Lorraine Hansberry defines the personality and background of her characters in A Raisin in the Sun predominantly through dialogue and the manner in which each speaks. For example, in reading just a few pages of the play, we are able to discern the more-educated from the less-educated.
On page twenty five, Ruth's use of jargon and poor utilization of grammar in her first line reveal to the reader an uneducated aspect of her personality: "What you mean out? He ain't hardly got in there good yet" (25). Walter's lines and manner of speaking serve a similar purpose: "Ain't nobody bothering you" (26). On the contrary, Beneatha would never make such poor use of grammar. One can immediately recognize the gap in the education between Beneatha and the rest of her family members simply through analysis of her word choice, syntax, and adhearance to proper grammar. I first noticed the difference with the line, "God hasn't got a thing to do with it" (50). If it were Ruth or Walter speaking, this line would have undoubtedly read "God ain't got a thing to do with it." This simple adjustment is very revealing on behalf of Beaneatha's character. This difference in Beneatha's manner of speaking is symbolic of her overall desire to be different from her family, to reap a different fate. She does not want to feel trapped, and thus must work hard and attend school to make a life for herself and achieve great things. To do this, she must set herself apart.
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