A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is full of allusions. The one that struck me the most was "Thirty pieces and not a coin less!" (Hansberry, 509). This was stated by Beneatha when Mr. Lindner offers the family money to not move into their new home. Beneatha's allusion is biblical, stemming from Judas betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. This line tells the reader Beneatha's opinion on accepting money to essentially allow themselves to be opressed. Lindner was offering the family money to deny themselves the opperutnities of a nice house in a nice neighborhood, all because the white neighbors did not want African Americans in their community. Beneatha's allusion shows she views it as a betrayal, not only to the family that worked so hard to make it happen, but also to their race. Mama's family suffered greatly from their environment, and not taking a chance to improve their surroundings would be a great injustice. However, accepting the offer would be akin to admitting defeat, allowing segregation, and therefore betraying their race as a whole.

I love this allusion purely because of how harsh it is. She compares the act to Judas's betrayal, the ultimate betrayal. This shows how proud and dignified Beneatha is of her family and her heritage.