Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Often in literary works, authors create drama between a parent or parental figure to construct a conflict which is being used to advance the plot of the story and create a theme; as a result, the message conveyed toward the reader is amplified. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, a conflicting relationship is conceiving between a mother and her son, Walter Lee and Lena Younger (Mama), throughout the course of the story.
One of the main disputes between Walter and his mother involves how a $10,000 life insurance check should be spent. The check would open many possibilities to the Younger family, but would also create many issues. The opportunity to buy a house, which is mama’s dream, would finally become a reality. As Mama

says in Act Two, Scene One of the play, “Walter Lee – it makes a difference in a man when he can walk on floors that belong to him…” (Hansberry 93). On the other hand, Walter desperately wants to use the money to open a liquor store. This is seen in the following quote: “WALTER (Picks up the check) Do you know what this money means to me? Do you know what this money can do for us? (Puts it back) Mama – Mama – I want so many things…” (74).
A second source of friction between Mama and Walter is a breach in her trust of him.

To make Walter feel more like a man, Mama decides to give Walter the position as head of the household which includes being in charge of the money. Mama tells Walter “That leaves sixty-five hundred dollars. Monday morning I want you to take this money and take three thousand dollars and put it in a savings account for Beneatha’s medical schooling. The rest you put in a checking account – with your name on it. And from now on any penny that come out of it or that go in it is for you to look after. For you to decide” (106). Walter defies his mother's wishes. He goes behind her back and attempts to invest the rest of the money into the liquor store. Walter then says to his mom “ (Lifting his head slowly) Mama … I never … went to the bank at all … (128).” Unfortunately, the crooked investor that Walter is doing business with, is stealing the

money.
Another source of conflict between Walter and his mother is their different values.

Walter, a materialist, strongly believes that the only way to achieve a dream is by obtaining materialistic things. Mama, on the other hand, is deeply religious and puts her family as her top priority. Although she wants a home of her own, she is not a materialist. In Act I, Mama says, "Once upon a time freedom used to be life—now it’s money. I guess the world really do change" (75). As an African-American woman, Mama works towards achieving significant freedoms; she wants to obtain this goal by moving into a house of her own. Walter replies to her, "No—it was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it" (75).
The family becomes stronger and more united as the conflicts rectify. As Mama states, “There is always something left to love. And if you ain’t learned that, you ain’t learned nothing.”
Even choices that sometimes seem bad, can resolve in the end. The disputes between Walter and his mother lead to Walter's redemption. Through the conflicts and the poor choices that are made, Walter came “into his manhood today, didn’t he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain …” (149). The Younger family becomes stronger and more united as the conflicts between Walter and his mother settle. Through it all, Mama’s love for Walter never wavered. We can all learn something from Mama’s quote: “There is always something left to love. And if you ain’t learned that, you ain’t learned nothing”

(142).