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A raisin in the sun analytical
Raisin in the sun walter character analysis
Raisin in the sun walter character analysis
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“Money is multiplied in practical value depending on the number of W’s you control in you life: what you do, when you do it, where you do it, and with whom you do it.” (Timothy Ferriss) The former quote was once said by a wise man and I feel like it relates to A Raisin in the Sun and more specifically Mama Younger. In the book, the family receives an insurance check of ten thousand dollars. Mama get the unfortunate privilege of deciding what to do with the money, but Walter wants one thing and Beneatha wants another. Mama, on the other hand wants a house and she buys one without talking to anyone else. Mama has her own mind, but also has a great sense of compassion for her family’s wants and needs. I related to Mama throughout the plot and …show more content…
I found myself relating to Mama throughout the plot because I have the same values as she does. Mama wants the best for her family and believes she knows what’s best for her beloved family. Sometimes, though, what she thinks is the best actually is the best, but she’s lets her family convince her otherwise. After Mama bought the house in Clybourne Park, Walter convinced her to trust the rest of the money in him. Mama told him to put a portion of what’s left of the insurance money in a bank account for Beneatha’s medical schooling, and the rest of it was for Walter to invest in a liquor store, which Mama was strongly against. Mama knew that it wasn’t a smart choice and was unfortunately correct. I always seem to want to be in control, as well, but don’t get too far. I, being a typical, big sister, boss my younger brothers around all the time and think I am always right. When my brother says something I always have to correct him even if he only said one detail a tiny bit different. If my brothers are doing something wrong then I will most likely tell them what they are doing incorrectly. Mama was wiser than me, but we seem to hold the same things close to our heart; family, God, opportunity. She has a strong faith in God and finds her family more important. She firmly believes that God should be in her family. “Now-- you say after me, In my mother’s house there is still God.” (Pg.
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.
Mama only spent $3,500 out of the $10,000 from the insurance check, she decides to give Walter the leftover money, so he could “be the head of this family from now on” (107). Walter takes this matter upon himself and decides to “make a transaction” (108) that will “change our lives” (108). Walter then, takes all the money he is given by Mama and “never went to the bank at all” (129), he then gives all of the $6,500 to Willy Harris, who was trusted by both men, left with all of Walter and Bobo’s money. Mama, who is very upset by this, hits Walter for giving all the money away. Mama then turns to God for “strength” (130). Mama is a Christian woman and, despite her struggles, remains faithful.
Mama is usually seen as an affable and nurturing character, but when she discovers Walter’s use of the money her husband works so hard for her patience towards him snaps, “(... Mama stops and looks at her son without recognition and then, quite without thinking about it, starts to beat him senselessly in the face.)” (Hansberry 129). Most would be appalled to see a mother beat her own son; however, her anger had taken her conscience at this point. One will also see an interaction between Walter and his sister Beneatha as she says to Mama: “That is not a man. That is nothing but a toothless rat.” (Hansberry 144) The siblings have mild scuttles before he gives away the money, but nothing quite at the audacity of this specific
The play A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is about the Youngers, an African-American family, who receive a $10,000 life insurance check as a result of the death of Mama Younger’s husband. The play takes place in the 1950’s making race an important factor during the process of buying a house due to the "red lining system”. The red lining system was a way to define the value of a neighborhood after World War II based on the dominant race in an area; when the dominant race of the neighborhood was white, the value of the neighborhood went up and categorized as green lining. Whereas when the dominant race was black, the value of a neighborhood went down and was categorized as red lining. Generally the houses in the green lining neighborhoods were bigger and had more yard space, and the red lining neighborhoods had smaller yards and more cramped quarters. Mama’s aspiration is for her and her family to move into a green lining neighborhood in order to have a bigger house and yard in order to create more opportunities for her children and grandchildren. Mama’s plant symbolizes her dream of moving into a green lining neighborhood when Hansberry mentions that the plant does not get enough sunlight, Mama takes care of the plant each morning, and it is brought to the Youngers new house.
Throughout the play, Walters and Beneatha’s views on wealth clash because according to Walter, money is the answer to all of their issues while Beneatha constantly reminds him that the money was mama’s and she could do whatever she wants with it whenever he pressed on about buying the liquor store. In scene two of act two, after mama gives Walter the money, Walter explains to his son Travis in a long speech how he will invest the money and what kind of life they will live once the business is successful, this also included sacrificing Beneatha’s school money. This speech also shows Walters “American Dream”. Unfortunately, Walter trusted the wrong man with his money and ended up losing it all.
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).
The protagonist, Mama, shows two distinct traits throughout the story. She possesses a hard working demeanor and rugged features, leading to her insecurities shown throughout the story. She raised two children without the assistance of a man in her life, forcing her to take on both roles, and further transforming her into a coarse, tough, and burly woman. Mama portrays this through her own account of herself, saying “[i]n real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man”(Walker 1312). It is very difficult for Mama to raise her kids on her own, but she does whatever
Mama, as a member of an older generation, represents the suffering that has always been a part of this world. She spent her life coexisting with the struggle in some approximation to harmony. Mama knew the futility of trying to escape the pain inherent in living, she knew about "the darkness outside," but she challenged herself to survive proudly despite it all (419). Mama took on the pain in her family in order to strengthen herself as a support for those who could not cope with their own grief. Allowing her husband to cry for his dead brother gave her a strength and purpose that would have been hard to attain outside her family sphere. She was a poor black woman in Harlem, yet she was able to give her husband permission for weakness, a gift that he feared to ask for in others. She gave him the right to a secret, personal bitterness toward the white man that he could not show to anyone else. She allowed him to survive. She marveled at his strength, and acknowledged her part in it, "But if he hadn't had...
1. Walter - His dreams of owning a licquor store conflict religiously with Mama's value system. The conflict between Mama and Walter is amplified by the fact that it is Mama's apartment in which the family lives and Walter is unable/unwilling to make decisions because Mama is so domineering. Ironically, it is the one decision that she eventually lets Walter make which nearly destroys the family.
Walter and Beneatha’s relationship is very complex. The spiraling tension between the two siblings causes confrontation to form and creep into the Younger household. Walter needs his family to respect him as the man of the family, but his sister is constantly belittling him in front of his mother, wife, and son. This denigrating treatment taints Walter’s view of himself as a man, which carries into his decisions and actions. Beneatha also subconsciously deals with the dysfunctional relationship with her brother. She desires to have her brother’s support for her dream of becoming a doctor, yet Walter tends to taunt her aspiration and condemns her for having such a selfish dream. Mama as the head of the family is heartbroken by the juvenile hostility of her adult children, so in hopes to keep her family together she makes the brave move of purchasing a house. Mama’s reasoning for the bold purchase was,“ I—I just seen my family falling apart….just falling to pieces in front of my eyes…We couldn’t have gone on like we was today. We was going backwards ‘stead of forw...
"Oh--So now it's life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life--now it's money. I guess the world really do change." Mama is Walter and Beneatha's sensitive and loving mother and the head of the Younger household. She demands that members of her family respect themselves and take pride in their dreams. Mama demands that the apartment in which they all live always be neat and clean. She stands up for her beliefs and provides perspective from an older generation. She believes in striving to succeed while maintaining her moral boundaries. Money is only a means to an end for Mama; dreams are more important to her than material things, and her dream is to own a house with a garden and yard where Travis can play. The following quotation occurs in Act I, scene ii when Mama asks Walter why he always talks about money. Walter then replies "money is life," explaining to her that that he believes that success is all about how much money you have. This conversation takes place early in the play and reveals Mama's and Walter's money struggles, and it goes to show the difference in their generations.
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 ...
Mama's economic hardships may have killed her dream, but she has not allowed it to kill her. The social inequality which the Younger encounters also does not hinder Mama's compassion. Mr. Lindner temporarily shatters Mama's dream of owning a home when he comes to the Youngers prepared to give them money to move from Clybourne Park. The derogatory use of "you people" by Mr. Lindner has little to no effect on Mama's steadfast decision to move to Clybourne Park.... ...
Mama has dreams for her family to rise from poverty and live in a better and bigger place and also for them to continue to grow together as a family. Mama has a plant that she also cares for. She takes care of this plant as if it was one of her own children. Mama's children also have their own dreams and their own plans on how to attain those dreams. The family's competing dreams are emphasized by Hansberry's recurring use of the motif--Mama's plant.
Mama is a powerful, strong witted person. She has a lot of control in this play and dominates as a woman character. This is unusual because this is usually a male’s position in life. She is a woman, “who has adjusted to many things in life and overcome many more, her face is full of strength”. In this play she is illustrated as taking over for the head of the family and controls the lives of everyone in her house. Rules are followed to Mama’s extent. She controls what is said and done in her house. After Walter yells, “WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE LISTEN TO ME TODAY!” (70). Mama responds in a strong tone of voice saying, “I don’t ‘low no yellin’ in this house, Walter Lee, a...