“When a cat take off with your money he don’t leave you no road maps!(2.3, 128)” In the play, A Raisin In The Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, the Younger family each feels what it is like to lose hope in their dreams and have it deferred. Walter Lee wants to start a liquor store to support his family his own way. Beneatha wants to escape from the traditional views on women and become a doctor, but at the same time she wants to find her cultural roots. Ruth wants to be able to care for her unborn child and her son, Travis, in a home where they don’t have to worry about financial problems and to fix her relationship with Walter. And Lena, or Mama, wants to live in a house with a garden where her kids all live happily together. Walter, Beneatha, Ruth, and Lena each have a dream of their own, but one day when their check from their father’s insurance comes, each one of them find out that when following one’s dream, it can destroy dreams of others’ as well. In the beginning of the play, we discover that Walter wants to become rich by starting a business with two of his friends, Willy and Bobo, but in order to do so; he needs money from his father’s insurance check. We also find out that Beneatha needs the money to go to medical school and become a doctor. When Mama decides to give Walter a portion of the check to start his business, he loses the money from Willy, who ran away with all of the money including Bobo’s and Beneatha’s portion, which Mama told Walter to put in the bank for her. “He made and investment! With a man even Travis wouldn’t have trusted with his most worn–out marbles (3, 132).” Beneatha tells Asagai what Walter did with the money was a stupid decision. She mentions Travis because he is ten years old and Walter is in hi... ... middle of paper ... ...to come (3,139).” Mama thinks it’s best to not move anymore because she thinks she bought the wrong house and dreamed too high that all that has happened was because of her. Mama just wanted a happy family in a house where they didn’t have to worry about sleeping in the kitchen or on the couch, but after one wrong move, it all collapsed. After Walter’s decision to invest in all the money Mama gave him, all the dreams came crashing down, as well as his own. Beneatha’s dream to become a doctor and embrace her culture, Ruth’s dream to have a happy family without worrying about financial issues, and Mama who dreamed to live happily in a house with a garden with her children besides her. Even Walter’s dream to own his own business to support his family with his own achievements; it all went downhill when Walter made a terrible mistake of trusting Willy with the money.
Walter, distraught after Mama had denounced his ambition to run a liquor store, had skipped work for three days, borrowing Willy Harris's car to drive around the city. Mama, seeing Walter so defeated, decided to entrust the remaining 6,500 dollars of her 10,000 dollar check to him, saying, "It ain't much, but it's all I got in the world and I'm putting it in your hands." (Hansberry,) Having incessantly denied Walter's dream,
Throughout the play, Walters and Beneatha’s views on wealth clash because according to Walter, money is the answer to all of their issues while Beneatha constantly reminds him that the money was mama’s and she could do whatever she wants with it whenever he pressed on about buying the liquor store. In scene two of act two, after mama gives Walter the money, Walter explains to his son Travis in a long speech how he will invest the money and what kind of life they will live once the business is successful, this also included sacrificing Beneatha’s school money. This speech also shows Walters “American Dream”. Unfortunately, Walter trusted the wrong man with his money and ended up losing it all.
I. Conflicts in the Play - There are many types of conflict evident in this play. Some are as follows:
The dreams of Walter, Beneatha, and Mama in Lorraine Hansberry’s "A Raisin in the Sun", may take longer than expected, change form, or fade. Even if dreams seem to never get closer, one should never give up. Without something to work towards, society would just dry up, like a grape in the sun.
Walter and Beneatha’s relationship is very complex. The spiraling tension between the two siblings causes confrontation to form and creep into the Younger household. Walter needs his family to respect him as the man of the family, but his sister is constantly belittling him in front of his mother, wife, and son. This denigrating treatment taints Walter’s view of himself as a man, which carries into his decisions and actions. Beneatha also subconsciously deals with the dysfunctional relationship with her brother. She desires to have her brother’s support for her dream of becoming a doctor, yet Walter tends to taunt her aspiration and condemns her for having such a selfish dream. Mama as the head of the family is heartbroken by the juvenile hostility of her adult children, so in hopes to keep her family together she makes the brave move of purchasing a house. Mama’s reasoning for the bold purchase was,“ I—I just seen my family falling apart….just falling to pieces in front of my eyes…We couldn’t have gone on like we was today. We was going backwards ‘stead of forw...
Living in a society where the fulfillment of dreams is based upon material wealth, the Younger family strives to overcome their hardships as they search for happiness. As money has never been a way of life for the family, the insurance check's arrival brings each person to see the chance that their own dreams can become reality. Whether in taking a risk through buying a "little liquor store" as Walter wishes to do or in -"[wanting] to cure" as Beneatha dreams, the desires of the family depend upon the fate of Mama's check. In the mind of Walter Lee Younger, the check is the pinnacle of all, dominating his thoughts, as he does not wait a second before "asking about money "without" a Christian greeting." He cannot see beyond the fact that he "[wants] so many things" and that only their recently acquired money can bring them about. The idea of money and being able to hold it "in [his] hands" blinds him from the evils of society, as he cannot see that the Willy Harris's of the world will steal a person's "life" without a word to anyone. When money becomes nothing but an illusion, Walter is forced to rethink his values and his family's future, realizing that there is more to living that possessing material riches.
In the Play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry there are two main character’s that many people debate upon to be the protagonist of the play. Those two characters are Mama and Walter. The story is about an African American family living in Chicago in the 1950’s. During this time period race was a large issue in that area. The family consists of three generations, Mama being the mother and grandmother has a lot of responsibilities as what I see her to be as the families anchor. The next generation is Walter his wife Ruth and his sister Beneatha. Walter and Ruth have a song Travis who is ten years old at the time of this play. Mama is the moral supporter of the family and believes that everything has a purpose and that things should be done by design. One of the main events in this play is the life insurance settlement check for ten thousand dollars that Mama receives. This being a large amount of money during that time period creates many arguments between the families about what to do with the money. Walter is the type of guy that believes his family shouldn’t settle like everyone else and believes that they shouldn’t be held back just because they are an African American family living in what is referred to as a “white man’s world”. I believe that Walter is the protagonist of the play for two main reasons, he isn’t a selfish man, he doesn’t feel the family should be limited because they are African American and he has distinct options or plans for the future of his family.
Walter Sr. was Walter and Beneathas father he died and his wife mama received ten thousand dollar for life insurance. Walter wants the whole ten thousand dollars for himself and put it down on the liquor store. But Beneatha wants to go to medical school and be a doctor. Walter thinks that it is selfish of Beneatha that she wants to attend medical school because he then wouldn't get all of the money for the liquor store. Beneatha "that money belongs to Mama, Walter, and its for her to decide how she wants to use it. I don't care if she wants to buy a house or a rocket ship or just nail it up somewhere and look at it. It's hers. Not ours hers." Mamas getting all the money and it is up to her if she wants the money for herself give it to Beneatha for school or give it to Walter for the liquor store. Now that it is getting closer to the date in which the money will arrive. Walter is acting more and more desperate for that money.
He struggles every day to achieve his dream of getting more money. When the $10,000 check came in, it was his shot at success. His mother gave him a big chunk of it and he invested it in a liquor store and lost the money. After that, Walter became very depressed. He had lost the trust and respect of his family.
Mama only spent $3,500 out of the $10,000 from the insurance check, she decides to give Walter the leftover money, so he could “be the head of this family from now on” (107). Walter takes this matter upon himself and decides to “make a transaction” (108) that will “change our lives” (108). Walter then, takes all the money he is given by Mama and “never went to the bank at all” (129), he then gives all of the $6,500 to Willy Harris, who was trusted by both men, left with all of Walter and Bobo’s money. Mama, who is very upset by this, hits Walter for giving all the money away. Mama then turns to God for “strength” (130). Mama is a Christian woman and, despite her struggles, remains faithful.
Lorraine Hansberry’s carefully selected words in the play A Raisin in the Sun, prove to be a metaphor of the Younger’s past, present, and future life. During this time in American history it was hard for black people to make a name for themselves, and they were almost never seen as equals to white lives. As Hansberry describes the house in which the Younger’s live, she is always describing the struggle that they face. She starts this by saying “The Younger living room would be comfortable and well-ordered room if it were not for a number of indestructible contradictions to this state of being” (Hansberry 23). One could assume that has Hansberry speaks of the living room she is actually speaking of the lives of the Younger’s. Therefore as we
Mama is the head of the house. She dreams that her family will be happy and that her children have the best life they can have. She does what ever she can to make her children’s dreams come true.
Mama talks to Walter about her fears of the family falling apart. This is the reason she bought the house and she wants him to understand. Walter doesn't understand and gets angry. "What you need me to say you done right for? You the head of this family. You run our lives like you want to. It was your money and you did what you wanted with it. So what you need for me to say it was all right for? So you butchered up a dream of mine - you - who always talking 'bout your children's dreams..." Walter is so obsessive over money that he yells at his mom for not giving him all of it. He doesn't know that what his mom is doing is for the family. He thinks that having money will make the family happy, when in reality the family doesn't need anymore than what they have to be happy.
To start off, Walter’s obsession with money is going to cost him a lot since it is the only thing he cares about. In the beginning, Walter starts out by only caring only about himself, but towards the end, he starts to care for everyone else as well. This shows that Walter is a selfish person. As Walter Lee states to Ruth, “Yeah. You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on the place be ‘bout thirty thousand, see” is the dream that Walter Lee has for himself (Hansberry 33). Walter wants the money that the Younger family is getting from the insurance company to buy the liquor store. He thinks that the liquor store will make them rich and the family would not have to struggle anymore. At the end, Walter changes his whole point of view towards the insurance money. Walter declares to Mr....
Walter wants the insurance money so that he can prove that he is capable of making a future for his family. By doing well in business, Walter thinks that he can buy his family happiness. Mama cares for Walter deeply and hates seeing him suffer so she gave into his idea. Mama gives Walter the rest of the money and tells him to put half in a bank for his sister's schooling and he could do whatever he wanted with the other half.