Revolution from Within

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the archetype of the emasculated, angry black man as set forth by Larry Neal in his essay, "The Black Arts Movement," and applies this archetype to the character of Walter in Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin In The Sun."

From the Paper:

"In his essay, "The Black Arts Movement," Larry Neal discusses how in literature "the Black man is both an object of love and hate" by the black women in his life. (1966). Neal says that in African-American "literature of previous decades the strong Black mother was the object of awe and respect. But in the new literature, her status is ambivalent and laced with tension" (1970). Her status is called in to question because of the resentment of her son. The son feels like he is "emasculated" like his father, because his mother, and later on his wife, is the economic provider for the family (1970). Neal says that the only way for a man to reclaim his masculinity is "through revolution. It either must be an actual blood revolution, or one that psychically redirects the energy of the oppressed" (1971). "

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