[The Drinking Gourd] portrays American plantation slavery which … characterizes a phase of the black experience. The title was taken from a spiritual, "Follow the Drinking Gourd," linked with the Underground Railroad and derived from the slave metaphor for the Big Dipper which points to the North Star. This star was considered the beacon to freedom for many an escaped slave attempting to find his way to the North in the night. In the play, Hansberry illustrates the cruelties of slavery from the vantage points of the characters involved: the slave, the poor White, the slave owner, his wife and son. Even though she obviously identifies with the slaves, the play shows her empathy for other human beings. Each person, therefore, is depicted as an individual with his own unique concerns within the slave society.
It is interesting to note the different views of three slaves on the plantation. Rissa, the dominant slave character, accepts her lot as a slave and expresses gratitude that Hiram Sweet (Master Sweet) is not like many slave masters…. Rissa's attitude, however, changes drastically at the end of the play; she no longer is the accepting and forgiving Black Mammy archetype…. She leaves her Master to die and steals his gun for her children.
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