A Nigerian man studying in Chicago, Joseph Asagai is a student who Beneatha met on her college campus. Asagai is a “rather dramatic-looking” young man who takes great pride in his African heritage and dreams of Nigerian independence from colonial rule. Asagai is thoughtful and well-spoken and he fosters Beneatha’s interest in her African roots. At the play’s end, Asagai asks Beneatha to marry him and “come home” to Africa.
Joseph Asagai Quotes in A Raisin in the Sun
The A Raisin in the Sun quotes below are all either spoken by Joseph Asagai or refer to Joseph Asagai. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1, Scene 2
Quotes
Asagai: You wear it well . . . very well . . . mutilated hair and all.
Beneatha: My hair – what’s wrong with my hair?
Asagai: Were you born with it like that?
Beneatha: No . . . of course not.
Related Characters:
Beneatha Younger (speaker), Joseph Asagai (speaker)
Related Symbols:
Beneatha’s Hair
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3
Quotes
Then isn’t there something wrong in a house – in a world! – where all dreams, good or bad, must depend on the death of a man? I never thought to see you like this, Alaiyo.
Related Characters:
Joseph Asagai (speaker), Beneatha Younger
Related Symbols:
The Insurance Payment
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Don’t you see that they will be young men and women – not British soldiers then, but my own black countrymen – to step out of the shadows some evening and slit my then useless throat? Don’t you see they have always been there . . . that they will always be. And that such a thing as my own death will be an advance?
Related Characters:
Joseph Asagai (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Joseph Asagai Character Timeline in A Raisin in the Sun
The timeline below shows where the character Joseph Asagai appears in A Raisin in the Sun. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 2
Beneatha answers the phone and has a brief conversation with her classmate, Joseph Asagai, who asks if he may visit Beneatha later that morning. Beneatha agrees. Beneatha explains to...
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...crying, Beneatha sends Travis back outside to play, “but not with any rats.” Just then, Asagai rings the doorbell and enters, and Mama takes a fragile Ruth to her bedroom to...
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Asagai notices that Beneatha looks rattled and asks if something is wrong, to which Beneatha says,...
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Before Asagai can exit, Mama reenters and Beneatha introduces her to Asagai. Honoring her promise to Beneatha,...
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As he goes to exit, Asagai calls Beneatha by a Yoruba nickname, “Alaiyo.” Mama and Beneatha ask about the meaning of...
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Act 2, Scene 1
...the radio when Beneatha enters “grandly” from her bedroom, wearing the robes and headdress that Asagai gave her that morning. She tells Ruth, “You are looking at what a well-dressed Nigerian...
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Act 3
...Walter’s loss of the insurance money fills the apartment with “a sullen light of gloom.” Asagai enters the apartment to visit Beneatha, who is deeply upset about the lost money. Beneatha...
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Asagai tries to convince Beneatha of the value of idealism, but she rejects his arguments. She...
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...insurance money her dream for the future has been stolen “right out of my hands.” Asagai asks Beneatha whether the money was hers, inquiring more specifically whether she earned it or...
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When Beneatha accuses Asagai of being unable to provide an argument in favor of idealism, Asagai shouts, “I LIVE...
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“Rather quietly,” Asagai suggests that Beneatha “come home” with him. At first, Beneatha mistakenly believes that Asagai is...
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...of Walter’s decision, focusing instead on the task at hand. Beneatha excitedly tells Mama that Asagai proposed to her that afternoon, but in the busyness of the moment Mama brushes off...
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