In Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry does not reject
integration or the economic and moral promise of the
American dream; rather, she remains loyal to this dream
while looking, realistically, at its incomplete realization.
Once we recognize this dual vision, we can accept the
play's ironic nuances as deliberate social commentaries by
Hansberry rather than as the "unintentional" irony that
Bigsby attributes to the work. Indeed a curiously persistent
refusal to credit Hansberry with a capacity for intentional
irony has led some critics to interpret the play's thematic
conflicts as mere confusion, contradiction, or eclecticism.
Isaacs, for example, cannot easily reconcile Hansberry's
intense concern for her race with her ideal of human
reconciliation. But the play's complex view of Black
self-esteem and human solidarity as compatible is no more
"contradictory" than Du Bois' famous, well-considered
ideal of ethnic self-awareness coexisting with human unity,
or Fanon's emphasis on an ideal internationalism that also
accommodates national identities and roles.
26. In which of the following does the author of the passage reinforce his criticism of responses such as Isaacs’ to Raisin in the Sun?
(A) The statement that Hansberry is “loyal” (line 3) to the American dream
(B) The description of Hansberry’s concern for Black Americans as “intense” (line 13)
(C) The assertion that Hansberry is concerned with “human solidarity” (line 15)
(D) The description of Du Bois’ ideal as “well-considered” (line 17)
(E) The description of Fanon’s internationalism as “ideal” (line 19)