Compare And Contrast Po Boy Blues And A Raisin In The Sun

Both Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and Langston Hughe’s “Po’ Boy Blues” present Walter Lee Younger and the speaker of the poem as men with similar stories, however both reach different conclusions with their struggles. Both men at the start of their stories have hopes and dreams. Later, their trust is betrayed and they lose their thoughts of happiness. However, at the end, Walter is able to regain his determination to keep fighting and surviving, while the narrator of the poem is unable. Both protagonists believe in their dreams, and have high hopes for the future. In the play, Walter’s mother receives a paycheck due to her husband passing, and is unsure of what she should do with it. Walter Lee fantasizes about this money, believing he would become rich once that money was invested into business. However, these fantasies come into conflict with Mama’s when she buys a house with some of the money. The poem’s protagonist also recalls to

Due to the loss of his and his sister’s money, Walter breaks down and decides to demean himself in front of Lindner, who wishes for the Youngers to rethink moving into his white neighbourhood. However, right before Walter loses all his dignity from grovelling at the white man’s feet, Mama steps in with Travis. Travis is Walter’s son, who he loves and cares for immensely. With his young son there as witness, Walter is finally able to muster up enough determination to face Lindner and refuse his offer of money for their new home. Due to his family and compassion for his son, Walter is able to face his loses and keep moving forward. However, the poem’s speaker has a different temperament towards his situation, “[he wishes he’d] never been born,” (Hughes 23). This man is weary, and is tired from his struggles in life. He no longer has the determination to keep going, unlike Walter. This is due to the fact that he