Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Walter believes that money will solve all of their problems and he speaks about money constantly "because it is life [. . .]"(1010). Walter's selfishness can be seen at the climax of the play when the family finds out that Willy has ran away with the money: "I never. . . went to the bank at all. . ."(1032). Consequently, Walter used the money to begin his own business.

Lorraine Hansberry purposely used Walter as one character to represent the theme Money and Mortality. Walter’s character is revealed by a narrator, the narrator can simply identify that Walter is a very overprotective person when it comes to the topic of money. “Without even looking at his son, he begins to hard stare at his wife”. The narrator can identify this quote to Walter because; in the beginning of the play Walter and Ruth had an argument over the insurance check. This quote can be related to the theme Money and Mortality because; the narrator identified the concern of money towards Walter. “You know what the check is coming tomorrow”. The author, Lorraine Hansberry shows on how Walter is very excited to receive the check. This second quote from the play can show Walter’s concern with the check; the narrator can identify this by showing on how Walter is constantly reminding Ruth about the check. After Ruth tells Travis they have no extra money to give to him for school; Walter

Another way the money is bad is because it brought a lot of arguments and sadness into the book. One example of this is when Bennie says to Walter, “But the insurance money belongs to mama. Picking on me is not going to make her give it to you to invest in any liquor stores.” Walter and bennie are arguing about who gets to do what with the money. Walter wants it for his liquor store, but bennie wants to be a doctor. Walter is afraid that Lena would rather put bennie through school than to let him open a liquor store. Another example of the money causing sadness is when Walter states, “That money is made out of my father's flesh.” Walter gets angry with Bobo when he gets the news that Willy ripped them off and ran off with their money. Walter and his mother, Lena, encounter multiple arguments over the same topic--Big walters life was worth that $10,000 dollars. Walter was devastated that his money was all gone. A last example of how the money was bad is when Lena states, “Ten thousand dollars they give you...Ten thousand dollars.” Lena is upset that she lost her husband. Lena is also hurt that, to the insurance company, her husband's life is only worth $10,000. She tries to tell Walter that he is wrong for wanting to use her dead husband's life to open up a liquor store that she doesn't approve

Walter is in for a big surprise. When his mother finds out about his plans, she rains on his parade. She decides to exercise her authority as the holder of the check. She’s going to fulfill her dream instead; buy a house, with a garden, for her family. Walter still thinks he’s going to get the money.

Walter focused solely on the money and this caused him to think that all the money is his and he can go and do as he pleases. He was obviously disappointed when Mama did not give him any of the money initially but when she entrusted him with the remaining $6,500 it brought about a sense of pride and responsibility that had long eluded him. It was almost a renewing moment for Walter as his family life changed for the better since he was now acting as the man of the house.

The quote ,”Mama: Oh—So now it’s life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life—now it’s money. I guess the world really do change . . .Walter: No—it was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it.” (Hansberry, pg. 74). Mama tells Walter that life hasn’t always been about money, life has been about freedom but to Walter life has always been about money. Mama wants Walter to realize that there's more than just having money in life to be happy, but to Walter money has always been the key to happiness because since he sees all the white folk that have money enjoy the lives they have he assumes it's because of the

Money determines how happy he is. Mama is getting tired of his complaining so she decided to trust him with the large sum of money. This money makes him happy and friendly. It causes him to become the perfect family man. When he receives the insurance money he is ecstatic, but when he loses the money to Willy Harris he lets his self-loathing side come out. Walter knows that he screwed up and he really does not know how he will face the consequences.

When Walter loses all his money, he’s willing to lose his dignity and be more aggressive to earn it back. We see this when the money is stolen Walters and how it affects Walters view of manhood when he says, “Mama, you know it’s all divided up. Life is. Sure enough. Between the takers and the “tooken.” (He laughs) I’ve figured it out finally. (He looks around at them) Yeah. Some of us always getting “tooken.” (He laughs) ….But I’ll say one thing for old Willy Harris ... he’s taught me something. He’s taught me to keep my eye on what counts in this world” (141). Walter is willing to go against his morals to get what he wants in life, He takes now and apologizes later, whereas the tooken think through ramifications of their actions and don’t act. After the money is stolen, he is willing to take and win, whereas he had

In Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Walter’s character evolves from a man that puts money over everything into someone who cares about his family’s name. In the beginning of the story Walter desires wealth above all else; he says, “I want so many things that they are driving me kind of crazy…Mama – look at me.” (1.2.54). This quote shows that Walter has let his desire of instant gratification overcome his love for his family. Walter believes in get-rich-quick techniques such as risky investments. Walter initially believes the money should be invested in a scheme that will empower him and provide him with financial independence. Walter views the money as a way of proving his self- worth. However, at the end of the story Walter

Walter just cared about money he didn’t care about nothing he was only interested in money because he wanted to open a liquor store so he was only interested in mama’s money,mama didn’t want to give him the money for something like that. Walter didn’t care about his wife being pregnant because he was mad at mama for buying a house so walter didn't care about anythng.Walter didn’t believe in his sister beneatha wanting to be a doctor he told her to just be a nurse. Walter was just waiting for the money to come because he was thinking mama would give him that money. Mama didnt give the money to walter so he got mad and run away from home and did not show up for two days.WALTER…Just tell me where you want to go to school and you’ll go. Just tell me, what it is you want to be – and you’ll be it….Whatever you want to be – Yessir! (He holds his arms open for TRAVIS) You just name it, son…(TRAVIS leaps into them) and I hand you the world! (lorraine Hansberry,pg.2.2.131)

Walter is a very important character and impacts everybody by his actions and what he says and does. Walter changes a lot throughout the story. He begins to become very hostile and short tempered towards his family. He starts to lose all his family values and only starts to worry and care about the check that is coming in. He says, “did it come?” “will somebody please listen to me today!!!” This shows that he wants everyone to listen to his idea about what he wants to do with the money. While he wants this, he shows no care or regard to anyone else’s ideas or thoughts about it. The quotes show how selfish and rude he is, also it shows how he has lost of all his family’s values because he won’t even listen to anybody else.

When Walter loses the money, his views change. He convinces himself that a man doesn’t need morals, and that the only thing that matters is how

Suddenly, things changed, and Walter and his family came into quite a bit of money. Walter’s mama got a check for ten thousand dollars from her husbands life insurance after he passed away, which was a lot of money in that period of time. A nice house or a liquor store could easily be bought with half of the money from the check. Since the check was actually written out to mama, the money was all technically hers, so all that she wanted to do with it was buy her new house for her family, but stubborn Walter, he wanted his liquor store, and would stop at nothing to get it. When he finally realized that his mama was never going to give him the money to get the liquor store, he took it upon himself to get it himself. He eventually stole a portion of his mama’s money to get the store, but he was taken for a fool when the other person that he was making a deal with, stole all of his money. Now he had nothing, and mama had only some of her money.

Showing his frustration to his mother, Walter does not feel like he will ever acquire his dream because he feels like he never got the chance or opportunity to. The inability of not able to provide a better life for his household is causing him to stress, act out of character and clouding his decision making. With nowhere else to turn he thought he could use his father’s life insurance money to invest into a liquor store which turned into a scam. Walter feeling trapped from making advancements in life, he makes a huge mistake and learns from this error. In the play Walter is talking to mother describing his anger,

Halfway through the play, Walter tries to explain that he wants more out of his life, and Lena says that he has all he needs- a wife, a family, and a job. Walter then gets even angrier and says “Mama, a job? I open and close doors all day long. I drive a man around in his limousine and I say ‘Yes sir’; ‘No sir”; ‘Very good sir’; ‘Shall I take the drive sir?’ Mama that aint no kind of job” (Miller, pg 107). Walter’s dream to be rich drives him to the brink of insanity. Finally, Lena decides that she will give him the money to invest in a liquor store. She keeps part of the money to invest in a house, and gives him the rest of it. She tells him to put three thousand dollars in an account for Bonita’s tuition, and the rest is his to invest in the liquor store. Instead of putting any money in an account for Beneatha, Walter gives it all to one of his partners to invest in the store. He is told he will get enough of it back in a few days, so he can put the money in the account. As it turns out, his partner ends up leaving town with the money, and never coming back. Walter lost the bulk of the check. His dream to have money, to be somebody, to be rich; leads to his downfall. Instead, he ends up losing the money that could have helped the family as a whole. Not only did he set himself back, but he also set Beneatha back. Not only did he ruin his dream, but he also ruined his