The play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, begins with an African American family about to receive a check from their father’s death. The check makes the family think about what each person would do with the money and they all have different ideas. Whenever we find out what Walter Lee and Beneatha each want to do with that money, we learn more about their different views on gender and what they believe a man and women "should” do. The family lives in Chicago in the 1950’s, which from my research about this time and location, I’ve learned it’s like everywhere else during this time; the men think they control everything and everyone. During this time, these men and women were raised like this, so they didn’t know any different. It’s hard for us to read about this stuff because women are much more independent these days than they were even just 10 years ago. Walter and Beneatha have different views on how men and women should act. Walter’s relates more to the time period they are in and Beneatha is more modern. …show more content…
Walter Lee is the son of Mama, husband to Ruth, and father to Travis.
Walter wants to have enough money to provide for his family and get them out of the horrible conditions they live in. He hopes to open a liquor store with his friends in order to have enough money for his family but his friend ends up taking the money and he looses all of those hopes. A major thing throughout the story is the gender roles of each character and how they differ. Walter is the man of the house when his father dies. He has to take care of everyone and he thinks money will do that. He starts to get into arguments with everyone and he always thinks he is right. During this time, men always thought they were right, even when they were completely wrong. When he realizes he can’t do it alone, he begins to understand his wife, mom and sister and wants to do what is best for
everyone. Beneatha is the daughter of Mama. She is known to be a feminist and an independent woman. She says she would use the money to become a doctor. After college, she hopes to go to medical school and would use the money to make that possible. Throughout the whole play, she is vocal about her opinions; she is discovering who she is and isn’t afraid to speak out. I loved this about her because she was very independent and tries to find her purpose. Even though she did have a boyfriend, it didn’t stop her from having a voice. The role of the man during this time period is to be the man in charge. The men think they know what is best. So, Walter is acting the way most men acted during this time. Beneatha believes that women don’t need men to support them and I couldn’t agree more. This is where her feminist side comes in. She doesn’t care what a woman’s role is known to be, but she cares about what it should be. Women are just as capable as men are to support families. During this period, it wasn’t common for women to have a career and make their own living. Men did that and women worked at home and took care of the family. At the end, they come together and realize both opinions are important and realize that they can accomplish so much more together.
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.
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.
Walter wants financial freedom, he doesn't want just enough money to provide for his family, but rather he tells his mother "I want so many things. " Walter is materialistic and greedy, corrupted by a superficial “American dream”. Walter has no desire to find out about himself through his African American heritage. He believes he can define himself through money, money is everything to this man.
Walter brings to topic his importance to the scenario, and decides to break away from the event and think of his answer towards his wife’s information and response. He later is shown the understanding of his wife by the reaction of his mother, who questions his standing on how his father would have reacted. This brings Walter to think of why he should change and not walk out on times of importance. Walter discovers that his turmoil of drinking and appearance on the topic could end up losing the life of his newly developing child. At the discussion over selling the house owned by the family to Mr. Linder, Walter is shown the original faith that the selfish purpose of the money for himself would be better the property that would benefit the entire family, including his child.
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 wants the best for his family and he thinks the liquor store will provide him the financial security needed to boost them out of poverty. "I'm thirty five years old; I've been married eleven years and I got a boy who sleeps in living room (Hansberry 34). best describes the sympathy and compassion Walter feels for his son. Although his family's financial position has a strain on it, Walter doesn't want his son to see him struggle. Even in today?s world, children are very susceptible. Walter displays a selfless characteristic which becomes overshadowed by unwise decisions later in the play. In one particular scene, his son Travis asked both parents for money. Walter acts out of pride by giving Travis his last pocket change. This symbolizes Walter's willingness to be a moral father. In a different situation, Walter would not display his selfish intentions. This behavior can be attributed to working in a degrading, underpaid position and not seeing results. Metaphorically speaking, Walter can be related to the furniture in the small apartment, ?tired and broken in spirit?.
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....
Gender Matters is a collection of various essays on feminist linguistic texts analysis, by Sara Mills. Mills develops methods of analyzing literary and non-literary texts, in addition to conversational analysis based on a feminist approach. The author draws on data from her collection of essays gathered over the last two decades on feminism during the 1990s. The essays focus on gender issues, the representation of gender in reading, writing, and in public speaking. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of feminists’ analysis of sexism in literature and the relation between gender and politeness. The article is informative for my research paper, as my topic is going to cover language analysis of the text and who women reading and writing differs according to the discourse analysis within linguistic, psychology, case studies audiences and surveys. The book would be helpful, particularly the last three essays that discusses gender, public speaking, the question of politeness and impoliteness in public speaking. Mills’ analysis is not complete without including the idea of global notions of both women and men, to see whether women and men write and read in the same way globally. Therefore, an update would enrich the book’s discussion section. Although, Mills addresses the class and race theme in language and public speaking, I will only look into the role of language that plays a part in doing or reducing gender in literary, non-literary texts and in conversation.
This episode illustrates a major conflict throughout the story. As Walter dreams bigger and bigger he seems to leave the 'smaller' things such as his family behind. This movement away from the family is against the furtherance of the values and morals of the family. While his father would have been happy simply working and caring for his family, Walter is more concerned with becoming a 'mover and shaker' without thinking about the resulting consequences for his family.
Walter is Mama’s oldest son. His dreams are to be wealth but at the same time wanting to provide for his family. His own personal dream is to open liquor store with his money he receives from Mama.
The conflict that involves Walter and Mama superficially concerns Mama's receiving an insurance check for ten thousand dollars, which she hasn't yet decided what to do with. Walter has hopes for using the money to invest in a liquor store, with the profits providing him and his family a better quality of life than what they have endured in the past. What really is at stake here, though, is more than money. Mama and Walter have different visions of what happiness is and what life is all about. For Mama, the best thing to do with the money is to make a down payment on a house. This house is to be situated within an all-white neighborhood, and represents assimilation. This is Mama's dream, and the dream ...
Readers can see early on in the play the importance of money to Walter Lee. In a scene in Act 1 we see Walter trying to talk his mother, Lena, into giving him the money to invest in a liquor store. We can see him growing more and more agitated with her because she has already made her decision on the matter. Walter responds by saying,
The men and women in Brave New World have very different roles in society. They are different not only based on sex, but also on location and the situation at hand. In situations or places of power, such as the workplace, men are represented as physiologically and mentally superior to women. This includes most situations in life. Women, however, do maintain a higher standing when relating to social roles. When it comes to sexual situations, they both seem to hold the same standing. In Brave New World, men are held in a higher standing than women in all situations, excluding the single category of social situations.
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.
In America, there was, and still is, many stereotypes that are placed upon men and women. For example, men have emotional stereotypes placed on them, just simple, they shouldn't show any emotions, other than ones that are sexually charged, or they should carry all the muscle in the family. More physical stereotypes are ones among the lines of them having really defined muscles or that they should like cars or anything having to do with grilling, they should be all about. In contrast, women, are suppose to carry the emotions, and not have any feelings toward being sexual creatures. More physical ones include, makeup or having big butt or boobs. Stereotypes have been developed throughout history and have never really