A Raisin In The Sun Literary Analysis

In the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. The author shows Walter’s crave for money with the ambition of him wanting to start up a liquor store, but his sole focus is cash. As the story advances Walter grasps the importance of his relatives by not accepting the offer from Mr. Linder, but by remaining in the house because it's fitting for the Younger’s. Throughout the story Walter starts from a man who ties the American dream to achieving wealth who then realizes the value of family. Walter Lee’s aspiration for the American Dream's is negated by the wealth he is striving for. Since he thought that this check was his final hope for an acceptable life. When he did not receive it from Mama, Walter thought his life was completely over. He said that, “Sometimes it’s like I can see the future stretched out in front of me-just plain as day. The future, Mama. Hanging over there at the edge of my days. Just waiting for me-a big, looming blank space of nothing” (73). His vision of life at this point in time isn’t collectivism, it is individualism. Since he did not get the money, he is all depressed. He does not realize that now the check will go to buying a new house because that benefits the whole family. Walter because of his thinking, is now depressed
because he does not have the abundance of wealth he was striving for. Throughout the play Walter starts to realize the importance of family.
After the family is mad because Walter lost the money, Walter proposes to just his family that they are going to take the money from Mr. Linder to move out of the house. When Mr Linder comes over he realizes the value of family and says,”... we have decided to move into our house because my father… he earned it for us brick by brick… And that’s we got to say about that. We don’t want your money”(148). Walter recognizes that its all about the idea of family, it is not just about that liquor store, it's about all of his relatives too. Walter changes from a man that is haunted by money to one that cares and loves his
family. As the play continues Walter starts with a man who is craving for wealth to a man who values the importance of family. When Walter doesn’t receive the check from Mama, he thinks his life is over because he bases his life on only the abundance of wealth he has. Then when Mr. Linder wants to get the Younger’s out of town because they are black, he realizes that his family is most important. The American Dream sole purpose is not wealth, wealth is only a part of the whole concept.