A Raisin in the Sun
by Lorraine Hansberry

The Younger apartment happens to be the setting of every single scene in the play. It is there constantly reminding the family of their unfulfilled dreams and situation in life. They live in a one bedroom apartment with five people going on six. In this way the setting is confining to the characters physically; however, it also represents the stifling of their dreams. For instance, Mama and her husband were only planning on living in the apartment temporarily because Mama had dreams of a garden, which she cannot have because there is no space. However, that dream never came true and now she her husband is dead while she lives there with her grown up kids who also want to move to a better place. The whole family needs a bigger place where they can grow and move around.  The cramped space in the apartment was Ruth's motivation for getting an abortion when she found out she was pregnant. There was already so little space in the apartment that Travis had to sleep on the couch. Beneatha just put into words what everyone except Mama was feeling when she said, "It is my business---where is he going to live, on the roof?"(Hansberry 58)