Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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A Raisin in the Sun, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry, embodies the struggles of a black family in the 1960’s living in Chicago. Everyone in the Younger family seems to have an ambitious dream that they are all trying to achieve with insurance money earned by Big Walter. Walter Lee Younger, the man of the family, is a motivated man that is unhappy with his job as a chauffer. He has big dreams of opening up a liquor store to become a businessman so he can diminish his family’s poverty and live a normal life. In the course of this play we have learned that Walter Lee Younger can be very short tempered and make foolish decisions by not thinking them through as well as not being able to accept responsibility, but still shows love
No matter how hard he tries, he just can’t find that key ingredient to a blissful life. He is a frustrated man who seems to make unsought out decisions that seem to impact the family. His short temper seems to get the best of him sometimes. “RUTH: Eat your eggs, Walter. WALTER: (slams the table and jumps up)—DAMN MY EGGS—DAMN ALL THE EGGS THAT EVER WAS!” (Hansberry 34) Ruth had barely said four words to the guy and he just starts going off at her. His short temper will cause tension for the family and their relationship. Walter was well aware of the situation he was put in. Mama encouraged him not to invest in the liquor store no matter what. His ego and attitude got in the way and he lost all of the $6,500 he invested. His ‘I’m right all the time’ attitude made him inconsiderate of his sister and so he spent all of the money on himself. His foolish action made Mama rethink her decision about trusting Walter with the rest of the money. Mama could not believe that her son would do such a thing. Mama has always taught her children to respect one another and be considerate with each other. After Walter made this decision, Mama was very disappointed in him. Walter’s short temper led
Walter is vehement for his family all along but just takes more time to show it. He adores his son and can do anything in the world for him. “TRAVIS: This is the morning we supposed to bring the fifty cents to school. RUTH: Well, I ain’t got no fifty cents this morning. WALTER: Here son. (…) In fact, here’s another fifty cents…buy yourself some fruit today (…)” (Hansberry 30-31) Travis asks his mom for fifty cents for school, she refuses and tells him to go bag groceries at the store so he could earn them. Walter then comes in and asks why she can’t just give him the fifty cents, she responds and says that they don’t have spare change to waste. Walter did not want his son to feel left out at school, so he reaches in his pocket and hands him fifty cents. Travis is happy that he got the fifty cents. Walter then gives him an extra fifty cents and now Travis is overwhelmed with joy. He tells his dad that he loves him and goes to school. This scene shows how much Walter is willing to sacrifice for his son. Walter probably gave up all of the spare change he had just so his son could go and be happy and not feel left out. He wanted Travis to feel proud of his dad. The relationship Travis and Walter have is crucial because they both know that they will be there for each other. Towards the end of the play, Walter