When Beneatha reveals her hair to be “close-cropped and un-straightened”
(80), her family and George are extremely appalled. Their abhorrence is significant because curly
hair is an attribute that epitomizes black pride. Starting in the 1960s, black men and women stopped
cutting their hair and grew afros to embrace their black heritage.
 |
| 2016 |
Still today, natural hair is used as a symbol of empowerment
and allows African Americans to express their culture.
just look at Queen Bey herself
rocking corn rose to embrace her black heritage. Her new album, Lemonade, shocked the (white)
world because Beyonce diverged from her girly, white-washed image and embraced
her roots. Songs like “Freedom” and “Daddy
Lessons” had soulful rhythms that marked a stark contrast to her previous pop
tunes. (Saturday Night Live did a great
parody of the world’s general shock at Beyonce’s new beats and you can watch it
here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ociMBfkDG1w
)
 |
| 2008 |
But anyways, the reason why I’m including this is because
the shock the world felt at Beyonce expressing her black heritage is similar to
how Beneatha’s family and friends reacted to her form of “expressing ME”
(48).
Additionally, I found that when Mr. Linder came to visit the
Youngers and Beneatha answered the door, amidst her nervousness in the presence
of a white man, Beneatha finds herself “smoothing her hair” (113). This imagery depicts Beneatha trying to
smooth out her curls, and in turn, hide her black heritage from Mr. Linder
because of her “embarrassment”. This is
one of the only times in the novel that Beneatha is shy about who she is. Even when George and Asagai criticize her
appearance as being “eccentric” (80) and “assimilationist” (63), Beneatha stays
true to her views. However, Mr. Linder
evokes feelings of inferiority and insecurity.
This reminded me of the passage in The
Bluest Eye when Pecola felt excited to purchase her Mary Janes, but after
her nasty encounter with the cashier, she feels ugly again. This similar relationship between white men
and black girls demonstrates the theme that society inflicts emotional abuses
on minorities.
Nice connection between The Bluest Eye and A Raisin in the Sun. Overall you made a lot of great connections between many things which really made the blog interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteWow, madeline! Not only did you really develop your claim (with tons of textual evidence), but you connected pop culture and another text to your examination of A Raisin in the Sun, something i found very impressive. Nice post :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting Post! Just as Elise and Emily have said, extremely good tie-ins with both modern day and The Bluest Eye. I also liked how you pointed out a specific, intricate detail that shows how Beneatha was shy about herself in the appearance of Mr. Linder.
ReplyDelete