Question

Read the passage from A Raisin in the Sun.

BOBO: Man . . . I didn't go to no Springfield, yesterday.

WALTER (halted, life hanging in the moment): Why not?

BOBO (the long way, the hard way to tell): 'Cause I didn't have no reasons to . . .

WALTER: Man, what are you talking about!

BOBO: I'm talking about the fact that when I got to the train station yesterday morning—eight o'clock like we planned . . . Man—Willy didn't never show up.

WALTER: Why . . . where was he . . . where is he?

BOBO: That's what I'm trying to tell you . . . I don't know . . . I waited six hours . . . I called his house . . . and I waited . . . six hours . . . I waited in that train station six hours . . . (Breaking into tears.) That was all the extra money I had in the world . . . (Looking up at WALTER with the tears running down his face.) Man, Willy is gone.


What tone does the playwright convey through Bobo’s words "Man, Willy is gone"?

A. impatience and frustration because Willy never arrives on time
B. sadness and regret because he is grieving Willy, who recently died
C. shock and disbelief because Willy has stolen his and Walter's money
D. awe and surprise because he has no idea why Willy left town

Answer 1

The correct answer is: D. awe and surprised because he has no idea why Willy left town.

The passage mentions that Bobo waited for six hours, which means he really was not expecting Willy not to show up or to just disappear. Therefore he was surprised when he realized Willy most likely had left town without him.

Answer 2

The correct answer and tone that Lorraine Hansberry conveys through Bobo's words "Man, Willy is gone" in the mentioned excerpt from A Raisin in the Sun (1959) is C. shock and disbelief because Willy has stolen his and Walter's money.

Willy, convined Walter and Bobo to become partners and invest in the liquor store plan. Since they do not have well-paying jobs, they have to invest their life savings. After making them think that opening a liquor store is a great idea, Willy disappears with all their money, leaving them completely bankrupt and devastating. In fact, Willy is only mentioned but does not even appear onstage during the play. That is why Bobo realizes that Willy is never going to show up and that they have lost all their money.