What Really Happens After A Raisin in the Sun

The end of A Raisin in the Sun was a little unsatisfying for me as reader, not just because it left the story feeling somewhat incomplete, but because it was deceptively hopeful. After reading three acts of endless turmoil and conflict within the Younger family, it just seemed very abrupt and unrealistic for this narrative to end on such a positive note.

For the entirety of the play, Walter obsesses over getting the money he needs to invest in the liquor store which he believes will help him achieve his dreams give him a better life. This obsession sends him on a downward spiral, ending in him losing all of the money that he invested and losing the respect of his entire family.  However, this dramatic chain of events seems to all be magically wiped away in the end of the third act.  After refusing Lindner's offer, an act that realistically should not make up for the fact that they he lost almost all of Mama's money, everyone instantly forgave him.  Mama even tells Ruth, "He finally come into his manhood today, didn't he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain..." then proceeds to grab her plant and leave the stage, an ending that really felt more like a bad sitcom finale than the ending of a classic American play.

What angers me most about this ending, though, is that it suddenly seems to completely ignore the grim reality that is sure to follow the Youngers' move to their new neighborhood. Even though Walter has restored his "manhood," and everything seems like it's going to work out, the fact still remains that America is deeply segregated, and the Youngers will not be welcome in their new community.  They are likely to be taunted, threatened, attacked, and at the very least forced out of their neighborhood without too much physical damage done to them.  The real end of this story is inevitably a harsh and discouraging one, but one that would've much more accurately represented the injustice that a black family would've faced at the time.