A Raisin In The Sun Literary Analysis

The play A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, tells the story of a husband named Walter, trying his best to provide for his family and get them the dream life they have imagined. The name Walter means “Army Ruler,” suggesting that the name is referring to a barrier or a wall. The name Walter has a symbolic meaning that alludes to his role by trying to protect and provide for his family, despite facing barriers in his pursuit towards providing for his family even if it means making decisions without a certain outcome. The name Walter has the word “wal” in it which sounds like “wall.” Some other words for wall are protector, divider, or separator. In A Raisin in the Sun, Walter is the husband and the only man in the play, so Lorraine

He dreams of owning his own business one day and being able to make enough money to provide for his family in the future. His dreams are often resistant and declined by his wife, mom, and sometimes his sister. This is shown in the play by mama saying to Walter, “And there ain’t going to be no investing in no liquor stores” (Lorraine 1.2.70). This also happens in the play when nobody listens to Walter’s ideas or lets him speak. This is significant in the play because Walter’s dream and way to provide for the family is to open a liquor store with two of his acquaintances. Walter thinks he can use the money from his father’s death to pay his amount for the store. Mama doesn’t agree and tells him no. As Walter is trying to provide for his family he is getting torn down by his family because his decisions are not the best. This is an obstacle he has to overcome and work through to try to find a better way that everyone agrees with. Eventually, the money goes to a new home for the family and Walter has more challenges to come. This relates to the meaning of his name because as he is trying to protect his family, he is also trying to accomplish his own goals and dreams of owning a business and being able to give his family what they

He is initially polite but becomes unsupportive when he learns that the Youngers have bought a house in his neighborhood. His goal was to keep the neighborhood separated from Black families to maintain the racial segregation. The name Karl means “free man,” suggesting that anyone who has this name portrays someone to be very open and think they can do whatever they want. The name Karl is often associated with someone who is determined or has a lot of strength or power. It also could be someone who is not afraid to take charge or make decisions that not everyone would make. Lorraine chose the name to reflect Karl as choosing what he wants to do himself or making a tough choice to do something or not. In the novel, Karl says to the Youngers, “At that moment the overwhelming majority of our people out there feel that people get along better, take more of a common interest in the life of the community, when they share a common background” (Lorraine 2.3.117-118). When Karl says this, he is going above and beyond and going out of his way to try and protect his neighborhood by not letting a different race move