洛林·汉斯贝里的剧本《阳光下的葡萄干》的情节摘要和研究指南概述了第二幕。

寻找文化身份

第二幕，第一场发生在第一幕，第二场的同一天——年轻一家拥挤的公寓。早期事件的紧张局势似乎已经平息。露丝一边听收音机一边熨衣服。贝尼亚莎穿着传统的尼日利亚长袍进入会场，这是她爱人约瑟夫·阿萨盖（Joseph Asagai）最近送给她的礼物。她关掉收音机，称它的音乐为“同化主义垃圾”，用留声机播放尼日利亚音乐。

沃尔特·李进来了。他喝醉了；他对压力的反应常常是喝醉。现在，他的妻子怀孕了，他被拒绝投资一家酒类商店，沃尔特·李已经被解雇了！然而，部落音乐使他精神振奋，他跳进了一种即兴的“战士模式”，高喊着“奥科莫戈西耶！狮子醒了！”

顺便说一句，贝尼亚塔真的卷入了这件事。在第一幕的大部分时间里，她都被她的兄弟惹恼了，舞台指导说“她完全被他这一边的人追上了。”尽管沃尔特喝醉了，有点失控，贝尼亚塔还是很高兴看到她的兄弟拥抱他的祖传遗产。

乔治·默奇森（George Murchison）在这种轻浮中走了进来。他是Beneatha今晚的约会对象。他也是一个富有的黑人，他（至少对沃尔特·李来说）代表了一个新时代，一个非裔美国人能够获得权力和经济成功的社会。与此同时，沃尔特对乔治感到不满，也许是因为乔治的父亲而不是乔治本人获得了财富。（或者可能是因为大多数大哥哥都不信任妹妹的男朋友。）

“我是一座火山”

Walter Lee建议他与George father会面，讨论一些商业想法，但很快就发现George无意帮助Walter。沃尔特变得愤怒和沮丧，侮辱乔治这样的大学生。乔治打电话给他：“你们都被痛苦弄疯了，伙计。”沃尔特·李回答道：

WALTER: (Intently, almost quietly, between the teeth, glaring at the boy.) And you - ain't you bitter, man? Aint you just about had it yet? Don't you see no stars gleaming that you can't reach out and grab? You happy? -- You contented son-of-a-bitch -- you happy? You got it made? Bitter? Man, I'm a volcano. Bitter? Here I am -- surrounded by ants! Ants who can't even understand what it is the giant is talking about.

他的讲话使他的妻子心烦和难堪。乔治有点被它逗乐了。当他离开时，他告诉沃尔特，“晚安，普罗米修斯。”（通过将沃尔特与创造人类并给予人类火的希腊神话中的泰坦进行比较，以此取笑沃尔特。）然而，沃尔特·李并不理解这个说法。

妈妈买了一栋房子

乔治和贝尼亚塔约会离开后，沃尔特和他的妻子开始争吵。在他们的交流中，沃尔特对自己的种族发表了贬低的评论：

WALTER: Why? You want to know why? 'Cause we all tied up in a race of people that don't know how to do nothing but moan, pray and have babies! As if he realizes how venomous his words are, he begins to calm down. His mood softens even more, when Ruth, despite being verbally abused, offers him a glass of hot milk. Soon, they begin saying words of kindness to each other. Just as they about to reconcile further, Walter's mother enters. Mama announces to her grandson, Travis Younger, as well as Walter and Ruth, that she has purchased a three-bedroom house. The house is located in a predominately white neighborhood in Clybourne Park (in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago). Ruth is ecstatic to have a new home, although she does feel some trepidation about moving into a white neighborhood. Mama hopes that Walter will share in the family's joy, but instead he says: WALTER: So you butchered up a dream of mine -- you -- who always talking 'bout your children's dreams. And with that incredibly bitter, self-pitying line, the curtain falls on Act Two, Scene One of a Raisin in the Sun