Selfless. Devoted. Submissive. When a woman puts her faith in her husband and trusts his judgment, she puts aside her own feelings. But how far will she go to keep everyone happy? In the end, how does her sacrifice strengthen a family? In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry shows a 1950s wife as compliant, yet strong. Ruth Younger, a submissive, scared, peacekeeping woman, who works as a housekeeper, will go to great lengths to keep her husband happy. In the end, her quiet devotion helps her family through difficult times. Her dream is to be content with her family, and she wants to please them. The Younger family lives in Chicago in the 1950s. They survive in an overcrowded apartment not fit for a family of five. The family has dreams, big dreams. Mama, the matriarch of the family, dreams of owning her own home. Her son, Walter Lee, Jr., dreams of owning a liquor store. His dream nearly destroys the family. Walter’s sister Beneatha hopes to be a doctor someday. Ruth, Walter’s wife, puts her dream of owning a home aside to support her husband’s dream. In her obedient, quiet way, she juggles keeping everyone happy. Ruth, mother to ten-year-old Travis and wife to Walter Younger, lives with her husband’s family in a small, overcrowded …show more content…
She will do whatever it takes to be a good wife. When her husband asks her to speak to his mother about giving him money for a liquor store, Ruth obliges. “It’s just that he got his heart set on that store-” (42) she tells Mama. When Mama questions the family’s ability to run a business, Ruth replies, “Ain’t nobody business people till they go into business. Walter Lee say colored people ain’t never going to start getting ahead till they start gambling on some different kinds of things in the world - investments and things.” (42) Although Ruth probably does not agree with her husband’s plan, as an obedient wife of the 1950s, she backs
She realises how much of herself she sacrificed in order to maintain his happiness. “I remember running to throw my arms around mother’s knees when he regaled with words, and worse, for curtains unclosed or slips showing-the sins of womanhood” (Kingsolver 68). Nathan’s views and ideas became
Alice took the children and Mrs. Sobolski and her children home to her parents and every week would come back to Mrs. Sobolski’s mother-in-law, food and water. Alice brought the kids and the mom to her sister Laura’s house in Lockeron.
The primary feature of the Younger’s household is the furniture that once were possibly “selected with care and love and even hope—and brought to this apartment and arranged with taste and pride,” (Hansberry, 195) now worn down due to accommodating many bodies throughout the years. This pursuit to keep the family’s spirit alive comes from the most prominent, however occasionally hidden source of power in the Younger family, Lena Younger (Mama), Walter Lee and Beneatha’s mother, Ruth’s mother in law and Travis’s grandmother. She also has a small plant by the only source of daylight in the house, the small window of the kitchen, symbolizing hope, care and growth. The main issue of constant debate and discussion in these household is the $10,000 life insurance check that Mama receives upon her husband 's death.
A Raisin in the Sun Money is one of the things in the world that a person can become obsessed with. In the story “A Raisin in the sun” the author Lorraine Hansberry shows how a family is changed by the lust of money. A widow, Lena, her son Walter Younger, his wife Ruth and daughter Beneatha all lived under the same roof. Lena just lost her husband and is receiving a check for his death. With the money, Lena wants to buy a new house for the whole family to live in but everyone else in the family sees a different type of opportunity.
In A Raisin in the Sun, Walter and Ruth have a personality that correlates to the traditional gender expectation. Walter has an abrupt nature, while Ruth is demure and quiet; the temperament of the two characters corresponds to a man expectation to be dominant and superior to women. Walter comments, “Don’t call it that. See there, that just goes to show you what women understand about the world. Baby, don’t nothing happen for you in this world ’less you pay somebody off!”
Connie’s mother keeps picking at her for everything. The mother clearly shows that the older sister June is her favorite. June does everything right and gets praised by her mother all the time. Connie hears almost every day that June saved money, helped clean the house, cooked for the family. When the mother speaks on the phone with her friends, she favors everything that June does, and criticizes Connie.
The family leads a hard working, simple and minimalistic life that allows them just enough to get by. Mama is described as a “large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands” (Walker 418). Her day to day life doesn’t allow for the high standards of her eldest daughter Dee. Dee is described by Mama as being unappreciative and bratty. Mama makes is clear that the family’s socioeconomic status would never be good enough for the eldest daughter.
The first house is like the origin of the beginning of the family. It holds their story In brief, “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker contains literary elements that draws back to a heritage. Walker wrote this short story to explain how each character saw their heritage. Some are proud, awed, but others are ashamed of their
Raisin in the Sun Book Report Being in close relations with family member definitely has its ups and downs. There is nothing easy about being in a close relationship with family, but to many family is the most important relationship in their lives. In the story “A Raisin in the Sun” there are many great examples of importance in family relationship just from the way they treat each other and the conversations they have. In the story, Lena Younger, Ruth Younger and Walter Younger all make it very obvious how important family relationships are. Lena Younger (Mama) is the head of the family.
Mama is thinking that the family just shouldn’t move since all the money is gone. Ruth is trying to convince Mama to still move because the apartment is too small for another baby and having Mama not give up her hope of having a house with a garden. This shows Ruth just wants her family to have a nice home and is willing to work for it even more. Another example of Ruth working hard for her family is when, Ruth begs, “Lena—I’ll work…. I’ll work twenty hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago….
Well it not that easy, see what is a black man and black men just don 't get paid as much as white men did. In an article america’s labor history, it says that “the white-led unions affiliated and the American Federation of Labor actually tried to get and keep blacks out of higher-paying jobs” (Black Workers Remember). The whites were trying to prevent blacks from making money,so they wouldn 't move into their nice neighborhoods. Walter got a little angry when he was asking George , a rich friend of his daughter, if they could talk business. George ended up blowing him off saying he was busy.
Walter Lee is the brother of Beneatha and Lena’s only son. Walter’s dream is similar to the, “American Dream” in some ways. His dream is to open a liquor
Walter has a dream to own a liquor store so that he makes money from that business and is then is able to financially provide things for his family like he believes a man should, but him being blacks affects his dream. (add more words b4)Walter brings
Ruth’s familial focus is most evident through her love for her son, and because his happiness is one of her main priorities, her happiness becomes dependent on his. For instance, when Mama, Ruth’s mother-in-law, purchases a new house, Ruth shouts, “PRAISE GOD!” (Hansberry 535). A larger house would give Travis his own bedroom and grant him more space to
In both Japanese and English, there is a word which means “a domineering husband”. A wife of such a husband is often depicted as an obedient stay-at-home wife always showing her gratitude to her husband for working for his family. In Lamb to the Slaughter and Hey You Down There!, two main characters appear to be this kind of wives, but the stories reveal their hidden feelings. Though Mary Maloney and Dora Spender’s attitudes toward their husbands seem similar, how they actually think of / feel about their husbands are quite different. Respecting first impressions of Mary and Dora, both of them are typical full-time housewives who think their bosses are their husbands.