was still holding hands, me and Walter.
B E N E A T H A : You're killingme.
WA LT E R enters withalarge package.His happinessis deepin him;
he cannot keep still with his new-found exuberance. He is singing
and wiggling and snapping his fingers. He puts his package in a
corner and puts a phonograph record, which he has brought in
with him, on the record player. As the music, soulful and sensuous,
comes up he dances over to R U T H and tries to get her to dance
with him. She gives in at last to his raunchiness and in a fit of
giggling allowsherself to be drawn into his mood. They dip and
she melts into his arms in a classic, body-melding t(slow drag.39
B E N E A T H A (regarding thema long timeas they dance, then drawing
in her breath for adeeply exaggerated comment which she does
not particularly mean): T alk aboutoldddddddddd-
fashionedddddddN egroes!
WA LT E R (stopping momentarily): What kind of N egroes? (He says
this in fun. He is not angry with her today, nor with anyone.
He starts to dance with his wife again.)
B E N E A T H A : Old-fashioned.
WA LT E R (as he dances with R U T H J : You know, when theseNew
549
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I IScene HI
Negroes have their convention(point ingat his sister)that is
going to be the chairman of theCommitteeonUnending Agi-
tation. (He goes ondancing, thenstops.) R ace, race, race! . ..
Girl, I do believe you are the firstperson in thehistoryof the
entire human racetosuccessfullybrainwash yourself. (BEN EA-
THA breaks up and hegoesondancing. Hestopsagain,enjoying
his tease.) Damn, even the N double A C Ptakes aholiday
sometimes! ( B EN EATHAand R UTH laugh. He dances with R UTH
some more andstarts tolaughandstops and pantomimessome-
one over an operating table.) I can justseethat chick someday
looking down at some poor cat on anoperating tableandbefore
she starts to slice him, shesays . . . (pulling hissleeves back
maliciously) "By the way, what areyour viewson civilrights
down there? ..." (Helaughs at heragain andstarts todance
happily. The bell sounds.)
B EN EATHA: S ticks andstones maybreak mybones but . . . words
will never hurt me!
B EN EATHA goesto the door andopens it as W AL TER and R UTH go
on with the clowning. B EN EATHAis somewhatsurprisedto see a
quiet-looking middle-aged white man in abusiness suit holdinghis
hat and abriefcase in his handandconsultingasmall piece of
paper.
M AN : Uhhow do you do, miss.I amlookingfor a Mrs. (He
looks at theslipof paper.) M rs. L ena Younger?(Hestops short,
struck dumb at the sightof theoblivious W AL TER and R UTH.)
B EN EATHA (smoothingherhair withslight embarrassment): Oh
yes, that's mymother. Excuseme. (She closes thedoorandturns
to quiet the other two.) R uth! Brother! (Enunciating precisely
but soundlessly: "There's awhite man at the door!93They stop
dancing, R UTH cuts offthe phonograph, BEN EATHA opens the
door. The mancastsacurious quickglance at all ofthem.) U h
come in please.
M AN (comingin): Thank you.
B EN EATHA: M y mother isn't here justnow. I s it business?
M AN : Yes . . .well, of a sort.
W AL TER(freely, the Man of theHouse): Have aseat. I 'mM rs.
Younger's son. I lookafter mostof herbusiness matters.
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Lorraine Hansberry
R U T H andB E N E A T H A exchange amused glances.
M A N (regarding W A L T E R , and sitting) \y name is Karl
L indner. ..
W A L T E R (stretchingout hishand): W alter Younger. This is my
w if e ( R U T H nods politely.)andmy sister.
L I N D N E R : H ow do you do.
W A L T E R (amiably,as he sits himself easily on achair,leaning for-
ward on his knees withinterest andlooking expectantly into the
newcomer'sface): W hat can we do foryou, M r. L indner!
L I N D N E R (some minor shuffling of the hat and briefcase on his
knees): W ellI am a representativeof the ClybournePark I m-
provement A ssociation
W A L T E R (pointing): W hy don'tyou sityour thingson the floor?
L I N D N E R : Ohyes. T hankyou. (Heslides the briefcase and hat
under the chair.) A nd as I was sayingIam f romthe Clybourne
Park I mprovement Association and wehave had itbrought to
our attention at the last meeting that youpeopleor atleast
your motherhas bought a pieceof residential propertyat
(He digs for theslip of paperagain.)fouro six Clybourne
Street.. .
W A L T E R : T hat's right. Careforsomethingtodrink?R uth,get M r.
L indner a beer.
L I N D N E R (upset for some reason):Oh no, really. Imean thank
you very much, but no thank you.
R U T H (innocently): Some coffee?
L I N D N E R : T hank you, nothingat all.
B E N E A T H A is watchingthe mancarefully.
L I N D N E R : Well, I don't know how muchyou folksknow about
our organization. (He is a gentle man;thoughtfuland some-
what labored in his manner.) It is one of these communityor-
ganizations set up to look af teroh, youknow, things like block
upkeep and special projects and wealso have what wecall our
New Neighbors OrientationCommittee . . .
B E N E A T H A(drily): Yesand what do they do?
L I N D N E R (turninga littleto her and then returningthemain force
to W A L T E R ) : W ellit'swhatyoumight callasortofwelcoming
committee, I guess. I mean they, w e I 'mthechairmanof the
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Ac t I IScene HI
committeegoaround and see the newpeoplewho move into
the neighborhood andsort of givethemthelowdownon the
way we do things out inClybourne Park.
B EN EATHA (with appreciationof the two meanings, which escape
R UTHandW AL TER ) : Un-huh.
L I N D N ER : And we also havethecategoryof whattheassocia-
tion calls (He looks elsewhere.) uhspecial community
problems . . .
B EN EATHA: Yesandwhat aresome ofthose?
W AL TER : Girl,let the mantalk.
L I N D N ER (with understated relief): Thankyou. I would sort of like
to explain this thingin my ownway.I meanI want toexplain
to you in acertain way.
W AL TER : Go ahead.
L I N D N E R : Yes. W ell. I 'mgoingto try to get right to the point. I 'm
sure we'll allappreciate thatin thelong run.
BENEATHA: Yes.
W AL TER : B estill now!
L I N D N E R :W ell
R UTH (still innocently): W ouldyoulike another chairyou don't
look comfortable.
L I N D N E R (more frustrated than annoyed): N o, thank you very
much. Please. W elltogetrightto thepoint I(Agreat breath,
and he is off at last.)I amsure youpeople must beaware of
some of the incidents which have happenedin various parts of
the city when colored people have moved into certain areas
( B EN EATHA exhales heavily andstarts tossing a piece of fruit up
and down in the air.) W ellbecausewehave what I think is
going to be a unique typeoforganizationinAmerican com-
munitylifenot onlydo wedeplore that kind of t hi ngbut we
are trying to do something aboutit. ( B EN EATHAstops tossing
and turns with a new andquizzicalinterestto the man.)W e
feel(gainingconfidencein hismission because of the interest
in thefaces of thepeoplehe istalkingto)we feel that most of
the trouble inthis world, whenyoucome right down to it (He
hits his knee for emphasis.)mostof thetrouble exists because
people j ust don't sitdownandtalktoeach other.
R UTH (noddingas shemightin church, pleased with the remark):
You can saythat again, mister.
55*
Lorraine Hansberry
L I N D N E R (more encouraged by such affirmation): Thatwe don't
try hard enough in this world to understand the other fellow's
problem. The other guy's point of view.
R U TH : N ow that's right.
B E N E A TH A and W A L TE R merely watchand listen with genuine
interest.
L I N D N E R : Yesthat'sthe way we feelout in Clybourne Park. A nd
that's why I was elected to come here this afternoon and talk to
you people. Friendly like, you know, the way people should talk
to each other and see if we couldn't find some way to work this
thing out. A s I say, the whole business is a matter of caring
about the other fellow. A nybody can see that you are a nice
family of folks, hard workingand honestI 'm sure. ( B E N E A TH A
frowns slightly, quizzically, her head tilted regarding him.) To-
day everybody knows what it means to be on the outside of
something. A nd of course, there is always somebody who is out
to take advantage of people who don't always understand.
W A L TE R : W hat do you mean?
L I N D N E R : W ellyou see our community is madeup of people
who've worked hard as the dickens for years to build up that
little community. They're not rich and fancy people; just hard-
working, honest people who don't really have much but those
little homes and a dream of the kind of community they want
to raise their children in. N ow, I don't say we areperfect and
there is a lot wrong in some of the things they want. B ut
you've got to admit that a man, right or wrong, has the right
to want to have the neighborhood he lives in a certain kind of
way. A nd at the moment the overwhelming majority of our
people out therefeel that people get along better, take more of
a common interest in the life of the community, when they
share a common background. I want you tobelieve me when I
tell you that raceprejudice simply doesn't enter into it. I t is a
matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or
wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that
our N egro families are happier when they live in their own
communities.
B E N E A TH A (with a grandand bitter gesture): This, friends, is the
W elcoming Committee!
553
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act IIScene HI
W AL TER (dumfounded, looking at L I N D N ER , ) : I sthis what youcame
marching all the way over hereto tellus?
L I N D N ER : Well, nowwe've been havinga fineconversation. I hope
you'll hear me all the way through.
W AL TER (tightly): Go ahead, man.
L I N D N ER : You see- inthe faceof all the things I have said, we
are prepared to make your family avery generous offer . . .
B EN EATHA: Thirty pieces and not acoin less!
W AL TER : Yeah?
L I N D N ER (puttingon his glasses and drawing aformout of the
briefcase): Our association is prepared, throughthecollective
effort of our people, to buy the house from you at a financial
gain to yourfamily.
R UTH: L ord have mercy, ain't thistheliving gall!
W AL TER : All right,you through?
L I N D N ER : Well, I want to giveyou theexact termsof the financial
arrangement
W AL TER : W e don't want to hear no exact termsof noarrange-
ments. I want to knowif you got anymoretotellus 'boutgetting
together?
L I N D N ER (taking off hisglasses): W ellI don'tsuppose that you
feel. . .
W AL TER : N ever mindhow I feel yougot anymoreto say 'bout
how people ought to sit down andtalk toeach other? . . . Get
out of my house, man. (He turns his backandwalks to the
door.)
L I N D N ER (looking aroundat the hostile faces and reaching and
assemblinghis hat and briefcase): W ell I don'tunderstand why
you people are reacting this way. W hat do youthink you are
going to gain by moving into a neighborhood where youjust
aren't wanted and where some elementswellpeoplecan get
awful workedup when they feel that their whole way of life and
everything they've ever workedfor isthreatened.
W AL TER : Get out.
L I N D N ER (at the door, holding a small card): W ell I 'msorry it
went like this.
W AL TER : Get out.
L I N D N ER (almostsadly regarding W AL TER , ) : You just can'tforce
people to change their hearts, son.
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Lorraine Hansberry
He turns and puts his card on a table and exits. WA L T E R pushes
the door to with stinging hatred, and stands looking at it. R U T H
just sits and BENEATHA just stands. Theysay nothing. MA MAand
TRAVIS enter.
MAMA: W ellthis all the packinggot done sinceI leftout of here
this morning. Itestify before God that my children got all the
energy of the dead! What time the moving men due?
BENEATHA: Four o'clock. You had a caller, Mama. (She is smiling,
teasingly.)
MAMA: Sure enoughwho?
B E N E A T H A (her armsfoldedsaucily): The Welcoming Committee.
WALTERandR U T H giggle.
MAMA (innocently): W ho?
BENEATHA: The Welcoming Committee. They said they're sure
going to be glad to see you when you get there.
WALTER (devilishly): Yeah, they said they can't hardly wait to see
your face.
Laughter.
MA MA (sensing their facetiousness): What'sthe matter withyou
all?
WALTER: A in't nothing the matter with us. We just telling you
'bout the gentleman who came to see you this afternoon. From
the Clybourne Park I mprovement Association.
MAMA: What he want?
RUTH (in the same moodas BENEATHAand WA L T E R ): To welcome
you, honey.
WA L T E R : He said they can't hardly wait. He said the one thing
they don't have, that they just dying to have out there is a fine
family of fine colored people!(to R U T Hand B E N E A T H A ) A in't
that right!
R U T H (mockingly): Yeah!H e lefthis card
B E N E A T H A (handlingcardto M A M A ):In case.
M A M A reads and throws it on the floorunderstanding and
lookingoff as she draws her chair up to the tableon whichshe
has put her plant and some sticks and some cord.
MA MA : Father, give us strength, (knowinglyand without fun)
Did he threaten us?
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A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act II Scene III
BENEATHA: OhMamathey don't do it like that any more. He
talked Brotherhood. He said everybody ought to learn how to
sit down and hate each other with good Christian fellowship.
She andWALTER shake hands to ridicule the remark.
MAMA (sadly): Lord, protect us ...
RUTH: You should hear the money thosefolks raised to buy the
house from us. All we paid and then some.
BENEATHA: What they thinkwe goingto doeat'em?
RUTH: No, honey, marry 'em.
MAMA (shaking herhead): Lord, Lord, Lord . . .
RUTH: Wellthat'sthe way the crackers crumble, (a beat) Joke.
BENEATHA (laughingly noticing whather motheris doing): Mama,
what are you doing?
MAMA: Fixing my plant so it won't get hurt none on the way . . .
BENEATHA: Mama, you going to take that to the new house?
MAMA: Un-huh
BENEATHA: That raggedy-lookingoldthing?
MAMA (stopping and lookingat her): It expressesME!
RUTH (with delight, to BENEATHA): So there, Miss Thing!
WALTER comesto MAMA suddenlyand bends down behindher and
squeezes her in his arms with all his strength. She is overwhelmed
by the suddenness of it and, though delighted, her manneris like
that ofR UTHand TRAVI S.
MAMA: Look out now, boy! You make me mess up my thing here!
WALTER (hisface lit,heslips downon his kneesbeside her, his
arms still about her): Mama . . . you know what it means to
climb up in the chariot?
MAMA (gruffly, veryhappy): Get on away from me now . . .
RUTH (near the gift-wrapped package,trying to catch WALTER'S
eye): Psst
WALTER: What the old song say, Mama . . .
RUTH: W alterN ow? (Sheis pointingat the package.)
WALTER (speaking the lines, sweetly, playfully, in his mother's
face):
I got wings . . . you gotwings . . .
All God's Children gotwings . . .
MAMA: Boyget out of myface and do some work . . .
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Lorraine Hansberry
W A L T E R :
When I get to heaven gonnaput on my wings,
Gonna fly all over God's heaven . . .
B E N E A T H A (teasingly, from acrossthe room): E verybody talking
'bout heaven ain't going there!
W A L T E R (to R U T H , who is carryingthe box acrossto them):I don't
know, you think we ought to give her that. . . Seems to me she
ain't been very appreciative around here.
M A M A (eying the box, whichis obviouslya gift: W hat is that?
W A L T E R (taking it from R U T H and puttingit on the tablein front
of MAMA): W ellwhatyou all think? Should we give it to her?
R U T H : Ohshe was pretty good today.
M A M A : I'll goodyou (She turnsher eyesto the box again.)
B E N E A T H A : Open it, M ama. (She stands up, looks at it, turnsand
looks at all of them, and then presses her hands together and
does not open the package.)
W A L T E R (sweetly): Openit, M ama. It'sfor you. (M A M A looksin
his eyes. It is the first present in her life withoutits being Christ-
mas. Slowly she opens her package and lifts out, one by one, a
brand-new sparklingset of gardening tools. W A L T E R continues,
prodding.) R uth made up thenoteread i t . . .
M A M A (picking up thecard and adjustingher glasses): "To our
own Mrs. M iniverL ovefrom B rother, R uth and B eneatha."
A in't that lovely . . .
T R A V IS (tuggingat his father'ssleeve): Daddy, can I give her mine
now?
W A L T E R : A ll right, son. ("TRAV IS fliesto get his gift.)
M A M A : N ow I don't have to use my knives and forks no more . . .
W A L T E R : T ravis didn't want to go in with the rest of us, M ama.
H e got his own. (somewhat amused) W e don't know what it
is ...
T R A V IS (racing back in the room with a large hatboxand putting
it in front of his grandmother): Here!
M A M A : L ord have mercy, baby. You done gone and bought your
grandmother a hat?
T R A V IS(very proud): Openit! (She does and liftsout an elaborate,
but very elaborate, wide gardening hat, and all the adults break
up at the sight of it.)
557
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Ac t I IScene HI
R UTH: Travis, honey, what isthat?
TR AV I S (who thinksit is beautifuland appropriate): I t's agarden-
ing hat! Like the ladies always have on in themagazines when
they work in their gardens.
B EN EATHA (gigglingfiercely): T raviswe were trying to make
Mama Mrs.Minivernot S carlett O'Hara!
MAMA (indignantly): What'sthe matter withyouall! This here is
a beautiful hat!(absurdly) I always wantedme one justlike it!
(She pops it on her headto proveit to her grandson,and the
hat is ludicrousand considerably oversized.)
R UTH: Hot dog! Go, Mama!
WALTER (doubled over with laughter):I 'msorry, Mama but you
look like you ready to go out and chop yousome cotton sure
enough!
They all laugh except MAMA, out of deference to TR AV I S ' feelings.
MAMA (gatheringthe boy up to her): B lessyour heartthis is the
prettiesthat I ever owned( WALT E R , R UTH and B EN EATHAchime
innoisily, festively and insincerely congratulating TR AV I S on
his gift.) What are we all standing around here for?We ain't
finished packin' yet. B ennie,you ain't packedonebook. (The
bell rings.)
B EN EATHA: That couldn't be themovers . . .it's nothardly two
goodyet
B EN EATHA goes intoher room. MAMA starts for the door.
WALTER (turning, stiffening): WaitwaitI ' ll get it. (He stands
and looks at the door.)
MAMA: You expecting company, son?
WALTER(just looking at the door): Yeahyeah . . .
MAMA looks at R UTH, and they exchange innocent and
unfrightened glances.
MAMA (not understanding): Well, letthemin, son.
B EN EATHA(from her room):We need some more string.
MAMA: T ravisyourun to the hardwareand get mesome string
cord.
MAMA goesout and WALTER turns and looks at R UTH. TR AV I Sgoes
to a dish for money.
R UTH: Why don't you answer the door,man?
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Lorraine Hansberry
W A L T E R (suddenly bounding across the floorto embrace her):
'Cause sometimes it hard to let the future begin! (Stooping
down in herface.)
I got wings!You got wings!
All God's childrengot wings!
He crosses to the doorand throwsitopen. Standing there is a very
slight little man in a not too prosperous business suit andwith
haunted frightened eyes and a hat pulled down tightly,brimup,
around his forehead. T R A V I S passes betweenthe men and exits.
W A L T E R leansdeep in the man's face, still in his jubilance.
When I get to heaven gonnaput on my wings,
Gonna fly all overGod's heaven. . .
(T he little man just stares at him.)
Heaven
(Suddenly he stops and looks past the little man into theempty
hallway.) W here's W illy, man?
B O B O : He ain't with me.
W A L T E R (not disturbed):O h come on in. Youknow my wife.
B O B O (dumbly, taking offhis hat): Yesh'you,Miss R uth.
R U T H (quietly, a mood apart fromher husband already, seeing
B O B O ,) : Hello, B obo.
W A L T E R : You right on time today . . .R ight ontime. T hat's the
way! (Heslaps B O B O on his back.) S itdown . . . lemmehear.
R U T H stands stiffly and quietlyin backof them, as though
somehow she senses death, her eyes fixed on her husband.
B O B O (his frightened eyeson thefloor, his hat in hishands): Could
I please get a drink of water, beforeI tellyouaboutit,W alter
L ee?
W A L T E R doesnot takehiseyes offthe man. R U T Hgoes blindly to
the tap and getsa glassof waterand brings it to B O B O .
W A L T E R : T here ain't nothing wrong,isthere?
B O B O : L emme tell you
W A L T E R : Mandidn't nothinggowrong?
B O B O : L emme tellyouW alterL ee. (looking at R U T Hand talking
to her more than to W A L T E R ) Youknow how itwas. I got to
tell you how it was. I mean first I got totell you how it was all
the way . . . I mean about themoney I put in,W alter L ee . . .
559
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I IScene HI
W AL TER (with taut agitation now): W hat aboutthemoneyyou
put in?
B O B O : W ellit wasn't muchas wetold youme and W il l y(H e
stops.) I 'm sorry, W alter. I got a bad feelingabout it. I got a
real badfeeling about i t . . .
W AL TER : Man, what youtellingmeaboutallthis for?... Tellme
what happened inS pringfield . . .
B O B O : S pringfield.
R UTH (like a dead woman): W hatwas supposedto happen in
S pringfield?
BOBO (to her): This deal that me and W alter went into with
W illyMe and W illywas goingto godownto S pringfieldand
spread some money 'round so's wewouldn't have towait so
long for the liquor license . . . That'swhat wewere going to do.
Everybody said that was the way you had to do, youunderstand,
Miss R uth?
W AL TER : Manwhat happened down there?
B OB O (apitiful man, near tears):I 'mtrying totell you, W alter.
W AL TER (screamingat himsuddenly): THEN TEL LME GOD-
DAMN I T . . . W HAT'S THEMATTER W ITH YO U?
B O B O : Man . . . I didn't go to no S pringfield,yesterday.
W AL TER (halted, life hangingin the moment): W hynot?
B O B O (the long way,the hardway to tell): 'Cause I didn't have
no reasons to ...
W AL TER : Man, whatare youtalking about!
B O B O : I 'm talking about the fact that whenI got to thetrain
station yesterdaymorningeight o'clocklike weplanned . . .
ManWil l y didn't never showup.
W AL TER : W hy . . . where was he ... where is he?
BOBO: That's what I 'mtrying totell you ... I don't know . . . I
waited sixhours . . . I called hishouse . . . and Iwaited . . . six
hours . . . I waited inthat train station sixhours . . . (breaking
into tears) That was all theextra money I had in theworld . . .
(looking up at W AL TER withthe tears running down his face)
Man, W illy is gone.
W AL TER : Gone, whatyou mean W illy isgone? Gone where? You
mean he went by himself.Youmeanhewent off to S pringfield
by himselfto take careof getting thelicense (turns and looks
anxiously at R UTHJ You mean maybehedidn't want toomany
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Lorraine Hansberry
people in on the business down there? (looks to RUTH again, as
before) You know Willy got his own ways, (looks back to
B O B O ) Maybe you was late yesterdayand he just wenton down
there without you. Maybe maybehe' s been callin' you at
home tryin' to tell you what happened or something. Maybe
maybehe just got sick. He'ssomewherehe' s got to be some-
where. We just got to find himme and you got to find him.
(grabsB O B O senselessly by the collarand startsto shake him)
We got to!
B O B O (in sudden angry, frightened agony): What'sthe matter with
you, Walter! When a cat take off with your money he don't
leave you no road maps!
WA L TE R (turning madly,as thoughhe is looking for WI L L Y in the
very room): Willy! . . . Willy . . . don't do i t . . . Please don't do
i t . . . Man, not with that money . . . Man, please, not with that
money . . . O h, God . . . Don't let it be true . . . (He is wander-
ing around, crying out for WI L L Yand lookingfor him or perhaps
for help from God.) Man . . . I trusted you . . . Man, I put my
life in your hands . . . (He starts to crumple down on the floor
as RUTH just coversher face in horror. MA MA opensthe door
and comes into the room with B E N E A THA behind her.) Man . . .
(He starts to pound the floor with his fists, sobbing wildly.)
THA T MO N E Y I S MA DE O UT O F MY FA THE R'S FL E SH-
B O B O (standing over himhelplessly): I 'm sorry, Walter . . . (Only
WA L TE R'S sobs reply. B O B O putson his hat.)I had my life staked
on this deal, too . . . (He exits.)
MA MA (to WA L TE RJ : Son (She goesto him, bends downto him,
talks to his bent head.) Son . . . I s it gone? Son, I gave you sixty-
five hundred dollars. I s it gone?A ll of it? B eneatha's money too?
WA L TE R (lifting his head slowly): Mama ... I never . . . went to
the bank at al l . . .
MA MA (not wanting to believe him): You mean . . . your sister's
school money . . . you used that too . . . Walter? . . .
WA L TE R: Yessss! A ll of i t . . . I t's all gone . . .
There is total silence. RUTH stands withher face covered withher
hands;B E N E A THA leans forlornly against a wall, fingering a piece
of red ribbon from the mother's gift. MA MA stopsand looksat her
son without recognition and then, quite without thinking about it,
561
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act III
starts to beat him senselesslyin the face. BENEATHA goesto them
and stops it.
B EN EATHA: Mama!
MAMA stopsand looksat bothofherchildren and risesslowly and
wanders vaguely, aimlessly away from them.
MAMA: I seen . . . him . . .night after night. . .come in ... and
look at that rug ... andthen look at me ... the redshowing in
his eyes . . . theveins moving in hishead ... Iseen him grow
thin and oldbefore he wasforty . . .working andworking and
working like somebody's oldhorse .. .killinghimself. . . and
youyou giveit allawayin a day( S heraises herarms tostrike
him again.)
B EN EATHA: Mama
MAMA: Oh, God . . . (She looks up toHim.) Look down here
and show me the strength.
B EN EATHA: Mama
MAMA (folding over): S trength . ..
B EN EATHA(plaintively): Mama ...
MAMA: S trength!
A CT I I I
An hour later.
At curtain, there is a sullen light of gloomin theliving room,
gray light not unlike that which began the firstsceneof Act One.
At left we can see W ALTER withinhis room,alone with himself.
He is stretched out on the bed, hisshirt out andopen, hisarms
under his head. He does not smoke,hedoesnot cryout,hemerely
lies there, looking up at the ceiling, muchasif hewere alone in
the world.
In the living room BENEATHA sitsat the table, still surrounded
by the now almost ominous packing crates. Shesits looking off.
We feel that thisis a mood struck perhapsanhour before, and it
lingers now,full of the empty soundof profound disappointment.
We see on a line fromher brother'sbedroomthesameness oftheir
attitudes. Presentlythe bell rings and B EN EATHA rises without am-
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Lorraine Hansberry
bition or interest in answering.It is A S A G A I , smilingbroadly,strid-
ing into the room withenergy and happy expectationandconver-
sation.
A S A G A I : I came over ... I hadsome free time. Ithought Imight
help with the packing.A h, I likethe lookofpacking crates! A
household in preparation for ajourney! I tdepresses some peo-
ple . . . but for me ... it isanother feeling.S omething full of the
flow of life, do you understand? Movement, progress ... I t
makes me thinkofA frica.
B E N E A T H A : A frica!
A S A G A I : What kindof amoodis this?H aveItoldyou howdeeply
you moveme?
B E N E A T H A : H e gave away themoney, A sagai. . .
A S A G A I : Who gave away what money?
B E N E A T H A : T he insurance money.Mybrother gave itaway.
A S A G A I : G aveit away?
B E N E A T H A : H e made an investment! Witha man even T ravis
wouldn't have trusted with hismost worn-out marbles.
A S A G A I : A nd it's gone?
B E N E A T H A : G one!
A S A G A I : I 'm very sorry . . . A ndyou, now?
B E N E A T H A : Me? . . .Me? . . . Me, I 'mnothing . . . Me. When I was
very small. . . we used to take our sleds out in thewintertime
and the only hills we had were the ice-covered stone stepsof
some houses down the street. A nd weused to filltheminwith
snow and make them smooth andslide down them all day . . .
and it was very dangerous, youknow . . . far toosteep . . . and
sure enough one day a kid named Rufus came downtoo fast
and hit the sidewalk and we saw his face just split open right
there in front of us ... A nd I remember standing there looking
at his bloody openface thinking that was the end of Rufus.B ut
the ambulance came andthey took him to thehospital andthey
fixed the broken bones andthey sewed it all up ... and the next
time I sawRufus hejusthad alittle line downthemiddle of his
face ... I never gotover that. . .
A S A G A I : What?
B E N E A T H A : T hat that was what oneperson could do for another,
fix him upsewup theproblem, makehim all rightagain. T hat
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A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Ac t I I I
was the most marvelous thing in the world ... I wanted to do
that. I always thought it was the one concrete thing in the world
that a human being could do. Fix up the sick, youknowand
make them whole again. This was truly being God . . .
AS AGAI : You wantedto be God?
BENEATHA: N oI wanted to cure. It used to be so important to
me. I wanted to cure. It used to matter. I used to care. I mean
about people and how their bodies hurt. . .
AS AGAI : And you've stopped caring?
BEN EATHA: YesI thinkso.
AS AGAI : Why?
BENEATHA (bitterly): Because it doesn't seem deep enough, close
enough to what ails mankind! I t was a child's way of seeing
thingsor an idealist's.
AS AGAI : Children see things very well sometimes and idealists
even better.
BEN EATHA: I know that's what you think. Becauseyou are still
where Ileft off. You with all your talk and dreams about Africa!
You still think you can patch up the world. Cure the Great Sore
of Colonialism(l of t i l y, mockingit) withthe Penicillin of I n-
dependence!
AS AGAI : Yes!
BEN EATHA: I ndependence and then what? What about all the
crooks and thieves andjust plain idiots who will come into
power and steal and plunder the same as beforeonly now they
will be black and do it in the nameof the new I ndependence
WHAT ABOUT THEM?!
AS AGAI : That will be the problemfor another time. First we must
get there.
BENEATHA: And where doesit end?
AS AGAI : End? Who even spokeof anend?To life?To living?
BEN EATHA: An end to misery!To stupidity! Don'tyou see there
isn't any real progress, Asagai, there is only one large circle that
we march in, around and around, each of us with our own little
picture infront of us ourown little mirage thatwe thinkis the
future.
AS AGAI : That is the mistake.
BEN EATHA: What?
AS AGAI : What you justsaidaboutthe circle.I t isn'ta circle it
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Lorraine Hansberry
is simply a long line as in geometry, you know, one that
reaches into infinity. And because we cannot see the endwe
also cannot see how it changes. And it isvery odd but those
who see the changeswho dream, who will not give up are
called idealists . . . and those who see only the circlewe call
them the "realists"!
B E N E AT H A: Asagai, while I was sleeping in that bed in there, people
went out and took thefuture right out of my hands! And nobody
asked me, nobody consultedmetheyjust went out and
changed mylife!
AS AG AI: Was it your money?
B E N E AT H A: What?
AS AG AI: Was it your moneyhe gaveaway?
BENEATHA: It belonged to all of us.
AS AG AI: But did you earn it? Wouldyou havehad it at all if your
father had not died?
BENEATHA: No.
AS AG AI: Then isn't there something wrong in a house i n a
worldwhere all dreams, good or bad, must depend on the
death of a man? I never thought to see you like this, Alaiyo.
You! Your brother made a mistake and you are grateful to him
so that now you can give up the ailing human race on account
of it! You talk about what good is struggle, what good is any-
thing! Where are we all going and why are we bothering!
BENEATHA: AND YOU CANNOT ANSWER IT!
AS AG AI (shouting over her):I LIVETHE ANSWER! (pause)In
my village at home it is the exceptional man who can even read
a newspaper . . . or who ever sees a book at all. I will go home
and much of what I will have to say will seem strange to the
people of my village. But I will teach and work and things will
happen, slowly andswiftly. At times it will seem that nothing
changes at al l . . . and then again the sudden dramatic events
which make history leap into thefuture. And then quiet again.
Retrogression even. G uns, murder, revolution. And I even will
have moments when I wonder if the quiet was not better than
all that death and hatred. But I will look about my village at the
illiteracy and disease and ignorance and I will not wonder long.
And perhaps . . . perhaps I will be a great man . . . I mean per-
haps I will hold on to the substance of truth and find my way
5^5
A R A I S I NI N T H E S U N A c t I I I
always with theright course . . . andperhaps for it I will be
butchered in my bedsome night by the servants of empire . . .
BEN EATHA: The martyr!
AS AG AI (He smiles): . . .orperhapsI shall live to be a very old
man, respected andesteemed in my newnation . . . And perhaps
I shall holdoffice andthisiswhatI 'mtryingtotell you, Alaiyo:
Perhaps the thingsI believenow for mycountry will be wrong
and outmoded, and Iwillnotunderstandand do terrible things
to have things my way ormerelytokeepmy power. Don't you
see that there willbeyoungmen and womennot B ritish sol-
diers then, but my ownblackcountrymento stepout of the
shadows some eveningandslitmythen useless throat? Don't
you seethey have always been there . . . that they always will
be. And that such athingas my owndeath willbe an advance?
They who might kill meeven . . . actually replenish all that I
was.
B E N E AT HA: Oh, Asagai, Iknowall that.
A S A G A I : G ood!Then stop moaningandgroaning and tell me what
you plan to do.
BENEATHA: Do?
A S A G A I : I havea bit of asuggestion.
B EN EATHA: What?
AS AG AI (ratherquietlyforhim): That when it is all overthat you
come home with me
B EN EATHA(staringat him andcrossing away withexasperation):
OhA sagai at this moment youdecide to beromantic!
AS AG AI (quickly understandingthemisunderstanding): My dear,
young creature of the N ewWorldIdo not mean acrossthe
cityI mean acrosstheocean: hometo A frica.
B E N E AT HA (slowly understandingandturningto him with mur-
mured amazement): To A frica?
A S A G A I : Yes! . . . (smiling and lifting hisarms playfully) Three
hundred years laterthe A fricanPrince roseup out of the seas
and swept themaiden back acrossthe middle passage over which
her ancestorshad come
B EN EATHA (unablet o play):T otoN igeria?
A S A G A I : N igeria. Home, (comingto her withgenuine romantic
flippancy) I will showyou ourmountains and our stars; and
give you cool drinks from gourdsandteachyou the old songs
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Lorraine Hansberry
and the ways of our peopleand, in time, we will pretend that
(very softly)you have only been awayfor a day.Say that you'll
come( He swings her around and takes her full in his armsin
a kiss which proceeds to passion.)
B E N E A T H A (pulling away suddenly): You're gettingme all mixed
up-
A SA G A I : Why?
B E N E A T H A : T oo many thingstoo many things have happened
today. I must sit down and think. I don't know what I feel about
anything right this minute. (She promptly sits down and props
her chin on her fist.)
A SA G AI (charmed): A ll right, I shall leave you. N odon'tget up.
(touching her, gently, sweetly) Just sit awhile and think . . .
N ever be afraid to sit awhile and think. (He goes to door and
looks at her.) H ow often I have looked at you and said, "Ah
so this is what the N ew World hath finally wrought..."
He exits. B E N E A T H A sitson alone. Presently WA L T E R enters from
his room and starts to rummage through things, feverishly looking
for something. She looks up and turns in her seat.
B E N E A T H A (hissingly):Yesj ust look at what the N ew World
hath wrought! . . . Just look! (She gestures with bitter dis-
gust.) T here he is! Monsieur le petit bourgeois noirhimself!
There he isSymbol of a R ising Class! E ntrepreneur! T itan of
the system!(WA L T E R ignores her completely and continues
frantically and destructively looking for something and hurling
things to floor and tearing things out of their place in his
search.B E N E A T H A ignores the eccentricityof his actionsand
goes on with the monologue of insult.) Did you dream of
yachts on L ake Michigan, B rother? Did you see yourself on
that G reat Day sitting down at the Conference T able, sur-
rounded by all the mighty bald-headed men in A merica? A ll
halted, waiting, breathless, waiting for your pronouncements
on industry? Waiting for youChairman of the B oard! (WAL-
T E R finds what he is looking fora small pieceof whitepa-
perand pushes it in his pocket and puts on his coat and
rushes out without ever having looked at her. She shouts after
him.) I look at you and I see the final triumph of stupidity in
the world!
567
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act I I I
The door slams and she returns to just sitting again. R UTH comes
quickly out of MAMA'S room.
RUTH: Who was that?
BENEATHA: Your husband.
R UTH: Where did hego?
BENEATHA: Who knowsmaybe he has an appointment at U.S.
Steel.
RUTH (anxiously, with frightened eyes): You didn'tsay nothing
bad to him, didyou?
BENEATHA: B ad? S ay anythingbad to him? N oI toldhim he was
a sweet boy andfull of dreams and everythingis strictly peachy
keen, as theofay kids say!
MAMA enters from her bedroom. She is lost, vague, tryingto catch
hold, to make some sense of her former command of the world,
but it still eludes her. A sense of waste overwhelms her gait; a
measure of apology rides on her shoulders. She goes to her plant,
which has remained on the table, looks at it, picks it up and takes
it to the windowsill and sits it outside, and she stands and looks
at it a long moment. Then she closes the window, straightens her
body with effort and turns around to her children.
MAMA: Wellain'tit a mess in here, though?(a false cheerfulness,
a beginning of something) I guess we all better stop moping
around and get some work done. All this unpacking and every-
thing we got to do. ( " RUTH raises her head slowly in response to
the sense of the line;and BENEATHAin similar manner turns very
slowly to look at her mother.) One of you all better call the
moving people and tell 'em not to come.
R UTH: Tell 'em not to come?
MAMA: Of course, baby. Ain't no needin 'em comingall the way
here and having to go back. They charges for that too. (She sits
down, fingers to her brow, thinking.) Lord, ever since I was a
little girl, I always remembers people saying, " Lena Lena
Eggleston, you aims too high all the time. You needs to slow
down and see life a little more like it is. Just slow down some."
That's what they always used to say down home" Lord, that
Lena Eggleston is a high-minded thing. She'll get her due one
day!"
R UTH: No, Lena . . .
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Lorraine Hansberry
MAMA: Me and Big Walterjust didn't never learn right.
RUTH: Lena, no! We gotta go. Bennietell her . . . (She rises and
crosses toBENEATHA with her arms outstretched. BENEATHA
doesn't respond.) Tell her we can still move . . . the notes ain't
but a hundred and twenty-five a month. We got four grown
people in this housewe can work . . .
MAMA (toherself): Just aimedtoo highall the time
RUTH (turning and going to MAMA fastthe words pouringout
with urgency and desperation):LenaI'll work . . . I'll work
twenty hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago . . . I'll strap
my baby on my back if I have to and scrub all the floors in
America and wash all the sheets in Americaif I have tobut
we got to MOVE! We got to get OUT OF HERE!!
MAMA reachesout absentlyand pats RUTH'S hand.
MAMA: N oI sees thingsdifferently now. Been thinking 'bout
some of the things we could do to fix this place up some. I seen
a second-hand bureau over on Maxwell Street just the other day
that could fit right there. (She points to where the new furniture
might go. RUTH wanders away from her.) Would need some
new handles on it and then a little varnish and it look like some-
thing brand-new.A ndwe can put up them new curtains in the
kitchen . . . Why this place be looking fine. Cheer us all up so
that we forget trouble ever come ... (to RUTHJ And you could
get some nice screens to put up in your room round the baby's
bassinet. . . (She looks at bothof them, pleadingly.) Sometimes
you just got to know when to give up some things . . . and hold
on to what you got. . .
WALTER enters from the outside, looking spent and leaning against
the door, his coat hanging from him.
MAMA: Where you been, son?
WALTER (breathinghard): Madea call.
MAMA: To who, son?
WALTER: To The Man. (He heads for his room.)
MAMA: What man, baby?
WALTER (stops in thedoor): The Man, Mama. Don't you know
who The Manis?
RUTH: WalterLee?
569
A R A I S I NI N THE S UN Act HI
WALTER: The Man. Like the guys in the streets sayThe Man.
Captain BossMistuh Charley . . . Old Cap'n Please Mr. Boss-
man . . .
BENEATHA (suddenly): Lindner!
WALTER: That's right! That's good. I told him to come right over.
BENEATHA(fiercely y understanding):For what? What do you want
to see him for!
WALTER (looking at hissister): We going to do business with him.
MAMA: What you talking 'bout, son?
WALTER: Talking 'bout life, Mama. You all always telling me to
seelife like it is. W ellI laid in there on my back today . . . and
I figured it out. Lifejust like it is. Who gets and who don't get.
(He sits down with his coat on and laughs.) Mama, you know
it's all divided up. Life is. Sure enough. Between the takers and
the "tooken." (He laughs.) I've figured it out finally. (He looks
around at them.) Yeah. Some of us always getting "tooken."
(He laughs.) People like Willy Harris, they don't never get
"tooken." And you know why the rest of us do? 'Cause we all
mixed up. Mixed up bad. We get to looking 'round for the right
and the wrong; and we worry about it and cry about it and stay
up nights trying to figure out 'bout the wrong and the right of
things all the time . . . And all the time, man, them takers is out
there operating,just taking and taking. Willy Harris? Shoot-
Willy Harris don't even count. He don't even count in the big
scheme of things. But I'll say one thing for old Willy Harris . . .
he's taught me something. He's taught me to keep my eye on
what counts in this world.Yeah(shout i ng out a little.)
Thanks, Willy!
R UTH: What did you call that man for, Walter Lee?
WALTER: Called him to tell him to come on over to the show.
Gonna put on a show for the man. Just what he wants to see.
You see, Mama, the man came here today and he told us that
them people out there where you want us to movewell they
so upset they willing to pay us not to move! (He laughs again.)
Andand oh, Mamayou would of been proud of the way me
and Ruth and Bennie acted. We told him to get out. . . Lord
have mercy! We told the man to get out! Oh, we was some
proud folks this afternoon, yeah. (He lights a cigarette.) We
were stillfull of that old-time st uff. . .
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Lorraine Hansberry
R U T H (coming toward him slowly): You talking 'bout taking them
people's money to keep usfrom moving in that house?
WALTER: I ain't just talking 'bout it, babyI'm tellingyou that's
what's going to happen!
B E N E A T H A : Oh, God! Where is the bottom! Whereis the real hon-
est-to-God bottom so he can't go any farther!
WA L T E R : Seethat's the old stuff. You and thatboy thatwas here
today. You all want everybody to carry a flag and a spear and
sing some marching songs, huh? You wanna spend your life
looking into things and trying to find the right and the wrong
part, huh? Yeah. You know what's going to happen to that boy
somedayhe'll find himself sittingin a dungeon, lockedin for-
everand the takers will have the key! Forget it, baby! There
ain't no causesthere ain't nothing but taking in this world,
and he who takes most issmartestand it don't make a damn
bit of difference how.
MAMA: You making something insideme cry, son. Some awful
pain inside me.
WALTER: Don't cry, Mama. U nderstand. That white man is going
to walk in that door able to write checks for more money than
we ever had. It's important to him and I'm going to help him . . .
I'm going to put on the show, Mama.
MA MA : SonI comefromfive generationsof peoplewho was
slaves and sharecroppers but ain't nobodyin my family never
let rjobody pay 'em no money that was a way of telling us we
wasn't fit to walk the earth. We ain't never been that poor.
(raising hereyes and looking at him) We ain't never been that
dead inside.
B EN EATHA: W ellwe are dead now. All the talk about dreams
and sunlight that goes on in this house. It's all dead now.
WAL T E R: What's the matter with you all! I didn't make this world!
It was give to me this way! Hell, yes, I want me some yachts
someday! Yes, I want to hang some real pearls 'round my wife's
neck. Ain't she supposed to wear no pearls? Somebody tellme
tell me, who decides which women is suppose to wear pearls in
this world. I tell you I am a manand I think my wife should
wear some pearls in this world!
This last line hangs a good while and WALTER begins to move about
A R A I S I NI N T H E S U N A c t I I I
the room. The word "Man" has penetrated his consciousness; he
mumbles it tohimself repeatedly between strange agitated pauses
as he moves about.
MA MA : Baby, how you goingto feelon the inside?
WA LT E R : Fine! . . . Going to feel fine ... a man . . .
MA MA : You won't have nothing left then, Walter Lee.
WA LT E R (coming t o her): I 'm goingto feelfine, Mama.I 'm going
to look that son-of-a-bitchin the eyesand s ay (H e falters.)
and say, "All right, Mr. L indner(He falters even more.)
that's your neighborhood out there! You got the right to keep
it like you want! You got the right to have it like you want! Just
write the checkandthe house is yours." A ndandI am going
to say(H is voice almost breaks.) "And youyou people just
put the money in my hand and you won't have to live next to
this bunch of stinking niggers! . . ." (He straightens up and
moves away from his mother, walking around t he room.) And
maybemaybe I 'lljust get down on my black knees . . . (He
does so; R U T H and BE N N I Eand MA MA watchhim in frozen hor-
ror.) "Captain, Mistuh, Bossman (grovelingand grinningand
wringing his hands in profoundly anguished imitation of the
slow-witted movie stereotype.) A -hee-hee-hee! Oh, yassuh boss!
Yasssssuh! Great white! (Voice breaking,he forces himselft o
go on.) Father,just gi' ussen de money, fo' God's sake, and
we'swe's ain't gwine come out deh and dirty up yo' white
folks neighborhood ..." (He breaks down completely.) A nd
I 'll feel fine! Fine! FI N E ! (He getsup and goes intot he bed-
room.)
BE N E A T H A : T hat is not a man. T hat is nothingbut a toothless rat.
MA MA : Yesdeath done comein this here house. (She is nodding,
slowly, reflectively.) Done come walking in my house on the
lips of my children. You what supposed to be my beginning
again. Youwhat supposedto be my harvest,(t o BE N E A T H A J
Youyou mourning your brother?
BE N E A T H A : He's no brotherof mine.
MA MA : Whatyousay?
BE N E A T H A : I said that that individualin that roomis no brother
of mine.
MA MA : T hat's what I thoughtyou said.You feeling likeyou better
5 7 2 -
Lorraine Hansberry
than he is today? ( B E N E A T H A does not answer.) Yes? Whatyou
tell him a minute ago? T hat he wasn't a man? Yes? You give
him up for me? You done wrote his epitaph toolikethe rest
of the world? Well, who give you the privilege?
B E N E A T H A : B e on my sidefor once!You saw whathe just did,
Mama! You sawhimdown on his knees. Wasn't it you who
taught me to despise any man who would do that? Do what he's
going to do?
MA MA : YesI taught you that.Me and your daddy.B ut I thought
I taught you something else too . . . I thought I taught you to
love him.
B E N E A T H A : Lovehim? T hereis nothing leftto love.
MAMA: There is always something left to love. And if you ain't
learned that, you ain't learned nothing. (Looking at her.) H ave
you cried for that boy today? I don't mean for yourself and for
the family 'cause we lost the money. I mean for him: what he
been through and what it done to him. Child, when do you
think is the time to love somebody the most? When they done
good and made things easy for everybody? Well, then, you ain't
through learningbecause that ain't the time at all. It's when
he's at his lowest and can't believe inhisself 'cause the world
done whipped him so! When you starts measuring somebody,
measure him right, child, measure him right. Make sure you
done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through
before he got to wherever he is.
T R A V IS bursts into the roomat the end of the speech, leavingthe
door open.
T R A V IS : Grandmama the moving men are downstairs! T he truck
just pulled up.
MA MA (turning and looking at him): A re they, baby? They down-
stairs?
She sighs and sits. LIN DN E Rappears in the doorway.He peersin
and knocks lightly, to gain attention, and comes in. All turn to
look at him.
LIN DN E R (hat andbriefcase inhand): Uhhello . . .
R UT H crosses mechanically to the bedroom door and opensit and
lets it swing openfreely and slowly as the lights comeup on
573
A R A I S I NI N T H E S U N A c t I I I
W AL TER within, stillin his coat, sittingat the far corner of the
room. He looks up and out thoughtheroomto L I N D N E R .
R UTH: He's here. (A long minutepasses and W AL TER slowly gets
up.)
L I N D N E R (comingto the table with efficiency, putting his briefcase
on the table and startingto unfold papersandunscrew fountain
pens) : W ell, I certainlywas gladtohear fromyoupeople. (W AL -
TER has begunthe trekout of the room,slowly and awkwardly,
rather like a small boy, passingthebackof hissleeve across his
mouth from time to time.) L ife can reallybe somuch simpler
than people let it be most of the time. W ellwithwhomdo I
negotiate? You, Mrs. Younger, or yoursonhere? (MAMA sits
withher handsfoldedon her lap and her eyesclosed as W AL TER
advances. TR AV I S goes closer to L I N D N E R andlooks at thepapers
curiously.) Just some official papers, sonny.
R UTH: Travis,you godownstairs
MAMA (openinghereyesand looking into W AL TER 'S ,) : N o. Travis,
you stay right here. And you make himunderstand what you
doing, W alter Lee. You teach him good. L ike W illy Harris
taught you. You show where our fivegenerations done come to.
(WALTER looks from her to the boy, who grinsat him inno-
cently.) Go ahead,son (S hefoldsher hands and closes her
eyes.) Go ahead.
W AL TER (at last crosses to L I N D N ER , who isreviewing the contract:
W ell, Mr. L indner. ( B EN EATHA turns away.)W ecalled you
(There is a profound, simple groping quality in his speech.)
because, well, me and my family(He looks aroundand shifts
from one foot to theother.) W ellwe arevery plain people . . .
L I N D N E R :Yes
W AL TER : ImeanI have workedas a chauffeur most of my life
and mywife here, shedoes domestic workin people'skitchens.
S o does my mother. I meanwe areplain people . . .
L I N D N ER : Yes,Mr.Younger
W AL TER (really likea small boy, looking downat hisshoes and
then up at the man) : A nduhwell, myfather, well, he was a
laborer most of his life . . .
L I N D N E R (absolutely confused) :Uh, yesyes, I understand. (He
turns back to the contract.)
W AL TER (a beat, staringat him) :And my father(with sudden
574
Lorraine Hansberry
intensity) Myfather almost beat a man to death once because
this man called him a bad name or something, you know what
I mean?
L IN D N E R (looking up,frozen): N o, no, I'mafraid I don't
W A L T E R (A beat. The tension hangs; then W A L T E R steps back from
it.): Yeah. W ellwhat I mean is that we come from people
who had a lot of pride. I meanwe are very proud people. A nd
that's my sister over there and she's going to be adoctorand
we are veryproud
L IN D N E R : W ellIam sure thatis very nice, but
W A L T E R : W hat I am telling you is that we calledyou over hereto
tell you that we are very proud and that this (signaling to
T R A V IS J T ravis, come here. ( " T R A V IS crosses and W A L T E R draws
him before himfacing the man.) This is my son, and he makes
the sixth generation ourfamily in this country. A nd we haveall
thought about your offer
L IN D N E R : Well, good . . . good
W A L T E R : A nd we have decided to move into our house because
my fathermyfatherhe earnedit for us brickby brick.
( MA MA has her eyes closedand is rocking backand forthas
though she were in church, with her head nodding the Amen
yes.) W e don't want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no
causes, and we will try to be good neighbors. A nd that's all we
got to say about that. (He looks the man absolutely in the eyes.)
W e don't want your money. (He turns and walks away.)
L IN D N E R : (looking aroundat all of them): I takeit thenthat
you have decided to occupy . . .
BE N E A T HA : T hat's what the man said.
L IN D N E R (to MA MA in herreverie): ThenI would liketo appeal
to you, Mrs. Younger. You are older and wiser and understand
things better I am sure . . .
MA MA : I amafraid you don't understand. My son saidwe was
going to move and there ain't nothing left for me to say. (briskly)
You know how these youngfolks is nowadays, mister. Can't do
a thing with 'em! (As he opens his mouth, she rises.) Good-
bye.
L IN D N E R (folding up his materials): Well if you are that final
about i t . . . there is nothing left for me to say. (Hefinishes,
almost ignored by thefamily, who are concentratingon W A L T E R
575
A R A I S I NI N T H E S U N A c t H I
L EE. At the door L I N D N E Rhaltsandlooks around.) I sure hope
you people know what you're getting into.(He shakes his head
and exits.)
R UTH (looking aroundandcoming to lif e): Well, for God's sake
if the moving men are here-L ET'SGET THEHEL LOUT OF
HER E!
M AM A (intoaction): Ain'tit thetruth! L ookat all this here mess.
R uth, put Travis' good jacket on him . . . Walter L ee, fix your
tie and tuck your shirt in, you looklike somebody's hoodlum!
L ord have mercy, whereis myplant? (She f lies to get it amid
the general bustlingofthe f amily,who are deliberately trying to
ignore the nobility of thepast moment.)You all start on down
. . . Travis child, don't goempty-handed . . . R uth, where did I
put that boxwith myskilletsin it? I wantto be in chargeof it
myself. . . I 'mgoing tomake us thebiggest dinner we ever ate
tonight. . . Beneatha, what's thematter with them stockings?
Pull them things up, girl. . .
The f amily starts to f ile out as twomovingmen appearand begin
to carry out theheavier pieces off urniture, bumping into the f amily
as they move about.
BEN EATHA: M ama, Asagai askedme tomarry himtoday and go
to A frica
M AM A (in the middleof hergetting-ready activity): He did? You
ain't oldenoughtomarry nobody(seeingthe movingmen lif t-
ing one of herchairs precariously) D arling, that ain't no bale
of cotton, please handleit sowecan sit in it again! I had that
chair twenty-five years . . .
The movers sigh withexasperation and go on with their work.
BEN EATHA (girlishlyandunreasonably trying topursue the con-
versation): To go to Africa,M ama be adoctor in Africa . . .
M AM A (distracted): Yes, baby
WAL TER : Af rica! Whathewant you to go to Africa for?
BEN EATHA: Topractice there . . .
WAL TER : Girl,if you don't get all them sillyideas out your head!
You better marry yourself a manwith some loot. . .
BEN EATHA (angrily, precisely as in the f irst scene of the play):
What have you got to dowithwho I marry!
WAL TER : Plenty.N ow Ithink George M urchison
576
Lorraine Hansberry
B E N E A T H A : George Murchison! I wouldn't marryhim if he was
A dam and I was E ve!
W A L T E R and B E N E A T H A go out yellingat each other vigorouslyand
the anger is loud andreal till their voices diminish. R U T H stands
at the door and turns to M A M A and smiles knowingly.
M A M A (fixing her hat at last):Yeahthey something all right, my
children . . .
R U T H : Yeahthey're something. L et'sgo, L ena.
M A M A (stalling, starting to look aroundat the house): YesI'm
coming.R uth
R U T H : Yes?
M A M A (quietly, woman to woman): H e finally come intohis man-
hood today, didn't he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain .. .
R U T H (bitingher lip lesther own pride explode in front of MAMA):
Yes, L ena.
WALTER'S voicecallsfor them raucously.
W A L T E R (off stage): Y'all comeon! These people charges by the
hour, you know!
M A M A (waving RUTH outvaguely): A ll right, honeygo on down.
I be down directly.
R U T H hesitates, then exits. M A M A stands,at last alonein the living
room, her plant on the table before her as the lights start to come
down. She looks around at all the walls and ceilings and suddenly,
despiteherself, while the childrencall below, a great heaving thing
rises in her and she puts her fist to her mouth to stifle it, takes a
final desperate look, pulls her coat about her, pats her hat and
goes out. The lights dim down. The door opens and she comes
back in, grabs her plant, and goes out for the last time.
577