How Does The Struggle In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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.

At the opening of the play we see Walter an ambitious man of thirty five years old, lacking in the knowledge of what it takes to become a businessman resulting in his childish demeanor. While the family prepares for the day ahead of them Walter gives his son, Travis, a quarter for school regardless of Ruth objecting “[ Ruth watches both of them
with murder in her eyes.Walter stands and stares back at her with defiance, and suddenly reaches into his pocket again on an afterthougt…’In fact here’s another fifty cents…[he said] Buy yourself some fruit today- or take a taxicab to school or something!’”(1.1). This excerpt shows how Walter’s behaviours reflects those of a child. Rather than taking his wife’s input on the situation he defies her. This portion also conveys that Walter wants to seem successful; by being overly generous to his son telling him to “buy some fruit or take a taxicab to school” regardless of the family not being able to afford it. Nevertheless Walter does have quality characteristics, his determine for becoming successful shines throughout the play regardless of the wrong reasoning behind it. In Act one scene one of the play Walter is eager to find anyway to make money