Walter Beneathe Drems Analysis

Walter struggles in understanding who he needs to be for his family. He wants to take his place as the patriarch of the family, but he feels incapable of providing them with the lifestyle they deserve. This concern is always at the forefront of his mind, and it affects his attitude and outlook. The anxiety that Walter is dealing with creates confrontation with his sister. He fears that her dream will interfere with his own agenda of making a better life for his family. The severity of the tension becomes more and more apparent with Walter’s unwise investment. Walter is dealing with the burden that he has let his family down, while Beneatha is flabbergasted by the reality that her future has been snatched away from her, and she had no control over it. While reflecting on the situation, Beneatha remarks, “ I sound like a human who just had her future taken right out of my hands! While I was sleeping….things were happening in this world that directly concerned me and nobody consulted me—they just went out and did things—and changed my life” (Hansberry 3.15). Walter and Beneatha’s individual issues with the outcome of the situation cause them to find fault with one another during a time when their family needs to pull together to get through such a financial hardship. Walter is in an emotional pit; his turning to alcohol and music instead of his family for support expands the

After putting a down payment on the new house, Mama gives the rest of the money to Walter and ultimately gives him the role of the man of the house and to step up to take care of the family. However, Walter goes against Mama and decides to follow through with his dream and invest the money in his potential liquor store business. Although, his plans fall through when Willy, one of the “investors” runs off with the money. Not only Walter, but his whole family lose the chance of a better life and are forced to start back up again. They no longer have the money to put Beneatha through medical school or the money to support themselves. Despite the backfall, the younger family keeps trying. Even though the road ahead may be difficult, the Younger family has each other to support one another and that’s all they need. By picking themselves back up after they have lost everything, it shows that they aren’t ones known to give up at the sight of defeat. They kept trying after they had lost everything because having nothing left to lose means that things can only get better from here on out.

The stereotypes of rural Black women are depicted in the seemingly dilapidated state of mama’s old homestead. This is a stereotype of the poor and humble lives of the black subsistence farmers residing in the old South. Although Dee and her friend look down upon their lives, the reality is different. Mama completely owns her own reality and she is proud

As she walks through the door after a long and exhausting day, Monee King is greeted with “Hey Mom!”, from her 4 beautiful teenage girls. She cooks an amazing dinner after cooking for others all day. They sit at the kitchen table and bow their heads in prayer. After a quiet “Amen” the table erupts in stories about each of the young girl's day. She listens and laughs while thinking “This wasn't easy but it was worth it”

Family is expressed in diverse ways. Mama strongly believes in the importance of family throughout the book. She continues to try to keep them together by fulfilling their dreams before hers. Her dream was moving her family out of the ghetto and into a house with a yard where children can play, and she can tend a garden. Her dream has been deferred since she and her husband moved into the apartment that the Youngers still inhabit. Every day, her dream provides her with an incentive to make money. But no matter how much she and her husband strived, they could not scrape together enough money to make their dream a reality. As they go through trying times the eventify they come together as a family because by the end they realized being together was most important. They are still strong individuals but together they prove they are a strong family. Throughout the book the Younger family is constantly arguing about what Mama should do with the ten thousand dollars she inherited from her husband. “I-I just seen my family fall apart today…. Just falling into pieces in front of my eyes we couldn’t have gone on like we were today (Hansberry91)” Mama is trying to tell her family that these arguments about the money are tearing her family apart. She wanted them to know that she did the right thing by buying the house, thinking it would make her family happy again. Mama could have spent the money on herself, but she chose her family first and their needs that is

Beneatha really wants to go college, but they don’t have enough money to send her college. Beneatha’s dream is to go to medical school and become a doctor, but Walter doesn’t want to use the money for that. Walter knows that Beneatha really wants to go to medical school and become a doctor, but he doesn’t think it would be a smart use of the money. It is very expensive for her to do that, and it would use a large amount of money. He wants her to know that it’s Mama’s money not theirs.“Who the hell told you to be a doctor? If you so crazy ‘bout messin ‘round with sick people then go be a nurse like other women or

Consequently, the power over someone’s dream could possibly stop them from pursuing their ambition, acting as like a deferred dream. In A Raisin in the Sun, racism has power over Beneatha's dream of being a doctor. Even though Beneatha is a woman, she has a big dream of being a doctor. But, racism and gender inequality get in the way of her dream. Since Beneatha is a black woman, she has to work twice as intensely as any man or white woman to prove that she is capable to be a great doctor. Similarly, their family is poorer than most others, so she doesn’t have as many resources as other people do. She is reminded many times of how she shouldn’t proceed with her dreams, so the reminders of how she is a black woman doesn’t help with her situation. “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 woman—or just get married and be quiet…”(Hansberry 38) In this scene, Walter is arguing with his sister about the money they’re going to get from their father, but it takes a turn when Walter tries to make Beneatha feel terrible for wanting to be a doctor. However, that argument makes Beneatha determined to become a successful doctor. Around the 1950’s, when this novel takes place, it is concluded by the African Americans that it’s not likely that they will accomplish their dream. “Big Walter used to say, he’d get right wet in the eyes sometimes, lean his

Not only is she black but she’s a woman so in the 1950s the whole world was against her. “I know―because that’s what it says in all the novels that men write. But it isn’t. Go ahead and laugh―but I’m not interested in being someone’s little episode in America[...] (page 64)” Beneatha is a feminist and a resilient character but every male figure in her life treats her dream like a joke and a phase. She is belittled by her own brother who tells her to just be a nurse. She is belittled by George Murchinson her boyfriend who tells her that she’s too pretty for thoughts and that her dream is just a girlish fantasy. Even Asagai treats her as lower to himself. But Beneatha has dreams. After seeing a child named Rufus get his face split open and thinking he’d never be put back together, she saw him later all fixed up by doctors. This was a life changing moment. From then on Beneatha wanted to be a doctor and she is working as hard as she can to get there. This money is crucial for Beneatha. In order to become a doctor she needs to go to medical school but in order to go to medical school she needs money. Half of the insurance money was supposed to go towards her college education but instead her brother lost it

The main character is sent by his father to stay with his grandmother. This is where you learn that the strong heart runs in the family. This is true because she is a seventy-eight year old woman and will still patch out two acres of corn and make enough bread for the winter to do what she can to keep her family feed.  In her old age she hasn’t kept the best health. Some days she is too sick to get out of the bed. The main character takes care of her he cooks all the meals for her and helps her start to feel better. Living with her he hears stories of his father and how he is an honest man. Also his grandmother tells him about his grandfather and all the great things he would do.  Living with his grandmother is a great experience for the main character because she brings him history of his family and teaches him many things on how to live a content life.

Beneatha, being somewhat of an outcast, understands that she does not have to follow the status quo of her society by becoming a housewife, so she decides to work hard in order to become a doctor. Beneatha wants to fulfill this dream because she realizes that she enjoys helping people, as she explains to Asagai after the money is stolen, “That was what one person could do for another, fix him up — sew up the problem, make him right again” (III.i.900). Beneatha wishes to help people by taking care of them and ridding them of their problems. She does not want to become the typical, by standing woman that is not able to help if there is a dilemma. Even after Willy runs off with all of the money, Asagai offers Beneatha a way to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor. Beneatha reveals this wonderful opportunity to Mama as they exit their apartment, “To go to Africa, Mama -- be a doctor in Africa”

Beneatha is chasing her dream by her wanting to become a doctor. Beneatha was a very pretty, nice, and a thoughtful person. She didn’t care about others and what they thought of her. Beneatha try's everything she can to be a doctor. "I am going to be a doctor, I'm not worried about anything else" (Hansberry 50). She values her family's views but her desire is to become a doctor first and live happy. Although, she is trying to chase her dreams she try's new things. She also shows how understanding she is when

As we see from her first entrance, Beneatha is a loud and outspoken character. She is a single young female living in a home with Ruth and Mama. Quite similar as characters, they share traditional values and believe women should care for the wellbeing of their family. Ruth and Mama take pride in doing domestic service work as their source of income and are continuously seen putting their children’s needs before theirs. Hansberry uses Beneatha’s character to contradict these values and introduce a character with modern feminist views. Beneatha fiercely fires back to anyone who questions her life goals. She is constantly found bickering with Walter about her dream of becoming a doctor. She is reminded by him that “girls” shouldn’t be doctors. Beneatha voices her feelings on male dependency when she mentions to Mama and Ruth “Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet - if I ever get married”, and they respond with a shocked “if!”(50). The idea of a woman not wanting to get married was shocking to Mama and Ruth. Beneatha feels that she does not need to be dependent on a man; she has one goal, to become a doctor. She does not need a man in her life, she feels perfectly

After the death of her husband, Mother struggles to keep her family together by providing the support and guidance they need, and encouraging them to use good judgment and think of the family as a whole before making their decisions. As the family faces various obstacles, each seemingly more severe than the last, Mother begins

     Beneatha is an intellectual. Twenty years old, she attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family. Some of her personal beliefs and views have distanced her from conservative Mama. She dreams of being a doctor and struggles to determine her identity as a well-educated black woman. She realizes her brother, Walter, dislikes the idea of spending the insurance money on the college tuition but is determined to be successful in her life: “BENEATHA: What are you talking about Ruth? Listen, I’m going to be a doctor … first I’m going to be a doctor! (I.i pg. 50)” Beneatha builds her frustration upon the doubts of her brother. When Walter

Beneatha is referring to the fact that Walter plots and schemes get more ridiculous as time goes on. She wonders however, if there will be a limit to just how far he will go to attempt to provide a better life. He plans to go into business with his friends and buy a liquor store. However, furthermore, Mama will not allow him to spend obtained insurance check for 10,000 dollars, and instead plans to give most of her money to Beneatha for medical school. Walter, in a way, is jealous of his sister, for she will be able to fulfill her dreams of becoming a doctor. He, however, will have to keep living a monotonous life, not being able to support his family the way that he would like. He is also angry because Beneatha will get a large sum of Mama’s insurance money, and he will not receive a penny. This dispute leads to general hostility and overall anger in the household. Because of this animosity, there is much verbal abuse that takes place within the household, and also leads to the Walter’s alcohol abuse. Throughout the play, Lorraine Hansberry displays conflict through the lives of her characters.