“There ain’t nothing worth holding on to, money, dreams, nothing else—if it means—if it means it’s going to destroy my boy”. Mama is an old woman that has always wanted her family to have a nice house. In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Mama is motivated by her late husband's life insurance check. This is shown by her buying a house, how she uses the check, and her daughter-in-law being pregnant. Mama is motivated by her late husband's life insurance check to buy a new house for her family. After getting back from being gone for a while, Mama comes home and asks Travis what he thinks she’s done with the money. Answering her own question, “She went out and she bought you a house!” (586). This helps show why Mama was gone so long and what she was doing. This shows she how she was motivated by her late husband's life insurance check to buy a house for her family because she went out for a long time and bought the house and gave the news once she got back. …show more content…
When talking to Walter about the house and how much it was, she admits, “I paid the man thirty-five hundred dollars”(590). She is explaining to him how much she spent so he knows most of the money is still left. The way mama uses the money is an example of how she’s motivated by her late husband's life insurance check because it tells you that she does not spend the entirety of the check. In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Mama is motivated by her late husband's life insurance check. This is shown by her buying a house, how she uses the check, and her daughter-in-law being pregnant. Mama wants to get a new home for her family because the family is too big for their current one. The chances of this are pretty good considering the house has been bought and they have talked with a representative from the area of where they’re moving. People can learn that if you do stuff the right way then not just you, but friends and family can benefit from
Her passionate way of talking about the new house shows her full grown dream similar to a full grown grape. The transition to the raisin is seen when Mama states, “ seen him grow thin and old before he was forty … working and working and working like somebody’s old horse … killing himself … and you —you give it all away in a day—” (Hansberry 129) This shows her desperate tone as her dreams and her hopes are dried out by Walter, similar to a grape being dried out into a raisin. This signifies the importance of Big Walter, and how he has influenced Mama’s dream to give the best to her children.
Walter focused solely on the money and this caused him to think that all the money is his and he can go and do as he pleases. He was obviously disappointed when Mama did not give him any of the money initially but when she entrusted him with the remaining $6,500 it brought about a sense of pride and responsibility that had long eluded him. It was almost a renewing moment for Walter as his family life changed for the better since he was now acting as the man of the house.
Walter is in for a big surprise. When his mother finds out about his plans, she rains on his parade. She decides to exercise her authority as the holder of the check. She’s going to fulfill her dream instead; buy a house, with a garden, for her family. Walter still thinks he’s going to get the money.
According to Roy Disney, “When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” This is an excellent representation of the characters in A Raisin In the Sun, all of whom have similar goals of success, but seek different pathways to that success according to their individual values. Walter knows what means a lot to him and this makes it easier for him to make his decision the end about what to do. The play A Raisin in the Sun was written by Lorraine Hansberry, in the 1950’s and takes place in Chicago surrounding the circumstances of the Younger family. When the family gets the final check of $10,000 as compensation for the head of the family’s death, Mama really thinks that for the best interest of her family that it should be used for a house, but Walter’s sees
Mama and Walter both desire to provide for their family. They both look at money as success. When the $10,000
Mama's inheritance of ten thousand dollars left by her deceased husband provides fodder for conflict in the family. Each of the family members, envisioning their own American Dream, has an idea of how the inheritance should be spent. All of these ideas, of course, conflict with Walter's "get rich quick" scheme. Mama, Ruth, and Travis all have the dream of moving to their own home with a white picket fence, a garden, a place for Travis to play outside and a bathroom that is not shared by other
What a loving mother! Lena Younger, or Mama, is nurturing and supportive when it comes to raising and maintaining a family. Personally speaking, being nurturing means to love, care for, and show concern over someone. Analyzing Mama’s relationships with family members can show us her view on parenting and ultimately show us her devotion to her family. In A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, Mama is a nurturing mother who cares for and protects her family in her struggle to keep them unified.
Walter dreams of owning a liquor store, and he shows this throughout the whole play. Walter feels that “don’t nothing happen for you in this world ‘less you pay somebody off!” Owning a liquor store is Walter’s American dream, as he believes that it will provide him and his family with a greater income so they will not have to live in poverty anymore. However, Hansberry shows through Mama how they have different views of the American dream when she tells Walter that the liquor store would be un-Christian like and that they should spend the money on a new house instead. Hansberry makes Mama more convincing by showing her carrying a Bible as she comes out of her room in the first scene. Mama also is seen asking God for help and talking about God throughout the play. This is shown when Walter admits that the money Mama gave him was gone because his partner took it and Mama says “Oh, God… look down here – and show me the strength.” Mama is very angry that Walter wasted all of Beneatha’s school money, but she doesn’t let her temper get the best of her and instead goes to God for support.
Family is important to live a happy, healthy life. A poor, black family, the Youngers, live together in a small house in Chicago in the 1950s. Their main focus is not getting money, but staying together and loving each other. Lena, Walter's mother, is the head of the family and live out the moral of the importance of family. Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, Lena attempts to bring her plant back to life, which can be a symbol of the family struggling.
Mama, however, is strong, spiritual and eager to help her children in any way she can. She values family above and beyond all else, but has the deep insight into the other character's motivations even when she doesn't agree. In the middle of the play (at the fuse for the final conflict), she recognizes that Walter is miserable because no one believes in him and his dreams. She gives him a large chunk of the insurance check to invest in a liquor store even thought she doesn't agree with it. She trusts him with it and, when he loses the money to a "trusted friend," she becomes enraged and begins to physically attack him. However, by the next scene she has forgiven him and tells her daughter that she should do the same; "There is always something to love: when do you think the time is to love somebody the most? It's when he's at his lowest and can't believe in hisself 'cause the world done whipped him so!" With those words, Mama seems to symbolize all that is good, solid and peaceful in the world.
In the book “A Raisin in the Sun”, love is defiantly a major key towards keeping the “Younger” family together as they go through thick and thin. Multiple times in the book, a character known as “Walter” apart of the Younger family screws up, whether it be, pursuing a silly addictive dream or investing family money, it never turned out well for Walter. Walter’s mom, Lena aka “mama” however, always loved Walter and although didn’t show it often, supported his drive to strive for greatness and greatly awarded him near the end of the book. Walter’s sister Beneatha however, was not impressed at his short comings and often called him out where he fell short by belittling him with insults but, that
Mama implies that the money was more than just currency, but what is left of her husband’s dream to bring success to his family. She is terribly disappointed with Walter for losing all of the money so easily, and not putting it toward to what he promised. Because of this great loss, Walter is still left with no money. His dream to become wealthy is now at the bottom of the gutter, all over again, and he has to work even harder as well as gain his confidence back in order to fish it out.
In the 1950’s through the 1960’s women were not respected in there everyday lives, in the job field or in general. They did not have the rights they deserved, so during this time the “women’s movement” began. Women fought for their rights and fought for the self-respect that they thought they deserved. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the character Mama, expresses her feelings of pushing or extracting a new side for a woman. Her role explains that woman can be independent and can live for themselves. Through her behavior in this play she demonstrates that women can support and guide a family. Mama is in charge of the family, which is unusual, since men are traditionally the “head of a family”. Through Mama’s wisdom
After Mama tells Walter she was out taking care of business Walter replies with ”What kind of business?” This short simple reply from Walter gives the effect that he’s worried about something and wants an answer quick. Walter being in such a state of worrisome shows that he is really worried about the money and if Mama spent it or not. The insurance money was key to Walter’s plans of owning his own liquor store. After Mama isn’t quick to answer Walter’s first few questions he grows even more restless and says, “Where were you, Mama? Mama, you didn’t do something with that insurance money, something crazy?” Finally, Mama answers saying she took care of business Walter gets even more upset because he could tell she used the insurance money and could almost see his dream crumbling before his very own eyes. Lorraine Hansberry asks numerous questions when she writes as Walter in order to create a sense of urgency and worry on the whereabouts of the money. This is an example that supports the theme because Walter dreamt of having his own liquor store while Mama and much of their family dreamt of living in a nicer house, which she decided to
The drama A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, shows the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living on the Southside of Chicago in the 1950s. In the beginning, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. This money comes from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money. Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with her husband. Mama’s son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. He believes that the investment will solve the family’s financial problems forever. Beneatha, Walter’s sister and Mama’s daughter, wants to use the money for her medical school tuition. Ruth, Walter’s wife, discovers that she is pregnant, but