What Was The Effect Of Walter Losing The Money That Lena Gave Him

Delta Winds: A Mag of Educatee Essays
A Publication of San Joaquin Delta College
2010

A Raisin in the Sun: A Trinity of Adaptations--Comparisons in Contrast

Jenny Taylor

Lorraine Hansberry'south 1959 play A Raisin in the Lord's day was groundbreaking as it was the first play written by a black adult female to be produced on Broadway, equally well as one of the showtime to depict the everyday struggles faced by a black American family unit (Nemiroff 6). The play has been adapted to the screen on three occasions. In 1961, a film version of the play was released featuring the original Broadway cast and a screenplay written past Hansberry herself (A Raisin in the Sun 1961). A second adaptation was made in 1989 in laurels of the play's twenty-5th anniversary. This version differs greatly from the 1961 adaptation in that it is a filmed version of the play and, therefore, adheres to Hansberry's original work much more than closely than the outset adaptation. This American Playhouse production was made for television receiver and based on the off-Broadway revival of the play produced past Roundabout Theatre (A Raisin in the Sun 1989). In 2008, a third adaptation was produced, likewise for idiot box. This version offered a teleplay, written past Paris Qualles, based on Hansberry'southward original play, but again, like the previous 1961 version, was adjusted from phase format to film format (A Raisin in the Sun 2008).

Having three adaptations of a single original work is jump to atomic number 82 to a number of commonalities, and these are no exception. Similarities are found in plot, thematic bug, characterization, and symbolism; withal, each screen version exhibits variances in the strength of its interpretations of these four elements, likewise as the additional elements of performance, direction, cinematography, setting, and sound.

As the play begins, the Younger family unit, consisting of matriarch Lena, her two children Walter Lee and Beneatha, Walter Lee'due south married woman Ruth, and son Travis, expect the arrival of a 10 thousand dollar check. This cheque, a payout from Lena's deceased husband's life insurance policy, is the inciting incident from which all conflicts emerge.

The play's opening scene, depicting a morning in the Younger household, touches upon a number of thematic issues through character conflict. The undercurrent of discontent existing between Walter Lee and Ruth is immediately evident by their passive aggressive behavior. Walter Lee, enlightened the insurance cheque will be arriving shortly, wants Ruth to speak to Lena virtually giving him the money to invest. At Ruth'southward reluctance to do so, he declares her unsupportive, an allegation he reiterates several times within the scene (Hansberry 32).

Hansberry describes Walter Lee equally ". . . a lean, intense young human in his middle thirties, inclined to quick nervous movements and erratic voice communication habits--and ever in his vocalization there is a quality of indictment" (25). Sidney Poitier, who portrays the character in the 1961 accommodation, embodies the physicality of this description well, in particular the "quick nervous movements" (25). Poitier, however, while all the same bringing an intensity to the function, does not capture Walter Lee's resentment as well as Danny Glover does in the 1989 adaptation. Glover's operation creates an edgier Walter Lee, ane who is unpredictable, while Poitier's range is not every bit broad. His tone remains even throughout much of the adaptation, creating a more likable grapheme but diffusive from the original play in that Walter Lee is not particularly likable. He is a conflicted human, or every bit George says, he is "all whacked up with bitterness" (Hansberry 85). This bitterness is eating away at him, and he takes it out on those closest, particularly his wife Ruth. Poitier does a smashing job at capturing the despair of the character, merely the performance lacks the internal conflict that Glover's displays. That said, both performances are far superior to that of Sean Combs in the 2008 moving-picture show accommodation. Combs does not have the same acting ability equally the ii previous actors, and his portrayal of Walter Lee lacks sharpness. He displays little of the intensity the other actors bring to the role, and, without that intensity, whatsoever edge the grapheme has disappears. Combs creates a soft-spoken character, and while information technology works to show Walter Lee's disillusionment, it does not convey his anger as well. He does not bring the same range to the office both of the previous actors display and the outcome is a largely one-dimensional portrayal.

In Ruth, Hansberry describes a woman who is ". . . nigh thirty. Nosotros tin can see that she was a pretty girl, even uncommonly so, just now it is apparent that life has been little that she expected, and disappointment has already begun to hang in her face. In a few years, before thirty-5 even, she will be known amongst her people equally a 'settled adult female'" (24). Ruby Dee's performance in the 1961 film captures Ruth'southward weariness well. Dee's exasperation is visible when she deals with Walter Lee. When he begins talking virtually investing in the liquor shop, her reaction is almost pleading in inflection, also tired to deal with him yet again. This is in direct contrast to the hostility Starletta Dupois displays in her characterization of Ruth in the 1989 adaptation. Dupois' performance is grandiose compared to those of the other two actresses in the role. It is louder, angrier, and more suited to the stage than the screen, where dash is of issue. Audra McDonald, in the 2008 adaptation, strikes the best balance betwixt Ruth's underlying anger and world-weariness. She comes across with all the tired thwarting life has left her and a sense of placidity desperation rivaling Walter Lee's verbalized discontent in magnitude. This is best displayed in the scene in which Ruth visits an abortion dispensary, operated out of the neighborhood dazzler parlor. While Ruth is waiting for the procedure, she looks around the room, and every bit she thinks virtually her decision, her eyes tear, her misery palpable. It is an affecting performance created by a gifted actress.

Lena Younger embodies many of the archetypical features of a female parent figure. She is described as ". . . a woman in her early sixties, full-bodied and potent. She is one of those women of a sure grace and beauty who wear it so unobtrusively that information technology takes a while to notice" (Hansberry 39). As Lena in the 2008 adaptation, Phylicia Rashad exhibits not only the grace described but a loving warmth also, while simultaneously maintaining an atomic number 26 strength. One scene which exemplifies this takes identify before long later the family unit finds out Walter Lee has lost his father'due south life insurance money and plans to have the bribe from Linder to not motility into their new home. Beneatha, angry at the situation, says Walter Lee "is no blood brother of mine" (Hansberry 145). Lena, though as disappointed in Walter Lee, responds by saying, "Kid when do you think information technology is fourth dimension to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things piece of cake for everybody? Well so you ain't done learning because that ain't the time at all. It's when he's at his lowest and can't believe in hisself 'cause the world done whipped him so" (Hansberry 145). In this scene, Rashad rivals the exemplary earlier performance of Esther Rolle in the 1989 adaptation. Rolle's portrayal of Lena is like to Rashad's in that she comes across as a potent-willed adult female who tin be harsh with her children when necessary, only her devotion to them is evident in every scene. In the 1961 adaptation, Claudia McNeil portrays Lena every bit a harder woman than in the two later adaptations. Her devotion is unwavering, but her tone is angry much of the fourth dimension. The portrayal conveys strength, but the warmth, which comes through in the other two performances, is defective in this one.

Beneatha is described as similar to her blood brother in nature in intensity, merely educational activity has differentiated her from the balance of her family unit (Hansberry 35). In the play, she comes off every bit given to the dramatic, simply young and idealistic every bit well. Sanaa Lathan's portrayal, in the 2008 adaptation, falls betwixt Diana Sand'south portrayal of the character in the 1961 film and Kim Yancey's in the 1989 version. Yancey overacts the part, every bit her performance seems ameliorate suited to the theatre, where a larger functioning is necessary. With this adaptation being a play filmed as a play, the performances are more theatrical in nature than in the other adaptations; all the same, the inclusion of the camera necessitates an amending in the performance that merely does not happen. Instead, Yancey's performance seems over the top in a few scenes, such equally the ane in which Beneatha argues with Walter Lee early on and, subsequently, the scene in which she interacts with Asagai when he's first introduced. Contrasting this in the 1961 adaptation is Sand'due south functioning, which is low-key, resulting in a temperance of Beneatha's personality when compared to the other versions and the original play. In the original piece of work, Beneatha is dramatic, but non ridiculously so. Sanaa Latham captures this best in the 2008 accommodation, every bit her performance embraces a sense of Beneatha'south dramatic nature, yet she is non a caricature.

In all of the above performances, character emerges with the progression of disharmonize, both graphic symbol and plot. It is apparent both Walter Lee and Beneatha are struggling with cocky-identity. Walter Lee is a self-centered individual, placing more than importance on his needs than others'. He continually harasses Beneatha well-nigh her desire to go to medical schoolhouse. It is not that he does not want her to go, he just wants to use the money for his liquor shop. He believes she should be willing to sacrifice her dream for his. This is the aforementioned belief he has regarding his wife Ruth. When Lena places a downwards payment on a home, Ruth cannot comprise her happiness. It is obvious from Ruth's reaction that she needs this movement--that information technology is integral to her well-existence. Her happiness over Lena'due south utilize of the money is a straight defiance of Walter Lee's ain unhappiness, and she knows this. She pleads with Walter Lee to be happy about it, but he is unable to so (Hansberry 92.) Instead of seeing his wife'due south happiness or his female parent's want to keep her family together, he sees his own opportunity eluding him. Walter Lee's options in life are limited because he is black. His desperate search for a better life is made all the more futile because of the oppression he faces in a racist society, and now he feels his one chance at something more is being taken from him past his own mother. Despite this reaction, Walter Lee is not entirely selfish. He is motivated not only by a desire for something more for himself, but likewise for his family. A scene conspicuously missing from all three adaptations effectively depicts this desire. After Lena has given Walter Lee the money to put into a checking business relationship, he begins talking to Travis, telling him his dream for the hereafter:

"That's how come one day when you 'tour seventeen years one-time I'll come home and I'll be pretty tired, you know what I mean, after a twenty-four hours of conferences and secretaries getting things wrong the way they do. . . 'cause an executive's life is hell, man--and I'll pull the car up on the driveway. . . and I'll go inside and Ruth 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 come across y'all sitting on the floor with the catalogues of all the corking schools in America around you. . . . All the groovy schools in the world! And--and I'll say, all right son--it's your seventeenth birthday, what is information technology you've decided?. . . Just tell me where yous want to become to school and you'll go. Just tell me, what it is yous want to be--and yous'll be information technology. . . . Any you want to be--Yessir! You lot but name it son. . . and I hand you the earth" (Hansberry 109).

Information technology is unfortunate this scene did not make it into whatever of the adaptations because it accomplishes two things; information technology lends an element of kindness to Walter Lee's character by revealing that his motivations are not entirely selfish, and it also touches on the theme of a person finding hope for the future in their children. The omitted scene shows Walter Lee is not as far away from beingness the homo his male parent was, as it might seem. Had that scene been in any of the versions, information technology would have added strength to theme and character.

Beneatha'southward search for identity does not have the quality of despair Walter Lee's has, every bit she has not been forced to sacrifice her goals and aspirations in order to back up the family unit. Her pursuit instead has to do with an expression of self and search for inner fulfillment. When she tries to explicate this to her mother and Ruth, they outburst into laughter (Hansberry 48). The concept of self-expression is foreign to these women concerned with surviving every bit opposed to expressing themselves. Beneatha'southward search for self-discovery leads to her relationship with Joseph Asagai, a native Nigerian she befriends at school. Her experimentation to this end includes dressing in native Nigerian robes Asagai brings her, listening to Nigerian music, and allowing her pilus to render to its natural country. The only adaptation in which Beneatha changes her pilus is the 1989 picture show. In the other two adaptations, no mention is made of her pilus, while the robes and music are kept. Beneatha's hairstyle is symbolic of her "assimilation" into the accepted white civilization of the fourth dimension menses and the larger "assimilation" of blackness people into a land in which the white culture is predominant. The loss of Beneatha changing her hairstyle in an attempt to break with conformity in the 1961 and 2008 adaptations is a loss of i of the play's larger symbols.

What is ironic in the lack of agreement between Walter Lee and Beneatha is that Walter Lee does not seem to sympathise that Beneatha's want to go to medical school is much similar his ain desire to invest in the liquor store and just as important. Nor does Beneatha see Walter Lee'due south want to invest in the liquor store every bit an aspiration equal to her desire to go to medical school. Walter Lee and Beneatha both desire something more out of life; however, they do non relate to each other'due south struggle.

In the characters of Lena and Ruth, the playwright has presented women of a self-sacrificing nature. Lena has spent a lifetime sacrificing for her children, merely as her husband did. She does then with a faith in something bigger, a belief that all the sacrifice is for a purpose. Even the death of her hubby, due in large part to his own life of sacrifice, does non destroy her faith. Having sacrificed so much herself, she cannot see why this same sacrifice is eating abroad at Walter Lee.

In each adaptation Walter Lee stops going to work after his mother refuses to entrust him with the money to invest. Both the 1961 and 2008 adaptations have Lena prove up at the bar to retrieve her wayward son. In the 1961 adaptation, Lena sits with Walter Lee in the bar, and he asks her why she left the Due south so long ago. As she explains her motives to him, she realizes he, also, is driven by a want for a better life, just equally she was. A new agreement develops between the two, and that is when she gives him the coin. This scene is altered in the 2008 film as Lena commands Walter Lee to follow her out of the bar and is shown outside waiting, incertitude written beyond her face up, until he does follow her. It is evident she is wondering if her action is too belatedly, if she has already lost her son. This modify from the original play and the 1989 adaptation is effective considering it lends credibility to Lena entrusting Walter Lee with the money. The alteration to this scene too allows for the parallel bond to exist drawn between Lena and Walter Lee and reiterates the thematic effect of a want for more in life.

The character of Joseph Asagai serves multiple purposes. He is symbolic of 1 of the major thematic points of the play, depicting the larger overall racial struggle and divide between those who have and those who do not. Asagai comes from a identify where "it is the infrequent human being who can even read a newspaper. . . or who ever sees a book at all" (Hansberry 135). He is able to bring a unique perspective to the Younger'southward struggle. Asagai reinforces the message of promise and the importance of maintaining it in times of despair. He states progress cannot ever be seen, but it does non mean it is not beingness made (Hansberry 134). Asagai's role is minimized in the 1961 moving-picture show, while the 1989 and 2008 versions maintain the scenes between him and Beneatha where the above thematic problems are underscored, reinforcing the grapheme's symbolic value, the play'southward larger theme, and developing character disharmonize between Asagai and Beneatha.

Two boosted small-scale characters, George Murchison and Mrs. Johnson, also serve to represent larger thematic issues. The grapheme of George is representative of the social divide that exists because of economical status. George believes himself to be better than Walter Lee, not because of race, every bit they are both black, just considering his father is a successful, wealthy businessman and Walter Lee is a chauffeur. Mrs. Johnson, the Youngers' neighbor, is also representative of a blazon of discrimination. She is critical of the Youngers, implying that they think they are improve than others considering they are unwilling to settle for what they have in life. That they want more, that they are unwilling to go on their place, and then to speak, is an barb to her. This is apparent by the way she speaks of Beneatha'due south education, by her comments that Walter Lee should be satisfied with being a chauffeur, and past her thinly veiled implication that in moving from the neighborhood the Youngers are inviting misfortune (Hansberry 102). Mrs. Johnson'south visit is but in the 1989 adaptation, and both the 1961 and 2008 adaptations lose any exploration of this thematic issue.

The loss of Mrs. Johnson and the symbolism related to Beneatha's hairstyle are two examples of the means in which the 1989 adaptation offers the most authentic recreation of Hansberry's original work. It is minimally altered in terms of content, assuasive for a full exploration of the play'southward themes and character conflict, while both the 1961 and 2008 adaptations are drastically edited. While Hansberry herself adjusted the screenplay for the 1961 pic, the content was cut by almost an 60 minutes's length of running time, which meant conflicts were condensed and non all themes were given the same amount of attention, as is normally the case with an adaptation. The 2008 accommodation is edited to an fifty-fifty larger degree in the respect that content was deleted and altered, only scenes were also added. This, however, does not lead to a fuller exploration of the play'south original themes, equally this adaptation focuses on the individual thematic outcome of racial bigotry more than any other.

In the 2008 accommodation, the additional settings serve not merely to add to the tone of the overall movie, just they also draw the discriminatory treatment the Younger family unit receives from the world outside their apartment, including Lena being treated poorly by the grocer at the supermarket, and Walter Lee dealing with the law officer on the street. Both of these scenes speak direct to the subject of racism alluded to in the play only not shown, as the play has no such interactions. The scene in which the family goes to visit their new dwelling house also defines the difference betwixt the two films. Lena has put a down payment on a domicile in Clybourne Park, an all-white neighborhood. Their presence is not a welcome addition to the residents of this area. In the 1961 version, the Youngers' visit to their new home is a hopeful one. The family tours their habitation, and the scene ends on a happy note with Lena receiving the presents from her children and Travis. In the 2008 version, the cease of the scene is contradistinct to depict the white neighbors staring out of their windows at their new blackness neighbors with suspicion, fearfulness, and anger. This addition reinforces the theme of discrimination and racism, and Mrs. Johnson'southward implication of future trouble for the family. The boosted settings in the 2008 adaptation, including the market, the home in Clybourne Park, and the bar, raise the thematic issues of the film. In the 1961 film, the additional settings besides include the bar that Walter Lee frequents and the domicile in Clybourne Park. The addition of these settings allows for scenes in which Walter Lee interacts with minor characters Bobo and Willie; however, these interactions are cursory, and, while they add to the full general cinematic aspect of the pic, they practise not serve to heighten whatever thematic conflicts.

Cinematography is limited in the 1989 adaptation as it is filmed every bit a stage work and well-nigh of the shots are close-ups and medium close-ups. In addition, the singular setting limits the cinematography of this adaptation. The setting maintains the clarification given in the play of the apartment being "tired" from having "had to arrange the living of as well many people for also many years. . . . " (Hansberry 23). One benefit to the single setting is the sense of confinement it provides the play. The family has been bound to this apartment for too long, and it shows. The 1961 accommodation has many of the same limitations in cinematography, in that fifty-fifty with the add-on of setting, the overall direction is not wide ranging as in the later adaptation. A series of close-ups and medium close-ups are employed with the improver of a few orienting shots, such as the train passing on-screen before the scene cuts to the neon sign for the Kitty Kat Lodge and then cuts to Walter Lee sitting inside. The cinematography in the 2008 accommodation is more expansive than in the previous two films. This accommodation uses a number of bespeak-of-view shots, every bit well as orienting and breathtaking shots, to provide a better sense of setting than the 1961 accommodation does. The 2008 accommodation is likewise able to capture the subtlety of the individual performances with the combination of direction and employment of close-upwardly shots, something lost to the other adaptations, which elevates it comparatively in terms of cinematography.

The 2008 adaptation has a superior musical score than the other two films every bit well as improve sound effects. The score enhances the accommodation, instead of detracting from it, unlike the score to the 1961 adaptation, which is dated and overpowering. The scene in the1961 film in which Lena slaps Beneatha is an example of the music detracting from the intensity of the scene instead of supporting it. The jazz used is too fast-paced for the melancholy tone of the film, and the saxophone score in the 1989 moving picture is much amend in calculation to the tone of the accommodation. Some other important aspect of score in all three adaptations is the symbolic use of Beneatha's Nigerian music to emphasize her exploration of self and, additionally, each adaptation shows how music can be used to raise a mood or tone when information technology is used to finer underscore Walter Lee and Ruth'due south newly restored happiness with one some other. The use of sound effects is sparing in the 1989 adaptation, and the sound heard from the street below when Walter Lee opens the window lends a sense of realism to the scene. Sound effects are not incorporated too in this accommodation, however, as they are in the 2008 adaptation. In that adaptation, when Ruth cooks the eggs, nosotros hear the sizzle, which adds authenticity to the scene. Most of the sound furnishings employed are and then natural that they are not noticeable separately but they would be missed if left out.

In comparing the adaptations and the changes fabricated within each one, the 2008 film is more effective than the 1961 film. The improver of the aforementioned scenes, too as the increased number of settings and character interaction, expansive cinematography, improved musical score, and exemplary performances by the female principals, atomic number 82 to a more fully-realized film. However, neither the 1961 adaptation nor the 2008 is able to actualize the near important aspects of the original work--the complicated thematic and graphic symbol conflicts--as well as the 1989 version. The thematic issues and characterizations in the play are what made information technology groundbreaking when it was offset produced and what proceed to brand it relevant today. Too racial and gender discrimination, social class is nevertheless a major dividing factor in this country. The desire for a better life resonates with near people, as information technology did when the work was outset produced. The deferment of dreams is also something that afflicts many. That the 1989 adaptation fully and effectively explores the themes of Hansberry's play is what makes it the ameliorate adaptation of the three efforts.

Works Cited

A Raisin in the Sun. Dir. Bill Duke. Perf. Danny Glover, Esther Rolle, Starletta Dupois, Kim Yancy. 1989. VHS. Fries Home Video, 1990.

A Raisin in the Sun. Dir. Daniel Petrie. Perf. Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Claudia McNeil. 1961. DVD. Columbia Tristar, 2000.

A Raisin in the Lord's day. Dir. Kenny Leon. Perf. Sean Combs, Sanaa Lathan, Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad. 2008. DVD. Sony, 2008.

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. 1958. New York: Random House, 1994.

Nemiroff, Robert. Introduction. A Raisin in the Sun. 1958. Past Lorraine Hansberry. New York: Random Firm, 1994. v-14.

Source: https://www.deltacollege.edu/student-life/student-media/delta-winds/2010-table-contents/raisin-sun

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