Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun Essay

The reality of being unable to achieve his dreams burdens Walter and eventually changes him into a greedy and selfish young man who makes poor decisions and hurts those who love him. His obsession with money has caused his family a lot of trouble, especially when it comes to the discussion of the $10,000 insurance check. He denigrates Beneatha’s dreams of becoming a doctor and says, “Ain’t many girls who decide to be a doctor” (36). Not only does he put down Beneatha’s dreams, but he also wants all of the insurance money for himself, so that he can open a liquor store. Ruth thought Walter was a dreamer and tells him to “eat your eggs” (34) every time he brings up his desires. When he realizes that he none of his family supports his wish, he becomes bitter and resentful. This leads to a negative environment in the Younger household. Walter makes up for this later in the play, after the family moves to an all-white neighborhood. After the transition, a white man comes to the Youngers’ new house. He offers them a large amount of money, wanting to buy their house. Walter thinks about how the money could affect his family. If he took the money, there would be enough for groceries, and nobody would have to be so worried about saving; however it would also show Travis that he is okay with moving his family because he was offered money. If he didn’t take the money, Travis would see that his

The predicament that Walter finds him-self in motivates him to want to invest in a liquor store in order to grasp some type of financial freedom. He doesn’t just want to have enough money to provide for his family, but he tells his mother, “I want so many things” (74). He is obsessed with earning a lot of money. At the beginning of the play Walter is waiting for Mama's check from the insurance company as if it was his own, and Beneathea has to remind Walter that, “that money belongs to Mama, Walter and if is for her to decide how she wants to spend it” (36). Here we see how he is searching for his identity with money. Much of Walter’s dialog is about making money or who has money. When his wife Ruth mentions that his friend Willy Harris is a good for nothing loud mouth, Walter retorts; “...And what do know about good for nothing loud mouth? Charlie Atkins was just a good-for-nothing loud mouth too, wasn’t he! He wanted me to go in the dry-cleaning business with him, and now he’s grossing a hundred thousand a year. A hundred thousand dollars a year! You still call him a loud mouth!” (32) The idea of making a hundred thousand dollars is what he had most on his mind, and to Walter the liquor store is how he will achieve that. The liquor store represents an

     Tom and Walter are in similar situations. They are living almost in poverty, and they are denied authority. Walter’s goal is not selfish, in that it is not just for him, but also for the benefit of the entire family.

     As Walter's dreams become bigger and bigger, he seems to neglect the 'smaller' things such as his family. "Here I am a giant surrounded by ants! Ants who can't even understand what the giant is talking about,? (Hansberry 85). Walter has big ideals, but his methods of achieving his goals and ideals are somewhat irrational. Walter can be regarded as more concerned with becoming self-employed without really thinking about the consequences, which may be imposed on his family. Later in play, Walter learns that he needs to set his dreams aside for the sake of the

The last type of symbolism is the issue and load of money. All through the play the subject of money assumes a critical part in their live. From Walter's perspective, money symbolizes a ticket. The best way to have a name in the public arena or have some significance is to have this "ticket". Without it you are rejected and an outsider. The need for this "ticket" is driving Walter to the point of madness. He, in the start of the play, is extremely quiet about his recommendation of putting money in an alcohol store. He goes to Ruth, clarifies how this will make him rich and more joyful. However Ruth brushes him off and says "eat your eggs". Walter at that point tries with Mom, disclosing that to have money will make Travis acknowledges him more as a father. Mom at that point says that he has an occupation; Walter hinders and says that his activity is opening and shutting entryways for white individuals, and that, that isn't viewed as a job in circumstance. At that point Walter totally detonates when Ruth reveals to him she is pregnant. He weights the family all the more saying that it is much more essential now that

Everyone in Raisin in the sun has their own dreams which they hope to conquer one day, like beneath a wishes one day to be a doctor, then there is her husband Walter who badly wants to have money so he can afford things for his family but with the struggle they go thru it’s hard to fulfill these dreams and for it to come true. These characters at the end of the play dream of having their house that’s one of the dreams they would love and desperately want to come true because it will unite their family back together.

In the book “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, there were characters whose dreams were stated, some of which were shattered by greed and misfortune and others which would eventually come to be true. The first dream that came about was Walter’s dream of one day owning and maintaining a liquor store. He would do anything to attempt to get his dream to come true, but his mama wanted anything but that to happen. His mama had a dream of her own though, she dreamed of one day owning her own house, where her whole family could stay comfortably. She dreamed this because in the apartment that she resided in was too small, and dumpy, as Ruth called it. Her grandson Travis had to sleep on the couch, and all

This caused tension among the family for there was constant arguing and bicke- ring. This situation is far to common in families today, particularly is there is money involved and everyone has their own dreams as to what to do with it. At the end of the play Walter looses $6,500 dollars therefore hindering his and Benetha’s dream. Lena held onto her dream by moving the family to the new house.

     Walter and Bennie both have very different mindsets and they constantly are fighting, therefor they both have very different dreams that are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Every black male's plight in America can be regarded as a provider for his family. However, society does not afford black males the benefit of feeling secure about providing for their families. It can be easy for anyone to criticize society and place the blame on America for not affording Walter the opportunities of his white counterparts. Walter does not have control over his own responsibilities. Therefore, if he was given all the resources needed to provide his family his poor judgement and lack of business sense would create further stress on the family. Ruth, Mama, and his sister Beanetha attack him from every angle about his doubtful ideals. Ironically, those ideals are what Walter needs to shape and justify his manhood. Without ideals and proper resources to obtain them, a man's existence can be regarded as insignificannot

All in all Mama and Walters dreams both involve money. Mama shows us her longing for the acceptance of society when she immediately buys a house in a white neighborhood, to provide for her family. Walter shows us his desperation to be a valuable human being when he steals money in hopes of starting his liquor business. Walter wants to be respected and live a happy lifestyle for this family. He longs to be the head of the household. Walter see’s himself with a liquor store as having power. It isn’t till the end until he rethinks the values of himself and his family’s future about how there is more to living than just having material riches. Mama only yearns for her family to be respected and live up to what society perceives.

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

Lena, Walter, Ruth, and Benaetha all live under one roof, but they all have different dreams. As Lena dreams that the dreams of her children should come true by using the money of their father’s life insurance and her family must be united in whatever economic and social circumstances they have to face. Walter Lee dreams of a liquor store. He thinks that having a liquor store; he can make his family’s economic condition good. Ruth dreams to have a wealthy and fine family, so that they don’t have to be worry for minor things. Beneatha

Ruth’s unselfish dreams affect her positively because they push her to work and to not accept the life she has now. In an argument with her mother in law, Lena, Ruth proclaims, “Lena—I’ll work…I’ll work twenty hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago…I’ll strap my baby on my back if I have to and scrub all the floors in America and wash all the sheets in America if I have to—but we got to MOVE! We got to get OUT OF HERE!!” (140) Ruth is inspired and driven to work by the idea of a better life, she will “wash all the sheets in America,” to escape the reality of her living situation. When Lena uses her alimony money to buy a house for the family Ruth joyously responds to the news, “So you went and did it! … PRAISE GOD! Please, honey—let me be glad…you be glad, too. Oh, Walter…a home…a home.”

       Ruth, Walter's wife, was pregnant when her husband was in a great despair. Although Walter lost the money and also her dream, Ruth forgave him and encouraged him to start everything over. Ruth, whose dream was to be wealthy and to have a fine family, calmly accepted the fact that her dream was only a dream. To her, it was a consolation that her husband had come back to reality after his unsuccessful dream.