A Raisin in the Sun (9 page)

(
RUTH
opens the bedroom door and stands there a little limp
)

RUTH
(
Beaten
) Yes I would too, Walter. (
Pause
) I gave her a five-dollar down payment.

(
There is total silence as the man stares at his wife and the mother stares at her son
)

MAMA
(
Presently
) Well – (
Tightly
) Well — son, I’m waiting to hear you say something … (
She waits
) I’m waiting to hear how you be your father’s son. Be the man he was … (
Pause. The silence shouts
) Your wife say she going to destroy your child. And I’m waiting to hear you talk like him and say we a people who give children life, not who destroys them—(
She rises
) I’m waiting to see you stand up and look like your daddy and say we done give up one baby to poverty and that we ain’t going to give up nary another one … I’m waiting.

WALTER
Ruth— (
He can say nothing
)

MAMA
If you a son of mine, tell her! (
WALTER
picks up his keys and his coat and walks out. She continues, bitterly
) You … you are a disgrace to your father’s memory. Somebody get me my hat!

RUTH
What have we got on tonight!

BENEATHA
(
Emerging grandly from the doorway so that we can see her thoroughly robed in the costume Asagai brought
) You are looking at what a well-dressed Nigerian woman wears—(
She parades for
RUTH
,
her hair completely hidden by the headdress; she is coquettishly fanning herself with an ornate oriental fan, mistakenly more like Butterfly than any Nigerian that ever was
) Isn’t it beautiful? (
She promenades to the radio and, with an arrogant flourish, turns off the good loud blues that is playing
) Enough of this assimilationist junk! (
RUTH
follows her with her eyes as she goes to the phonograph and puts on a record and turns and waits ceremoniously for the music to come up. Then, with a shout—
) OCOMOGOSIAY!

(
RUTH
jumps. The music comes up, a lovely Nigerian melody
,
BENEATHA
listens, enraptured, her
eyes far away—“back to the past.” She begins to dance
.
RUTH
is dumbfounded
)

RUTH
What kind of dance is that?

BENEATHA
A folk dance.

RUTH
(
Pearl Bailey
) What kind of folks do that, honey?

BENEATHA
It’s from Nigeria. It’s a dance of welcome.

RUTH
Who you welcoming?

BENEATHA
The men back to the village.

RUTH
Where they been?

BENEATHA
How should I know—out hunting or something. Anyway, they are coming back now …

RUTH
Well, that’s good.

BENEATHA
(
With the record
)

Alundi, alundi

Alundi alunya

Jop pu a jeepua

Ang gu soooooooooo

Ai yai yae …

Ayehaye—alundi …

WALTER
YEAH … AND ETHIOPIA STRETCH FORTH HER HANDS AGAIN! …

RUTH
(
Drily, looking at him
) Yes—and Africa sure is claiming her own tonight. (
She gives them both up and starts ironing again
)

WALTER
(
All in a drunken, dramatic shout
) Shut up! … I’m digging them drums … them drums move
me! … (He makes his weaving way to his wife’s face and leans in close to her
) In my
heart of hearts—(He thumps his chest
)—I am much warrior!

RUTH
(
Without even looking up
) In your heart of hearts you are much drunkard.

WALTER
(
Coming away from her and starting to wander around the room, shouting
) Me and Jomo … (
Intently, in his sister’s face. She has stopped dancing to watch him in this unknown mood
) That’s my man, Kenyatta. (
Shouting and thumping his chest
) FLAMING SPEAR! HOT DAMN! (
He is suddenly in possession of an imaginary spear and actively spearing enemies all over the room) OCOMOGOSIAY …

BENEATHA
(
To encourage
WALTER
,
thoroughly caught up with this side of him) OCOMOGOSIAY
, FLAMING SPEAR!

WALTER
THE LION IS WAKING … OWIMOWEH! (
He pulls his shirt open and leaps up on the table and gestures with his spear
)

BENEATHA
OWIMOWEH!

WALTER
(
On the table, very far gone, his eyes pure glass sheets. He sees what we cannot, that he is a leader of his people, a great chief, a descendant of Chaka, and that the hour to march has come
) Listen, my black brothers—

BENEATHA
OCOMOGOSIAY!

WALTER
—Do you hear the waters rushing against the shores of the coastlands—

BENEATHA
OCOMOGOSIAY!

WALTER
—Do you hear the screeching of the cocks in yonder hills beyond where the chiefs meet in council for the coming of the mighty war—

BENEATHA
OCOMOGOSIAY!

(
And now the lighting shifts subtly to suggest the world of
W
ALTER’S
imagination, and the mood shifts from pure comedy. It is the inner
WALTER
speaking: the Southside chauffeur has assumed an unexpected majesty
)

WALTER
—Do you hear the beating of the wings of the birds flying low over the mountains and the low places of our land—

BENEATHA
OCOMOGOSIAY!

WALTER
—Do you hear the singing of the women, singing the war songs of our fathers to the babies in the great houses? Singing the sweet war songs! (
The doorbell rings
) OH, DO YOU HEAR, MY BLACK BROTHERS!

BENEATHA
(
Completely gone
) We hear you, Flaming Spear—

(
RUTH
shuts off the phonograph and opens the door
.
GEORGE MURCHISON
enters
)

WALTER
Telling us to prepare for the GREATNESS OF THE TIME! (
Lights back to normal. He turns and sees
GEORGE
) Black Brother!

(
He extends his hand for the fraternal clasp
)

GEORGE
Black Brother, hell!

RUTH
(
Having had enough, and embarrassed for the family
) Beneatha, you got company—what’s the matter with you? Walter Lee Younger, get down off that table and stop acting like a fool …

(
WALTER
comes down off the table suddenly and makes a quick exit to the bathroom
)

RUTH
He’s had a little to drink … I don’t know what her excuse is.

GEORGE
(
To
BENEATHA
) Look honey, we’re going
to
the theatre—we’re not going to be
in
it … so go change, huh?

(
BENEATHA
looks at him and slowly, ceremoniously, lifts her hands and pulls off the headdress. Her hair is close-cropped and unstraightened
.
GEORGE
freezes mid-sentence and
RUTH’S
eyes all but fan out of her head
)

GEORGE
What in the name of—

RUTH
(
Touching
BENEATHA’S
hair
) Girl, you done lost your natural mind!? Look at your head!

GEORGE
What have you done to your head—I mean your hair!

BENEATHA
Nothing—except cut it off.

RUTH
Now that’s the truth—it’s what ain’t been done to it! You expect this boy to go out with you with your head all nappy like that?

BENEATHA
(
Looking at
GEORGE
) That’s up to George. If he’s ashamed of his heritage—

GEORGE
Oh, don’t be so proud of yourself, Bennie—just because you look eccentric.

BENEATHA
How can something that’s natural be eccentric?

GEORGE
That’s what being eccentric means—being natural. Get dressed.

BENEATHA
I don’t like that, George.

RUTH
Why must you and your brother make an argument out of everything people say?

BENEATHA
Because I hate assimilationist Negroes!

RUTH
Will somebody please tell me what assimila-who ever means!

GEORGE
Oh, it’s just a college girl’s way of calling people Uncle Toms—but that isn’t what it means at all.

RUTH
Well, what does it mean?

BENEATHA
(
Cutting
GEORGE
off and staring at him as she replies to
RUTH
) It means someone who is willing to give up his own culture and submerge himself completely in the dominant, and in this case
oppressive
culture!

GEORGE
Oh, dear, dear, dear! Here we go! A lecture on the African past! On our Great West African Heritage! In one second we will hear all about the great Ashanti empires; the great Songhay civilizations; and the great sculpture of Bénin—and then some poetry in the Bantu— and the whole monologue will end with the word
heritage! (Nastily
) Let’s face it, baby, your heritage is nothing but a bunch of raggedy-assed spirituals and some grass huts!

BENEATHA
GRASS HUTS! (
RUTH
crosses to her and forcibly pushes her toward the bedroom
) See there … you are standing there in your splendid ignorance talking about people who were the first to smelt iron on the face of the earth! (
RUTH
is pushing her through the door
) The Ashanti were performing surgical operations when the English—(
RUTH
pulls the door to, with
BENEATHA
on the other side, and smiles graciously at
GEORGE. BENEATHA
opens the door and shouts the end of the sentence defiantly at
GEORGE
)—were still tattooing themselves with blue dragons! (
She goes back inside
)

RUTH
Have a seat, George (
They both sit
.
RUTH
folds her hands rather primly on her lap, determined to demonstrate the civilization of the family
) Warm, ain’t it? I mean for September. (
Pause
) Just like they always say about Chicago weather: If it’s too hot or cold for you, just wait a minute and it’ll change. (
She smiles happily at this cliché of clichés
) Everybody say it’s got to do with them bombs and things they keep setting off. (
Pause
) Would you like a nice cold beer?

GEORGE
No, thank you. I don’t care for beer. (
He looks at his watch
) I hope she hurries up.

RUTH
What time is the show?

GEORGE
It’s an eight-thirty curtain. That’s just Chicago, though. In New York standard curtain time is eight forty.

(
He is rather proud of this knowledge
)

RUTH
(
Properly appreciating it
) You get to New York a lot?

GEORGE
(
Offhand
) Few times a year.

RUTH
Oh—that’s nice. I’ve never been to New York. (
WALTER
enters. We feel he has relieved himself, but the edge of unreality is still with him
)

WALTER
New York ain’t got nothing Chicago ain’t. Just a bunch of hustling people all squeezed up together—being “Eastern.”

(
He turns his face into a screw of displeasure
)

GEORGE
Oh—you’ve been?

WALTER
Plenty
of times.

RUTH
(
Shocked at the lie
) Walter Lee Younger!

WALTER
(
Staring her down
) Plenty! (
Pause
) What we got to drink in this house? Why don’t you offer this
man some refreshment. (
To
GEORGE
) They don’t know how to entertain people in this house, man.

GEORGE
Thank you—I don’t really care for anything.

WALTER
(
Feeling his head; sobriety coming
) Where’s Mama?

RUTH
She ain’t come back yet.

WALTER
(
Looking
MURCHISON
over from head to toe, scrutinizing his carefully casual tweed sports jacket over cashmere V-neck sweater over soft eyelet shirt and tie, and soft slacks, finished off with white buckskin shoes
) Why all you college boys wear them faggoty-looking white shoes?

RUTH
Walter Lee!