1682632820571210

Benita Younger is a young college student in "A Raisin in the Sun" who has modern views and a passion for her future. She believes in expressing herself and has a strong interest in her African heritage. Benita dates two men, Joseph Asagai and George Merchantson, but identifies more with Asagai's interest in African roots than George's desire to assimilate. As she becomes more educated, Benita feels disconnected from her family, but gains a new perspective on her dreams and appreciates her brother Walter. By the end of the play, she considers marrying Asagai and practicing medicine in Africa. It is unclear who she chooses, but it is believed she follows her dreams rather than marrying for money. Hello, my name is Chloe and today I will be talking about Benita Younger from A Raisin in the Sun. I chose Benita because of how passionate she is about her future and how modern her views and beliefs are in the story. Benita is a young college student who provides an independent feminist perspective. Nicknamed Benny by her mother, she is the most educated of the siblings at just 20 years old. Benita holds modern views on gender and believes she has the right to express herself, which is a foreign concept to the other women in the play. She has great interest in her African heritage and has a more midwestern type of speech characterized by her education compared to the other characters with southern accents. Benita looks beyond her immediate situation in an effort to understand herself as a member of a greater whole. Throughout the play, while she searches for her identity, she dates two very different men, Joseph Asagai and George Merchantson. With Asagai, Benita seems to be at her happiest, nicknamed Oleo by Asagai, which means one for whom bread or food is not enough. Although with George, she is more depressed and irritated, often disagreeing with him and his beliefs. Benita identifies much more with Asagai's interest in rediscovering his African roots than with George's interest in assimilating into white culture. In Act One, Scene Two, Asagai criticizes Benita for her being both too independent by not wanting to marry and too dependent by not wanting to leave America. Asagai uses her hair as an example to show how she tries to hide her Africanness by acting white. Asagai states, after gifting Benita African robes, you wear it well, very well, mutilated hair and all. He goes on to ask if she was born with her hair this way. You know perfectly well how, as crinkly as yours, that's how, Benita states. Asagai answers, and so to accommodate that, you mutilate it every week? I am not an assimilationist, Benita says, obviously upset with Asagai in this scene. Benita still goes on to take his advice and wears her hair natural. Along with the natural hair and Nigerian robes, she also listens and dances to African music to explore more of her African roots. As Benita becomes more educated, it becomes increasingly harder for her to relate to the rest of her family. She has had to rely on the insurance money from her father's death and the investments made by her brother to realize her dream of becoming a doctor greatly influences her. As she realizes this dependence, she gains a new perspective on her dream and a new energy to attain it in her own way. This realization also brings her closer to Walter. Although she earlier blames him for his shoddy investing and questions his manhood, she eventually recognizes his strength, a sign that she has become able to appreciate him. By the end of the play, Benita seems to not be into George at all and is even considering marrying Asagai and practicing medicine in Africa. Although Benita's family has been in America for several generations and Benita has never been to Africa, Asagai insists that she will feel as though she has been away for only one day once in Africa. During this scene in Act 3, Benita says, you're getting me all mixed up, too many things have happened today, I must sit down and think. Benita seems very overwhelmed by Asagai's proposal, but after Asagai exits and she's talking with Mama and Walter, she seems excited even though Walter obviously wants her to marry a man with loot and suggests she chooses to marry George instead. When the play ends, we are still unaware of who Benita marries, but I like to believe that she followed her dreams and moved to Africa to practice medicine and learn more about her culture and roots rather than staying with George for his money, even though that was a more common thing for women to do back then.