Assmilation

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

"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" (Hansberry, page 81).

From the span of two scenes, Beneatha finds herself contradicting herself in her opinions of her own heritage and culture. After Asagai comes over to the apartment, Beneatha changes her opinion of her culture to reflect his views. From such a simple conversation, Beneatha surprised me when she cut off all of her hair in order to conform to Asagai's idea on respecting their heritage. Furthermore, Asagai blames Beneatha for assimilating herself to fit the American culture. Beneatha turns that on George in return for commenting on her new hair style. 

Beneatha's change in two acts was unexpected as she seemingly would have most likely kept her American look in order to fit into the society she was in. 

A difference in generations was apparent through Mama. Mama compares Walter to Big Walter. "Once upon a time freedom used to be life - now it's money. I guess the world really do change..." (Hansberry, page 74). Mama uses this to compare that Walter is seeking money though any means while during her time with Big Walter, freedom is all they searched for in their society. Through this comparison, Mama is able to show a differential gap between her generation and the current generation.