Constraining Forces
There are many similarities between Native Son and A Raisin in the Sun. One of these is a large conflict between the Blacks in the south side of Chicago and the white community. In both of these books some force is restraining the blacks to living in the designated area of the south side. In Native Son this force is the real estate companies along with Mr. Dalton and in A Raisin in the Sun it is the Clybourne Park Improvement Association with Mr. Linder. Why do you think both authors used this as a large source of conflict, and why do you think they gave a face (Mr. Dalton and Mr. Linder) to the problem? Also, do you think that this would still be a source of conflict if the author's had set the book in another major city such as New York?
11 comments:
I believe that there would also be a major, relevant conflict if the book was set in any major city during this time period. I feel that a face (Mr. Dalton, Mr. Linder) is put on the white oppression because it would have been incredibly controversial for a writer to explicitly say "The white community is holding down black people".
The authors of the books used the restraint of black families to show the conflict of the times and the hardships they had to endure simply to live day-to-day. If Raisin in the Sun had been set in contemporary times there would still be an issue, however not as severe. Although segregation is no longer legal, places such as New York City still have very distinct boundaries for different ethnic groups that have naturally arised.
I think that both authors used this as a source of conflict because they thought it was the predominant trouble of their times. Mr Linder more then Mr. Dalton is representative of the power difference between blacks and whites. I think that allow the setting of New York is probably more provocative the a place such as Madison, WI but I am sure that they dealt with some of the same racial issues.
I think both authors want to express the problem between black and white community and culture problem by showing actual geographical segregation to emphasize his point. I think, it would be a souce of conflict in major city like New York, because like chicago, New york still have some area where people think as a Black area. Mr. Dalto and Mr. Linder were representing power difference and social difference between black and white society.
I think both of the authors used the conflict between the blacks and the whites because it was such a prominent problem at that time. People were surrounded by the thoughts of separation and problems between the two races. It would still be a source of conflict if the book was set in New York because there are still black communities that live there.
I think they used it as a problem in their books because it was a problem in real life. A face was given because these are problems with people, not some unresolvable nature of the universe. People made this divide, and people represent it. Yes, during the 50's there were conflicts in every major city. Some more so than others; this is probably why Chicago was chosen over New York. The point of these books is to show the conflict so setting the stories somewhere else isn't terribly useful.
There has to be a face to the problem and in these two books it has to be a white man because that is where the anger and hatred is projected at most from Bigger and Walter. I think that the real estate issue needs to be there just like the white faces do: to have something in the book to blame, to give a name to as the problem and what is wrong with the situation. In any other city it would still happen to be the same situation just because of the time period and how things worked then.
I'd say Native Son and Raisin both use segregated communities as a focus because segregated housing was one of the most visible effects of the prejudice in the cities. I think it would be a little harder to write a book involving an entire family and set it around bus or restaurant "etiquette" (where people can sit, what they can use).
I think the authors gave faces to the white oppressors in the form of Dalton and Lindner because of the men's characters. Neither appears to be bad or hateful men; Dalton gives large quantities of money to African-American causes and Lindner is described as generally likable. I think the authors are trying to say nine times out of ten you won't encounter a ravid KKK member; it will be someone going about their routine not really intending bad but still enforcing the hateful codes that had developed.
By showing first hand the difficulties of a black family living in a white-dominated society, readers are given a glimpse of a very real aspect of society they might not see otherwise. Hansberry and Wright both accomplish this by examining black life in the South side of Chicago. This aids both author's goal of accurately portraying a current issue that needs to be addressed.
The idea of using Mr.Dalton and Mr.Linder as the "faces" to associate with the problem made sense to me because it made the situation more real. If the problem is personified into something tangible that we can understand, I'm more likely to relate to it and have a better understanding of the situation. In New York as well, I think you would see the same conflict of black vs. white and a obvious divisions in neighborhoods.
I believe that the authors put a face to the white oppression to show the main characters. Both oppressors are white and male. It's showing who exactly has the power in society.
Post a Comment