When a man’s spirit is broken who is there to pick him up? In the influential play, a Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses the failures and frustrations of Walter Younger to highlight the importance of family in a man’s life.
The feeling of being alone can drive even the best of us mad, but if poverty, racism, and lack of opportunities are piled on a midlife crisis like Walter’s will be created. Throughout the extraordinary play the protagonist, Walter, has the feeling that no one is in his corner, even his own family; he is drowning and his family are sitting on the shore watching. Walter’s feeling are most evident after Mama goes against Walter’s wishes and spends the insurance money on a down payment on a house. He says, “so you butchered
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Earlier in the play, Walter feels that Mama is the one calling the shots for the family, and she was. His perception that he is not the man of the household causes Walter feel that he is unimportant and insignificant. Walter’s power struggle is highlighted by Hansberry in Act 2 Scene 1, Walter says to Mama, “you the head of this family. You run our lives like you want to.(LH pg.95)” This quote is talking about how Mama is the one making the decisions in the family. But, it is very important because it shines a light on the emasculation Walter feels throughout the play, and how he thinks family is the one to blame for his problems. Later in the play the family dynamic changes and Mama finally let’s call the shots. Mama leaves Walter up to make the crucial decision about whether or not to sell the house. Walter says, “and we have decided to move into our house…(LH pg.148)” Walter chooses to move his family into the house, mainly because they have worked so hard and they deserve to be rewarded. But, this quote is most significant because it shows how Walter’s family has put their trust and the power of decision making into Walter’s hands. Which causes Walter to be more confident in himself, and make him feel like a 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.
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.
Walter is seen as struggling to become the head of the family throughout the book and this comes to a head at the end of the story when he gets to his lowest point. Felder goes over the male characters in each sitcom and analyzes how they all have the same roles acting as head of the family, in charge and in control. The women were expected to be soothing and calming, as Felder writes “It was her husband, Jim, who ultimately solved the many problems concerning the couple’s three children… often appeared overly authoritarian and frequently lost his temper with his sons… these negative “masculine” character traits were countered by the soothing “feminine” presence of his wife” (Felder 156). As Walter loses control of his life after he lost the money, the women of the family ridicule him for not taking control like he is expected to. Beneatha and Mama have a conversation about the way Beneatha was treating her brother and adds this: “That’s what I thought you said. You feeling like you better than he is today?... Yes? What you tell him a minute ago? That he wasn't a man? Yes? You give him up for me? You done wrote his epitaph too- like the rest of the world? Well who give you the privilege?” (Hansberry 108-109). Beneatha ridicules her brother because he wasn’t able to take the role he was expected to. He wasn’t able to control the family or handle the problems like he was expected to even though that is what every man of the family ‘needs’ to do. The influence of these gender roles is so prevalent as Mama stops Beneatha from ridiculing her brother, Walter’s inability to take the role that is expected of him completely breaks him down and pushes him to his
Ruth was being prevented from having a baby because of money problems, Walter was bringing him self down by trying to make the liquor store idea work. Once Mama decided to buy the house with the money she had received, Walter figured that he should further go on with the liquor store idea. Then, when Walter lost the money, he lost his dignity and tried to get some money from the “welcome party” of Cylborne Park. Mama forced him to realize how far he went by making him show himself to his son how low he would go. But he showed that he wasn’t susceptible to the ways the racism created.
People may often be far too familiarized with the trials of betrayal from those they trust most. In the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry exhibits several acts of deception. One character commits one of the most front facing acts of betrayal. Walter Lee Younger, a simple family man holds a dark side . He betrays the trust his family has placed into him with the remainder of a check his mother chose to give him.
Trust is given to those who earn it, yet unconditional trust is placed in the family. If that trust is broken, it always hurts the most. The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry has many different themes and perspectives to look at the play from, but betrayal and hurt are major points in this play.
Someone once said,“People don’t change, they reveal who they really are.” Through the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry’s develops the character Walter the most as he transforms from self centered to a caring 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 Lee Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun. No matter how hard they try, there are some people who cannot get ahead in life. Walter Lee Younger is a man who is frustrated with his current position in life, and every disappointment he has encountered thus far. Although he tries to be a loving man, sometimes he does not know how to show the idea of love, 'Sometimes.sometimes. I don't even know how to try' (Hansberry 89).
Even though south side chicago had a low amount of hope, the characters of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Walter, Beneatha, and Mama found a way to dream big. It led them to doing what they thought was right, eventually molding Walter into a greedy man during most of the play, Beneatha into an aspiring woman that demands respect, and Mama into an improvising woman who loves her
The idea of family is a central theme in Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun. Hansberry alludes to the Old Testament book of Ruth in her play to magnify “the value of having a home and family”(Ardolino 181). The Younger family faces hardships that in the moment seem to tear them apart from one another, but through everything, they stick together. The importance of family is amplified by the choices of Walter and Beneatha because they appear to initiate fatal cracks in the Younger family’s foundation, but Mama is the cement who encourages her family to pull together as one unit. The hardships of the family help develop a sense of unity for the Younger household.
In the beginning of the play, Walter is foolish and quarrelsome, with his heart set on becoming affluent. As he grasps how hard work his father worked and how hard his family works, he reasons that living by his standards is more important than gaining wealth, and he stops feeling resentful towards them. This play highlights how many members of society focus more on making money than living by their ethical
In the first scene of Lorraine Hansberry’s play, Walter attempts to become “the man” he wants, not the one his family needs. Walter emphasizes his masculinity, through his words, by repeatedly demanding people wake up early. “Now what is that boy…he just going to have to get up earlier. I can’t be late on the account of him” (Hansberry 1783). However, this attempt backfires as his Ruth confidently stands up against him and assertively defends their son from Walter’s accusations. “Oh no he ain’t going to be getting up no earlier…it’s not his fault he can’t get to bed [it’s you and your friends fault] (Hansberry 1783). Walter is left feeling emasculated by his wife, so he redirects his demands to a seemingly easier target –his sister. But instead
Authors sometimes influence the theme of a work by initiating conflicts between a parent and child to intrigue the audience and advance the plot. In her play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry conveys an ambivalent relationship between a mother and her son. Although “mama” will always love Walter and do anything for her family, the strenuous pressure put on the Younger’s as they share a two-bedroom “apartment” with three other people will begin to cause a rift in their relationship. Hansberry’s play takes place in Southside Chicago during the 1950s, a time period overwhelmed with economic struggle, racial thoughts, and segregation between African- American and Caucasian ethnicities. The reader will discover on their journey around the Younger apartment that the economic struggles that have been occuring is the driving force behind the many quarrels and arguments between Walter and Mama.