Walter Younger is the most hopeful character throughout the play, A Raisin in the Sun. He has hopes of providing for his family, even if his hopes may not be the best way to go about earning a living. Throughout the play he is always saying how he wants to provide a better life and home for his family. He is so focused on that goal that he fails to realize the impact of his dreams on the remainder of his family. Walter Younger possesses the traits of an African American man living in Chicago during the times of oppression wanting to live the American Dream.
In the exposition of the play, Walter is obsessed with the check coming in the mail, and Mama giving him the money so he can open a liquor store with two of his friends, Bobo and Willy. The liquor store is the way in which Walter plans to provide a decent life for his family and for himself. He wants the power over the white man, and he believes the liquor store will make him even, or even superior to the white man during the times of oppression. He feels undermined, because he is a chauffeur and because his son, Travis, has to sleep on the couch because they cannot afford to buy a bigger place. However, his obsession with his dream takes a negative toll on the other members of his family. The money is Mama’s and so she gets to decide what to do with it. She plans to put part of it toward her daughter, Beneatha’s, tuition to become a doctor. Beneatha and Walter’s wife, Ruth, both share the belief that the money is Mama’s to spend and she should be the one to decide what to do with it. Walter is so obsessed with his dream that he fails to notice his wife’s unhappiness that pushes her to the decision to get an abortion. His dreams of a better life actually cause h...
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... the realization that he does not need a liquor store to make him happy. He needs his family to be happy in order for him to be happy. Walter matures throughout the story, and his American Dream disappears, and new dreams appear.
Walter Younger is the most dynamic character throughout A Raisin in the Sun. The reader can see the immense change in his character: from needing money and power to buy his happiness to his families happiness providing his happiness. He starts off wanting the liquor store, and then he ends up standing up to a racist man so his family can be happy and proud of him. At first, he fails to realize his wife’s and mother’s unhappiness, but throughout the story he begins to notice and he, in turn, becomes more mature. Walter faces some set backs on his dreams and happiness, but in the end he turns out to be a better person because of them.
that a discontented individual is often unable to take ownership of his life until he realizes that he must set a good example for his children. Walter is a protagonist who seems to only care about himself. He is really dependent on his mama's huge insurance check. Walter wants his mama's check so he and Willy Harris can open up a bar. This character continues to go down the wrong path until something tragic happens.
The day they move into their new house a guy named Mr. Linder from the Clybourne Park community came and talks to them about how the neighborhood members would like them to not move in because they are not comfortable with blacks in the white area. Walter confidently states, “And we have decided to move into our house because my father- my father - he earned it for us brick by brick....We don’t want your money” (P.148). Walter wants everyone to know that his father got them to where they are right now. He is more confident about himself, he shows that during the moving of the house. During the end of the play he realizes his family is way more important than the other things in his life. Additionally, during the talk with Mr. Linder Walter is frustrated with the racism around them and just wants to live a happy life in a great neighborhood that does not care about what color their neighbors are. Walter angrily shouts, “... You got any more to say ‘bout how people ought to sit down and talk to each other? . . . Get out of my house man”(P. 118). He is very angry because he does not want to move just because some white people want them to leave their place. Walter is very confident and stands up for his family and what they want. He has changes significantly throughout the whole play, he changes into a great man for his
Development of characters are shown in multiple events and situations within A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry that will either leave the character changed or not. Walter Younger Jr. undertakes multiple changes throughout the text which develops characteristics of his way of thinking. His experiences change his morals and his appreciation for his family and his surroundings for what they are. Walter’s understanding and feelings are also shown throughout the text, where he becomes a more advanced individual within himself and for his family. Walter is confronted by the event of having another child when his wife, Ruth, shares the information about what has happened and what her plans are to resolve and continue the scenario.
From the play Raisin in the Sun, the decision that Walter makes to move his family to an all-white neighborhood proves how he's matured into a responsible, loving father. One can see evidence of Walter’s transformation through his sacrifice, as well as,his acts of courage.
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 Younger plays both the protagonist and antagonist. Walter dreams of being like the rich people he drives around, becoming wealthy, providing for his family the rich people do. He seems to feel that he didn’t have much in his family, besides the family itself and he wants to give his family what he never had. Economic hardship make walter feel enslaved and also the economic hardship has deferred his dream. His character evolves throughout the play and with it does the pride and loyalty of the family. Walter is unsure of his position as the man in charge of the household at first. In the beginning most of his actions hurt the family, however his sudden rise to his position “made him sort of a hero in the last scene.� This “heroism� is what showed the families pride in order to complete a dream. “He speaks of his father’s hard work and the dignified way in which he conducted his life. Then, drawing Travis to him, Walter rejec...
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.
Primarily, in A Raisin in the Sun Walter is an example of one struggling to achieve their dream or desire. Walter serves as the hero and villain of the play due to the actions he takes revolving his dream. “Walter, who firmly believes in the American Dream of economic independence, wants to own his own business, and a liquor store, because he despairs over what he perceives to be his inability to support the family and to provide for his son’s future” ( __ __ ). Walter’s dream is to be sole the provider for his household and give his family a better life. He plans by doing this through a liquor store investment with the insurance money given to Mama from Big Walters death. “In the play Walter loses much of the insurance money that he planned to invest on a liquor store to a con artist” ( ___ ___ ). Walter’s decision on investing in a liquor store turns out to be a horrific choice. In the play although Walter is regretfully deceived and looked down upon as a result of the liquor store ambition, he makes up for it by at the end finally reaching his manhood. During the time of the play the husband of the family is mainly the sole provider for the family. In the case of the play, Walters mother is the sole provider for the family. Walter strives to be the “man” of the house.“A job. (Looks at her) Mama, a job? I open and close car doors all day long. I drive a man around in his limousine and I say, “Yes, sir; no, sir; very good, sir; shall I take the Drive, sir?” Mama, that ain’t no kind of job. That ain’t nothing at all. (Very quietly) Mama, I don’t know if I can make you understand” ( Hansberry , Pg.73). “Walter minimizes the position of a car driver because to him it diminishes his manhood and his sense of individual worth.
A Raisin In the Sun is about the characters overwhelming feeling in the importance of achieving their individual dreams. Beneatha’s need to become a doctor, Ruth’s desperation for a home, and Walter’s cry for money to invest played a deep role in the theme of this play. Without their dreams, the play would be nothing. So, how desperate can one be for a
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.
Walter is a selfish, self-absorbed, drunk who throughout the play is making decisions based on what he thinks will help his theoretical liquor store. He takes from the people that he is supposed to love the most and smothers their dreams. It’s hard to feel bad for Walter but when you take a deeper look into his life it is easier to understand what is happening with him. Walter has never lived anywhere other than the family apartment and he wants more for his son. He wants to be able to send him to college and give him a better life than he had. So, what does he do? He invests his money into a liquor store and proceeds to have it stolen. He trusted someone and they took his money. He says, “Man…THAT MONEY IS MADE FROM MY FATHER'S FLESH- “ (Hansberry 128). After this mistake the lives of Beneatha, Big Mama, Ruth and Travis are all changed. No longer can they move or send Bennie through College. His dream has infected the entire family. A quote that fits well with Walter is, “ Or fester like a sore/And then run?” (Hughes 4-5). This quote asks if your dead dream will infect the people around you negatively. For Walter, it does. His actions have infected those around
Walter takes the money that mama gives him and invests in a liquor store with his friends Bobo and Willie Harris. Soon after he has a meeting with the two, Bobo shows up at Walter’s door. Bobo breaks the news that Willie Harris has taken off with the money and has not contacted them at all. Willie Harris has robbed Walter and Bobo, leaving Walter with nothing. Walter is shocked at this fact, he says “” (128). This causes another conflict in the story: Walter has thrown away over half of Walter Lee Younger Sr.’s inheritance money; he not only threw away his portion of it, but his sister’s as
Dreams of owning a business and having money to accomplish goals are two key parts played out throughout the whole process. Walter Younger is determined to have his own business and he will go to ends meet to see that dream come true. Financial bridges are crossed and obstacles arise when Walter makes a bad decision regarding money that could have helped the family and not only himself, if he had thought smarter. His pride and dignity are tested throughout the story and he is forced to set up for his family. The Raisin in the Sun helps readers to understand the history of racial discrimination and how racial discrimination has an effect on the people in the late 1950s and early 1960s as well as how that has an effect on the characters within the play.
Walter Lee Younger is a middle aged colored man who lives in the slums of Chicago with his wife, mother, sister, and son. Throughout the play ,A Raisin In The Sun, Walter struggles with living in poverty and all of the struggles that come along with it. Living in poverty has resulted in Walter becoming a bitter man who is rude to everyone is his intermediate family except his son because he feels like not being able to provide for his family makes him less of a man. This can be seen early on in the play when his wife, Ruth, and his son, Travis, are seen arguing over fifty cents that Ruth claims they cannot afford to give to Travis for school. When Walter hears of this disagreement he not only gives his son the fifty cents he needs but he also
...hood plays a role in the work as a whole because it illustrates to the audience how a man is affected when he feels as if he is not living up to the standards of his gender set by society. The end result of Walter Lee changing because of his mother and her strong values plays an important role in the overall message. His mother’s words constructed him into a man with pride, self-respect, and who won’t let racism take over. Overall, Mama’s values morphed Walter Lee into a proud family man that his son could be proud of. An overall message the can be taken out of A Raisin in the Sun is to stay true to yourself with pride and not let racism affect keep you from pursuing your dreams.Walter Lee Younger, fluid character who played an essential role in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, changed due to his American dream, his manhood, and his mother’s strong values.