Walter In A Raisin In The Sun

At its core, “The Black Walnut Tree” is a conflict between the sentimental and what practically needs to be done. Throughout the poem, the author utilizes a very matter-of-fact and almost dismissive tone as the daughter and her mother debate whether or not to sell the tree and finish paying off a loan that they owe. As the poem progresses, this matter-of-fact tone transitions into figurative language as the black walnut tree takes on a more symbolic view. Mary Oliver shows in “The Black Walnut Tree” that the tree symbolizes the family’s heritage and all that their father has sought to accomplish, and, while the mortgage weighs down the family, cutting down and selling the tree would, in a sense, betray the family and what it stands for.

“Part of growing up is just taking what you learn from that and moving on and not taking it to heart.” ~ Beverley Mitchell. Walter Lee Younger changes drastically throughout the play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. Walter starts out as a person who whines and throws a fit when he does not get his way and turns into a responsible man who can care for himself and make important decisions. Three examples of this in the play is when Walter goes into a depression because Mama will not give him the money to open his shop. This changes him because he realizes that not everything has to go his way. The second example of Walter changing is when he loses the rest of the money. This changes him because he realizes how irresponsible and childish he was acting. The final example of

In every story each character influences the plot in some way, even if it’s something tiny. Just like the story Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansbury. The two main characters that influence the plot most through actions and dialogue are Walter and Lena Younger. Lena (also known as Mama) influences the plot in a positive way and does as much as she can to make her family happier. While Walter influences the plot in a negative way and brings the family down by pushing them away.

In the play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, there are many examples of sexism throughout its entirety. The character, Walter, demonstrates the acts of a sexist human being. Walter is sexist to not only women in general, but to the women in his family. Not taking into consideration of other people’s sayings and their feelings, Walter generally only thinks about himself, says what he believes, and truly only cares about money. Walter constantly is fighting with all of the women in the family as well. His sister, Beneatha, wants to become a doctor and Walter isn't very supportive of her decision. Walter's wife, Ruth, is the recipient of the majority of Walter's anger and sexist remarks.

The world stereotypes rich people as rude, stuck up and selfish. Ever wonder why? Studies from Yale, The New York Times, TED and more have concluded, money changes everything. Whether it’s attitude, morals or values, money can affect and change all aspects of someone’s life. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, has a theme showing this claim clearly. The author, Lorraine Hansberry, puts in different characters to help display these themes and the correlation between money and how it affects people.

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!” (Act 1, Scene 1). Through the quote, it suggests that women should be ignorant about the world, and calling “baby” instead of her name shows the inferiority of the women to men. In addition, Walter is expected to be the head of the family; Mama says, “It ain’t much, but it’s all I got in the world and I’m putting it in your hands. I’m telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be” (Act 2, Scene 2). Although Walter does not deserve the power, the manhood of Walter Lee enables him to “control” the family. Conversely, Beneatha’s talkativeness and her aggressive personality are against how a 1950s African American should act. Ruth asks “Can’t you be a little sweeter sometimes? (Act 1, Scene 1)” to indicate the modest characteristics women should have. Furthermore, Ruth’s decision of abortion at the beginning of the play was unconventional since it was against gender expectation because it is against her duty as a wife and a mother. In Korea nowadays, the personality of a person is not judged based on their sex. Women are not expected to be shy and passive; not all women are clean and organized. Men are not expected to be tough and belligerent; not all men are lazy and disorganized. Although gender expectation greatly impacts the Youngers by categorizing them to superior and inferior, it scarcely affects people’s identity in

In the play, the immediate answer to Walter’s betrayal of the family is to “explode” with anger. In the poem, the line “Or does (the dream) explode? (line 11) is added as an afterthought to Hughes’ wondering about what happens when a dream is dismissed. In Walter’s case, the dream is not so much dismissed as taken away from him by force, in a metaphorical explosion. This eruption affects the rest of the family as well, and Mama’s shock/anger is so severe that her first reaction is to repeatedly beat Walter in the

In conclusion, Ruth and Walter are the characters who influence the plot the most because they are always arguing and complaining to each other. Ruth and Walter are a married couple and disagree about things which causes conflict between the

A Raisin in the Sun addresses major social issues such as racism and feminism which were common in the twentieth century. The author, Lorraine Hansberry, was the first playwright to produce a play that portrayed problematic social issues. Racism and gender equality are heavily addressed throughout the play. Even though we still have these issues today, in the 1950’s and 60’s the issues had a greater part in society. Racism and gender have always been an issue in society, A Raisin in the Sun is an important piece of American history during that time period. The famous play shows the audience the life it was like to live as a black female, and shows the struggles that the Young family faced being the first African American family to move into a white neighborhood. This play is considered a

On the contrary, Hansberry’s character Walter within Raisin in the Sun has different dreams than depicted in King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. From the beginning of the play, Walter dreams of being affluent and using Mama’s insurance check for personal gain. For instance, Walter, in scene one, said, “Yeah. You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figure the initial investment to be ‘bout thirty thousand, see. That be then thousand each” (Hansberry 1547). Walter’s wishes to own a liquor store to be able to live a more lavish lifestyle, however his dream would only be possible by selfishly cashing Mama’s insurance check for himself. Martin Luther King Junior’s dreams, addressed during his monumental speech

In Lorraine Hansberry’s “Raisin in the Sun” Act 3 Walter has seized the hero role and he displays a lot of pride. Walter is starting to understand that he has to stand up for what he believes in and not everything is about money. “And we have decided to move into our house because my father-my father-he earned it for us brick by brick”(1933). Walter turns down the Clybourne Park Association 's offer only after he remembers the roots his family has in America, and the rights that they deserve. He wants to set a strong example for his son, Travis, just like his father did for him. Even though Walter is the main character of the story, it is the women in his life who have the biggest dream for him, to find his own manhood. Manliness is having the strength to stand up for what is right, and Mama realizes that Walter has found his manhood when she says to Ruth, “He finally come into his manhood today, didn’t he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain”(1935). Throughout the play when Walter loses and eventually recovers his pride it forms a major plotline in the play. Since the play portrays people who have little to nothing to their name, pride is a means for them to hold on to their dignity and declare their worth as humans. The drama forms this conflict between pride and money, and although money does win out for a little bit, the Younger family still maintains its pride at the end of the

In Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the characters of Mama, Walter ,and Beneatha are faced with hardships associated with their dreams being destroyed by discriminatory housing,racial inequality and lack of support from her family towards her education. In the play all the characters have some kind of dream. Mama wants to get a house for the family, Walter wants to have money to provide for his family and plans to do that with a liquor store, and Beneatha wants to become a doctor. Beneatha is going to school and at the same time she’s trying to discover herself,but her family is not supportive of this. Mama did unfortunately lose her husband, and the family is receiving a life insurance check for $10,000.

To be prideful is human nature, even when it hasn't been earned. Being proud of who you are and what you have accomplished is an important part of everyone's life, but sometimes we are prideful without something to be proud of. This kind of pride is shown in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry through the character Walter Younger. He enters the play with a false sense of pride in being a man, despite the fact that he is a chauffeur who is struggling to support his family. Throughout the plot, he struggles with acceptance of his social status and economical situations, but ends up achieving true fulfillment in simply being proud of who he and his family are as people with aspirations. Walter’s evolution

Chicago served as a home to numerous walks of life in the 1950’s, and much of the differences in realities were based on differences in race and people’s opinions of segregation. Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun is based off of real life experiences, and it authentically tells the story of an african american family that strives for equality and The American Dream. Walter Younger, the father of the family, battles with deferred dreams of his own and for his family. Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun and Nina Simone’s song “I Wish I knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” both portray Walter’s emotions throughout his daily struggles with his family as they dealt with segregation and destitution.

Following the event of World War Two, America during the 1950s was an era of economic prosperity. Male soldiers had just returned home from war to see America “at the summit of the world”(Churchill). Many Americans were confident that the future held nothing other than peace and prosperity, so they decided to start families. However, the 1950s was also a time of radical changes. Because most of the men in the family had departed to fight in the war, women were left at home to do the housework. Even after the war, women were urged to stay at home to take care of the children. On the other hand, males would deal with financial businesses to keep their family out of poverty. These gender roles were embedded