Walter Lee is the head of the family and in the beginning of the play he seems to be extremely bitter. He works for a rich white man as a chauffeur. This easily makes him bitter on the inside because he sees everyday what it is like to be rich. You can tell this because he tells Mama that he sees the rich white boys sitting down to eat every day and he knows they are talking about business or something about closing a million dollar deal. Walter Lee has had many business ideas in the past but they all seem to flop to the ground in a hurry like humpty dumpty. When he comes up with the idea of going into partnership with some men to open a liquor store his Mama is upset with him. He eventually convinces her into giving him a cut of the money from the insurance company after she buys a house for them to move in to. When he gives the money to his partner for the business, his partner runs with the money and is not seen again. This makes Walter very upset and he goes off the deep end for a short amount of time. The need of money may be important but it is definitely not worth losing your family over. After the money is lost, Walter invites the white man back to the apartment to discuss his offer and plans to accept the bribe to his family for them not to move. When the man gets to the apartment, Walter changes his mind and tells the…
At first, all Walter seems to care about is owning a liquor store with his two friends, Willy and Bobo. For example, one way he is trying to attempt his goal is by using Big Walter’s insurance money. He thinks that this is a good idea because it is an opportunity for him to make contributions for his family. In addition, Mama helps him out when she gives him $3500 to invest in a liquor store even…
The play takes place in a middle class white neighborhood in Chicago called Clybourne Park. The First Act takes place in 1959, the Second, in 2009. My favorite character in Clybourne Park is Kathy. I find it interesting that Kathy is connected to the family from A Raisin in the Sun. This fact brings the two stories together to mention the character of Mr. Lindner who was in A Raisin in the Sun briefly. My favorite part of the play was the very end when Kenneth is seen in the moments before his death. Before this part, I was a little confused about Russ’ grief and sadness throughout Act 1 and about the letter reading at the end of the first act. This flashback perfectly tied together the entire…
In the article , “The art of social Criticism : Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the sun ,” the author states that this play was written for those African American families and their struggles to be able to get out of the ghetto on Chicago’s South Side. Lorraine took every chance to engage herself in her everyday life and her literary work being a writer and a student. African Americans were placed in the lower class while some other families were middle class but still placed in the lower class like Lorraine and her family. Even though Lorraine was placed in the lower class that did not affect her , her privilege still did not insulate her from the struggles and anger she was facing. Basically the the reality of the play is the realization…
He is also passionate, ambitious, and bursting with the energy of his dream. As he saw everything all starting to slip away, he exploded at mama for taking away his chance at a future filled with possibility and money. Now that Walter friend took his money and ran off with it, Walter is desperate. He sinks to a new low and calls Mr.Lindner.…
Albert Einstein once said “Try not to become a man of success rather try to become a man of value.” A Raisin In the Sun was written by Lorraine Hansberry in nineteen fifty nine.The play explores the struggles of an African American family to achieve their dreams. In the play Walter Lee Younger Jr. the son of Mama(Lena) evolves throughout the trials and tribulations the family faces in the play.…
Both mothers and sons have a relationship full of arguments, but it is only because the mothers care about how they turn out. It is obvious that both sons do feel tied down because they have to work so much to support a family and cannot live out their own dreams. In the end, Tom fails his family, gives up on them, and thinks of himself and leaves; like father, like son. Walter actually steps up to the plate at the end of the story and stands up to defend his family. Mama believes that it is his first step in becoming a true…
Secondly, Lorraine Hansberry tries to give people the inspiration to be proud of who they are. In the book, Walter Younger constantly states how unfair the Blacks are from the Whites. Also, in “Scene Three”, the Youngers put an offer on a new home, but a man, named Karl Lindner, tries to prevent that. Karl is from the town they plan to move to, and is a part of management. He goes on to tell the family that because they are Black, the Whites in the town will not be happy and cause a riot. Walter Younger proceeds to tell him, “This is my son, and he makes the sixth generation our family in this country. And we have all thought about your offer… And we have decided to move into our house because my father—my father—he earned it for us brick by brick.” This was Walter sticking up for his race and his family. Another situation the Youngers have pride in is money. When Lindner offers the family money to not move into town, Mama does not want to take it, unlike Walter. Mama tells Walter, “Son—I come from five generations of people who was slaves and sharecroppers—but ain’t nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth. We ain’t never been that poor…We ain’t never been that—dead inside.” Mama shares her pride for keeping her and her family stable, and there being a boundary to asking others. Although Beneatha and Walter are adults, Mama continues to try to teach them life…
The plot of “A Raisin in the Sun” often goes in unexpected directions through the decisions of Walter is a middle aged man looking to achieve the rich social status and live the wealthy life that white people do along with his son, Travis, his wife, Ruth, his sister, Beneatha, and his mother, Lena; this is all whilst living in a very racial discriminated society. He is a chauffeur for a wealthy white man, and hopes to improve his family's financial status by investing money into a liquor store. After moving into a house purchased by the mother's insurance check, Walter wrongfully invests the rest of the money into his liquor store business. However the person he gave the money to had ran off. In the story, the check was a symbol of hope for the achievement of every family member's dream. At that point in the story, there was no longer any hope for success.…
Lorraine Hansberry portrays the revolution of black’s consciousness through the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by introducing the Younger family to readers. This play takes place in a poor black neighborhood in Chicago’s Southside in the 1950s where the Younger family struggles with racial discrimination and finding their true dreams and goals. Like most literature, this play has a clear protagonist, but Hansberry also uses an anti-hero, a flawed character who lacks heroic qualities, but with whom the reader still sympathizes and who eventually redeems himself through a heroic act or decision. With the weight of his deferred dreams upon his shoulders, Walter Lee Younger digs himself into a massive pit of troubles but slowly redeems himself by realizing the wrongs of his actions, making him the anti-hero of this play.…
When I read the play A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry I pictured the characters to look and act differently than they did in the movie. It threw me off when I realized that Sean Combs or P. Diddy played the part of Walter Lee Younger. The fact that I’ve seen him in much more of a comedic role such as the one he played in the movie Get Him To The Greek made me question whether he was the right actor to play a serious role in this film. When I watched more of the movie I noticed that he played the part perfectly and even though it was weird watching him play a serious role he did a very good job doing it. When I was reading the play I pictured their house to look the exact same way it looked in the movie, the little bathroom shared by more than one family and the outside area where Mama’s flower was. The dialog in the play and movie were similar in the way they spoke. After watching the movie and thinking about they play it hasn’t affected the way I look at the play, it now gives me something to base the characters off of when I read more of the play.…
The story is of a lower-class black family waiting for a $10,000 insurance check for their Mama.. Her son, Walter Lee, is desperate to be a better provider for his family that he wants to invest the entire check in a liquor store with two of his friends, BoBo and Willie. Mama, on the other hand, decides to use part of the money as a down payment on a house in a white neighborhood, Mama entrusts Walter Lee with the rest of the money. He invests the money secretly in his liquor store. One of Walter Lee's prospective business partners, however, runs off with the money. TheYoungers decide to continue with their plans to move in spite of their financial problems.…
Do you value your pride more than money? In the play, A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, An African American family is struggling in a inadequate worn down apartment trying to make a living. Mama, the eldest of the family, is going to receive a check for 10,000 and the family is ecstatic for its arrival. Walter Lee Younger is the most dynamic character in the book. Walter’s character develops from materialistic and greedy, to the man that his family wants him to be, a leader of the household who values them more than anything. Lorraine Hansberry demonstrates Walter’s growth through the use of characterization.…
The problems in Walter’s life exceed the ways he can deal with them. Walter absolutely hates his job. He thinks that being a driver for a white man is a horrible job. He complains about working and going to work all the time. As well as yell at others who had a better life than him. Like when he yelled at George for being a college boy that is taught to, “…talk proper and read books and wear them faggoty-looking white shoes…” (85). He does not like that George goes to college and comes out better than he is because of education. He also has troubles with his wife. They fight a lot mostly over his dreams. He believes that Ruth does not believe in any of his dreams. Every time he wants to do something like his dream of opening a dry cleaner she would not let him. His new dream of opening a liquor store was turned down by Ruth right away. Ruth saying no made him mad and he complained, “That's it. There you are. Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs” (33). He wants to show Ruth that he is upset that she does not believe in him and his dreams. There is also another problem with how they live. He is upset that his son cannot have a room of his own and has to sleep on the couch. Walter gets mad when Ruth tells Travis that he cannot have 50 cents for school. Walter’s financial life makes him very upset, he has to work, he has to give up on his dreams because he cannot afford to invest in them, as well as his son sleeping on a couch and not a bed. Walter hates his…
Many studies have been conducted that show the evils or consequences of corruption. And corruption has taught the Nigeria a dangerous and wrong lesson that it does not pay to be honest, hardworking and law-abiding. Through corrupt means many political office holders acquire wealth and properties in and outside Nigeria; and many display their wealth (which is beyond the means), but the society does not blink. This has made politics a big business in Nigeria, because anything spent to secure a political office is regarded as an investment, which matures immediately one gets into office (The Guardian, July 14, 2002).…