Betrayal In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

The duplicity of one man equals another mans coming of age. In the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses the Younger families trials and triumphs to show readers/viewers the good that can come out of betrayal.
Walter Lee Younger, the man of the house, has high aspirations for himself and his family. He dreams of co-owning a liquor store so he can get his family out of their small apartment and provide for all their needs. Walter’s father has recently died; as a result, Mama (Mrs. Younger) will Freceive 10,000 dollars for her family. Walter longs to make a downpayment on the liquor store with some of that money even though Beneatha, his sister, is trying to become a doctor and also needs money. He states “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. That be ten thousand each…”(Hansberry 33). We can see how he is trying to persuade his mama to let him use some, if not all of the money. After long nights of arguing over who gets what, Mama decides to use the money towards a new house for the family. Later, to Walter’s disbelief, Mama says she is going to give him the remaining money and allow him to deposit half the money for his liquor store, but he must put the other half in a bank account for Beneatha’s schooling. All Mama’s trust has been put forth in Walter Lee.
Walter Lee without a care in the world tells his son “You wouldn’t understand yet, son, but your daddy’s gonna make a transaction… That’s how come one day when you ‘bout seventeen years old I’ll come home and I’ll be pretty tired, you know what I mean, after a day of conferences and secretaries getting things wrong the way they do… ‘cause an executive’s life is hell,...” (Hansberry 108).

Walter Lee already sounds like he has gotten the job when nothing has been put in writing. He is becoming more confident in his future everyday until the unthinkable happens. One of his partners in the business shows up at the Younger’s apartment with an uneasy expression. Excitement feels the air when Walter sees him; he has yet to realize the purpose of the unannounced visit. Bobo informs Walter that Willy Harris, the other business partner, has ran off with both Walter and Bobo’s transactions. This leads to the downfall of Walter’s

morals.
Earlier in the play, the representative of the welcoming committee for Clybourne Park, where the Youngers were moving in, made an offer to the Youngers.

The man's name was Mr. Linder. He claimed he would pay Walter to keep his family from moving in. Clybourne Park was an all white neighborhood and Walter Lee being the proud man he is told Mr Linder to “get out”(Hansberry 119) multiple times to get his point across. After the shocking news from Bobo, he called Mr. Linder back to his house planning to beg him as if he were a stereotypical black man. This was shameful to Mama. In order for Walter Lee to register Mama’s concern, she made his son Travis sit in the room when Walter was intending to beg. It was then that Walter’s eyes were opened to his wrong decision and he knew what he had to do. He tells Mr. Linder that “...we come from people who had a lot of pride...we are very proud people….we have decided to move into our house” This was the first time Walter acted like a grown, responsible, dependable

man.
Therefore, this play shows readers/viewers a valuable lesson. What might seem bad to begin with can lead to something magnificent. Walter was twice the man after Willy’s backstabbing than he was before. This goes to show the importance of having faith and never second guessing your principles.