How Is Walter Presented In A Raisin In The Sun

A Raisin in the Sun is the play that we recently finished in English Class and was really interesting in terms of lively and everyone felt passionate with their role in the book. One of the characters I felt that really grew throughout the book was Walter Younger Jr. In the story he is the only son of Walter Younger Sr., who passed away, and is the man of the house and also the father of Travis. His wife is Ruth and she is basically the lady at home doing the chores and she also works in other people’s kitchens. They live with Mama, which is Walter’s mom, and also with Beneatha, is the sister of Walter, that is studying to become a doctor. They all live together and agree everyday with each other like every other family. Walter is the character
that has changed the most throughout the book than anyone else. At the beginning of the book he was a man that held his held really high and always wanted his idea like at the top of the chart. He was really self-centered in the beginning and never really thought of what anyone else wanted to how they felt. Walter is the person that would always try to convince everyone else in his household to think just like him and make his dreams true even though he himself was not thinking of the dreams the other had that they also wanted to. A man like Walter was very confident of himself in the first part of the book because he thought he had a great proposal. He made a business proposal and took it home so that his family could sign off on it and agree on it. That’s when his unhappy and depressed self comes in because he began to feel that they never listen to him and never let him get what he wants. For example when he says to Ruth, “Damn these eggs…” He said this when he woke up because he was trying to have a conversation with his wife but she was completely ignoring him because he talks about the same thing over again. Walter is treated really poorly in the book because they never want to hear anything he says when he mentions “money” and “liquor store”. Although with all this negativity, Walter still insists and continues trying to get it going and make his dream true. Walter in general just really is not considerate of others but just is really craving money an trapped in only transforming his dreams into reality that he doesn’t realize what is more important in his life until he loses it. Walter is like a child in a grownups body that hasn’t grown up yet but really needs to so that he can become the man he is supposed to be just like his Father was before. Walter is really similar to his father quality wise but it doesn’t really come out of him until the end of the book. Going into Act 2 Walter was the same at the beginning. This was when the family finally bought the house for themselves in Clybourne Park. Walter put the face of being shocked because he felt like his dreams went down the drain because that money was the one he wanted all to go towards his liquor store that would make the family a lot of “profit” and will allow them to get out their economic situation. Also that would have brought them a better chance on life in all aspects. Walter had a shocked face because of both the money issue and about the house. He put aside himself for a second and asked about where the house was. When Mama mentioned that the house was in “Clybourne Park” they all went crazy. They couldn’t believe that she got a house for all of them out in Clybourne Park knowing that the white people are the ones that lived there in that time period. They got really mad and wanted Mama to sell the house back at first but she said no they weren’t going to sell it. When they went to visit the house, they realized that it is a nice house and perfect for their size of family. That’s when Walter was getting the rest of the money and needed to be responsible with it and put three thousand dollars in to the bank for the studies of Beneatha. He was a little hard headed an didn’t listen to anyone at all; he went his way and did what he wanted to do from the beginning and gave all the money that Mama gave him and gave it entirely to Willy Harris. When he went back with the family he was really happy and never mentioned anything to any of them about what he actually did with the money. Walter slightly changed in this Act, but it wasn’t a dramatic change that will happy to him in the third Act. Act 3 for Walter was a total change for him and for the rest of the Younger Family.
Bobo comes to the house and gives Walter the bad news and he doesn’t take it very well an began acting psychotic until he saw Mama heard what happened and he was being very untruthful by omission and felt really guilty with what he did. This is the point of the book where he finally opened min up and realized everything that has been going on. Walter got a snap of reality and then he understood what he had in life and how he wasn’t going to have more than that. Walter acted so crazy that he went out to Mr. Lindner and told him to come down because they were going to accept the money offer from the neighbors of Clybourne Park. Also so that they can sign the official documents and not worry about that house anymore and at least gets some of the money back that he lost was the idea he had. The only reason he was doing this was because everything in life and everything around him was crumbling right in front of his eyes. He even stopped going to work for a little while and was at the verge of losing that job also. He needed something positive in his life that can compliment all the recent negatives he has had present. This is when he realizes everything that has happened and is beginning to “roll the tape” and replay his recent days. He realized how stubborn he was and believed that he ruined it for his family and also for his sister. She had some money that was going to her studies so that she can become a doctor because that’s what she wanted to be at first. He took her chances away from her because a self mistake that could’ve jeopardized their entire family. The worst part about Walter “waking up” is that the money he gave away was the money his father had worked for and earned for his family for years. He had worked heavy hours and worked through everything so that the insurance could have been possible. Mama was extremely mad because she saw her husband come home tired day in and
day out from working so hard. He worked so hard that he looked practically dead when he arrived at home. Mama trusted Walter and thought he would be a responsible man and do what she had asked him to do. Walter is a person that needs to see something happen to him in order to learn his lesson and change. Walter at that point started changing for his families sake and became a man. Mama told him to show what his 5 generations have been to him, when Mr. Lindner was sitting at the table. Everyone was mad at him at that point, that he had no other choice than show what a real man he is and how he deserves to be the man of the house. He started speaking on behalf of his family and started talking about his past and how his father worked hard all his life and deserves what they got with that money because that's what he was entitled to. Also how they came from a long line of sharecroppers and farmers that have worked hard in their life. He is part of the 5th generation of his family that are here in America. Also that they have all worked hard in their life so that someone can come to them and tell them that they aren't fit to live wherever they want to live. He put his foot down and said we can not take your money and that they are going to move into that house no matter what. They said they were going there and do not want to cause any trouble to the other neighbors and that they just want to live peacefully. When Walter said all that to Mr. Lindner, Mama was so happy and proud of him because it was just like a mirror imagine of her husband and how he use to do things. The family stopped being mad at Walter because they saw that he had changed for the best and how he really is going to be better in time to come from now and on. Ruth was extremely happy because her husband and in charge and fully taking responsibility of everything which will make him even a better father. Beneatha is excited because he mentioned in his “speech” that she will be a doctor and he showed that he cared for her now and not just himself like he did before. He wants her to succeed so that the family can succeed with her. Travis is happy because everyone else is happy. He doesn't really understand anything that is going on, he is just there. Mama was happy because she gets to move into a house like she has always wanted to from the beginning. She had been wanting this for the longest of time and from that moment and on her dream came true because Walter put his foot down and said they were going to move in that house and nothing was going to change that for him nor for her. They all stressed so much, and at the end they were still able to move into their house. They were all grateful to Walter for being a man and for his father for working hard all those years so that they could have a house just like that one right there. This is the moment in the book that changed the whole story because Walter became a man like he should be. In conclusion, Walter was a character that had changed for good in this book. He is little of a late bloomer and it took him a little while to realize what was wrong but he figured it out at the end. He has been through everything in this book and even with all that he became a man and showed everyone who was in charge and what he could do. Overall, Walter was the character that changed the most in the book and really grew up towards the end of Act 3.