In the play A Raisin in the Sun, written by Loraine Hansberry, there is a lower class family that experiences what life is like during 1959. In the play, the family of five all have many adversities but one of the main characters known as Walter Youngers, seems to be the most affected during this period of time due to the fact that he is a male, and has a bigger role to fill in his family. Like everybody, Walter has big dreams to pursue. As he tries to achieve them with money from his father’s death, there is many disputes in between the family that blinds them from realizing that money does not buy happiness.
The roles of men have not changed very much from 1930’s, 1950’s to now. Men have always been expected to do many things for the
Joseph Pleck wrote in Attitudes toward male roles among adolescent males, “Males hold more traditional beliefs about masculinity than females…” (p482) which might mean more pressure is added to males to exceed those standards society has created. Hypermasculinity and hypomasculinity differ from each other a bit where as hypermasculinity is the exaggeration of male stereotypical (ex: sociopath and selfishness) and hypomasculinity is the absence of male stereotypical behavior (Ex: unreliability and irresponsibility). These examples describe Walter very well. In his hypermasulinity he was selfish. He was so determined to pursue his dream that he wanted only his dream to be accomplished and nobody else’s. Walter tells Beneatha “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so interested in messin’ with sick people how about you become a nurse?” (Hansberry497) which lets the audience know that Walter doesn’t really support his sister in achieving her goals. Also in Act II Scene I, Walter questions his mother about where she has been all day worried that she has gone and spent the money that could have been used for his liquor store. With his mother disapproving of his business she decides that she is going to invest the money in a house instead. Buying a house will not only benefit her but will benefit the whole family as well. When Walter hears the news he does
Although that’s what men are supposed to do, Walter didn’t do his job too well. In the middle of the play we find out that Ruth is pregnant. When Ruth tries to tell Walter however he does not want to listen to her because he is too upset about his liquor store dream not coming true. Walter does not act like a man when his mother tells his no on the liquor store. He decides to leave and scream and show everybody he is upset he did not get what he wanted. His mother tells Walter, “Son, do you know your wife is expecting another baby?” to settle him down and also so he can talk to Ruth civil. His mother bought a house and is going to be able to fit the upcoming family member in their home without having to struggle how they are going to live their lifestyle for the rest of their life. Walter however, is still thinking about his liquor store when he should have the same mentality as his mother. A new home, means new beginnings for them but he does not see it that way. With Walter having Travis looking up to him, he is not setting a good example. After Walter gets robbed, not only did he put himself in a bad situation but he also put his family there too. He decides he is going to make
In addition, not only were women considered to be less intelligent, they were also expected to become something lesser than a man. This is displayed further along in the argument between Walter and Beneatha, Walter states… “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people- then go be a nurse like other women- or just get married and be quiet…” (38). In other words, Walter is grouping Beneatha with other women and is forming a prejudice idea of how that group should act. Walter is encouraging Beneatha to not work hard, settle down, and discard her aspiration. At the same time, he is also disencouraging her dream to be a doctor. During this time, the norm in society was for women to do easier jobs, like becoming a nurse, or not working at all and becoming a wife. Because of those stereotypes and expectations, Walter is questioning her capability and right to become a doctor. One of his reason to question her is the fact that she does not pay for her schooling. Some people may argue that Beneatha is enforcing female stereotypes
Walter is released from prison. We see him registering as a sex offender and then the story proceeds. We see him go to a job where the boss specifically tells him he doesn’t want any trouble and the only reason he hired him was as a favor. We see Walter as a quiet man, who keeps to himself and appears to struggle with social skills. The receptionist at the factory began talking to him and observed that he was different. She went to the manager to inquire as to what he had done however the manager told her to mind her own business. She was not satisfied with the answer and went out to search for herself.
Many modern families need things; they are hard pressed to make ends meet. Fathers and mothers want to be able to provide a comfortable and privileged life for their children. Just as in real life, Hansberry portrayed the family interactions within the play A Raisin in the Sun with this in mind. The younger family represents any lower-class family in America, not just those of colored descent.
Lorraine Hansberry does a phenomenal job in depicting not only the realities that occur because a family gets a large sum of money, but also the consequences it can have on the family’s relationship in her play A Raisin in the Sun. The main conflict in A Raisin in the Sun is the skirmish the Younger family partakes in over how to spend the ten thousand dollars. This conflict lends to its continued popularity because it reflects ordinary people’s desire for money and the confrontations that obtaining money often leads to in real life. In the play, almost every member, including Mama, Ruth, and Walter are headstrong in their decisions for how to most effectively spend the money. The famil...
The award winning play “A Raisin in the Sun” written by Lorraine Hansberry focuses on characters that are challenged by the reality of their dreams and the harsh society around them. Walter Lee Younger, a working man with a small family, is someone who has high hopes for his future, but during the book, due to many events, he repeatedly had doubts about the outcome of his goals. As the play progresses, Walter’s dream plays a large role in his character development because he starts off as a man who felt as if all of his family members neglected his dreams, and transitioned into a person who is willing to do whatever it takes for his family’s dreams to flourish, instead of purely his own.
In Act I scene II, Walter proposes his business to Mama. When Mama refuses to even listen to his business proposal, Walter becomes furious and attempts to leave the apartment. Mama tells Walter to sit down, Walter says, "I'm a grown man, Mama."(521) Mama tells Walter this, "Ain't nobody said you wasn't grown. But you still in my house and in my presence. And as long as you are-you'll talk to your wife civil. Now sit down." (521). Walter's lack of maturity has created Mama's mindset of Walter. Mama still sees Walter as a child, which prevents her from seeing Walter as the provider for the family. Walter; therefore, feels emasculated which causes him to isolate himself
Imagine having to choose between paying bills and sending your children to college. Visualize risking your life to attempt to create better-living situations for your family, who depend on you to keep them alive, having to sacrifice a potential child to feed the ones you already have. This is the exact situation that Walter and Lena Younger face in the play, “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. As the Younger family has been trapped within their current economic and social status, they work hard to stay alive, all while trying to improve their lives as they deal with another baby on the way, a bratty child going through college, and difficulties in their occupations. The Youngers are poor African Americans in the south. They’re struggling
Walter is racist and sexist. He works driving rich white people around and he is sick of this. He wants to be a boss, he wants to be the king of his jungle. He has a wife and a son. They all live with his mom. When things doesn’t go right for him, or not the way he wants, everything he does is drink and walk. Walter is tired of working for white people, he wants to open a liquor store illegally. When mama got the money from his father’s life insurance, he asked for some money to open the liquor store, and she said no. She got really mad at her, and started getting drunk everyday. He didn’t show up to work for three days and lost his job. However, When mama finally gave him the money to open the liquor store, his friend ran away with all the money, including the part that he was supposed to put in the bank so his sister can go to college. Walter says, “Gone, what you mean Willy is gone? Gone where? You mean he when by himself. You mean he went off to Springfield by himself - to take care of getting the license.” (Hensberry 128). This proves that his dream of having a liquor store is not gonna happen because his friend ran away all of his money. Also, he wanted his son to go to college and be whoever he wants to, and now, it’s not going to happen too. He was surprised and really mad that his friend did that do him. This proves that Hensberry uses Walter to show all of the bad
In the opening credits, Hansberry describes Walter as “A lean, intense young man in his middle thirties, inclined to quick nervous movements and erratic speech” (Hansberry 475). Initaing that he is a young man learning and trying to figure out his place in the world. While Beneatha is described as strong headed and educated women who is seeking validation from her mother that wants her to settle down. Beneatha's mother often through the play constantly mentions that she should settle down and marry a “wealthy” man (Hansberry 503). Often throughout the play Beneatha and Walter mirror each others anger because they have these dreams and expectations that want or need to fulfill. Also they are often underestimated in what they can do and what they can achieve. Often Walter feels as if anger can get the best of him and that he is often misunderstood by others. This also goes for Beaneatha who is struggling/torn between the things she wants and what others want her to do. This is where the idea of early femism comes from
Ruth is Walter's wife. Her dream is to have a happy family but she also wants to be wealthy.
A Raisin in the Sun touches on a series of different themes, all evocative and thought-provoking; that being said, the play as a whole revolves around the dreams, goals, and ambitions of our characters. The question given in the introduction of this assignment, "What happens to a person whose dreams grow more and more passionate — while his hopes of ever achieving those dreams grow dimmer each day?", summarizes the theme of A Raisin in the Sun perfectly. The money received from Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy was the catalyst that brought the characters’ dreams to the surface; however, one can infer that the characters had these dreams even before the money was introduced. At the start of the play, each of the character’s dreams are identified: Walter wants to provide for his family-- through a shared investment in a liquor store--and he wants
One choice can affect the outcome of many other people. During the 1950’s opportunities took place all over America. In Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun on the Southside of Chicago, Walter Younger makes one decision that affects his family and specifically his sister Beneatha. Walter and Beneatha both have dreams in the play that are deferred.
The audience is exposed to the struggles of Walters desire to lead and provide for his family. Not only does Walter struggle financially but, his authority is tested when his mother takes over the responsibility a man would do. Walter wants to be acknowledged and appreciated for the things he does for his family but, it seems he hasn’t done anything because Mama has taken an authorial position over the rest of the family including Walter. Due to the fact that Walter doesn’t have authority over his family like he wants to go
In the play, the Youngers buy a house in a white neighborhood using the life insurance money of Big Walter. In this time, which was the 1950’s, racism was still well and alive even in the North. The people of the neighborhood sent a representative, named Mr. Lindner, to try and persuade the Youngers into selling the house back to the neighborhood for more than they bought it for. When he first comes to talk to them, Walter and Beneatha declined the offer which lead to Mr. Lindner giving them his card and leaving. After Walter Lee finds out he got scammed, he calls the number on the card and asks Mr. Lindner to come back for negotiations. He believed they only had one choice and that was to sell the house. When Lindner actually gets there, Walter realizes what he is about to do and acts differently, “ WALTER: Yeah. Well- what I mean is that we come from people who had a lot of pride… And we have decided to move into our house because my father- my father- he earned it for us brick by brick” (148). He finally understands what pride is. Instead of taking money over the happiness of his family, he finally grasped how important family was. In the end, Walter comprehends the importance of family over everything else.
behaviors, and social conditions that we call masculinities are “hard-wired” into males through biology (see Thorhill & Palmer, 2000) and/or the heritability of human psyche (see Jung, 1959/1989; Bly, 1990). They view masculinity as static, transhistorical, cross-cultural, and cross-situational. From this perspective, gender change is either impossible, or it involves the use of powerful force to constrain what is seen as “naturally” male. (Masculine Self pg. 19)