Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun, centers on an African-American family in the late 1950s. Hansberry addresses his work specifically to the struggles faced by African Americans in the late 1950s. Through the dialogue and actions of his characters, he encourages not only a sense of pride in one's heritage, but also a national and personal pride in African Americans. Hansberry promotes a sense of African heritage through her character, Beneatha. It depicts Beneatha as a college student struggling to find her identity, trying to achieve it by getting in touch with her roots. The author expresses Beneatha's struggle with arguments between her and the rest of her family, namely her mother Lena. Beneatha tries to express her opinions and ideas, but because she is the youngest in the family, she tends to feel confined and limited. Hansberry highlights Beneatha's conflict when she writes “Why? Why can't I say what I want here like everyone else?" (Hansberry 39). This statement reveals how Beneatha feels as if her family does not understand her feelings and does not value her opinion, thus leading her to feel the need to discover herself. Only when she begins to embrace the idea of ​​returning to her African roots, an idea first given to her by the African exchange student, Asagai, does Beneatha's mood appear happier and lighter. After Asagai presents her with a traditional Nigerian dress, Beneatha seems elated and begins to contemplate wearing her natural hair after commenting "You wear it well, very well, mutilated hair and all" (Hansberry 48 Also). if Beneatha's happiness can in some cases be attributed to a possible infatuation, Hansberry shows his true passion... middle of paper... awjoud, Sayed. "Dreams 'postponed' but identity affirmed and virility restored: a new look at A Raisin in the Sun". Studies in literature and language. 5.3 (2012): 30-39. Network. November 3, 2013. Bower, Martha Gilman. “Color Struck” Under the Gaze: Ethnicity and the Pathology of Being in the Works of Johnson, Hurston, Childress, Hansberry, and Kennedy. Westport: Praeger, 2003. Print.Cheney, Anne. Lorraine Hansberry. New York: Twayne, 1984. PrintEffiong, Philip U. In Search of a Model for African-American Drama: A Study of Selected Works by Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka, and Ntozake Shange. Lanham: University Press ofAmerica, 2000. Print.Matthews, Kristin. “The Politics of 'Home' in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.” Modern drama. 51.4 (2008): 556-578. Network. November 3, 2013.Hansberry, Lorena. A raisin in the sun. New York: Samuel French Inc, 1987. Print.