Mama displays her altruism toward other people and their feelings along with her determination and forbearance as another main character in Hansberry’s play. These factors contribute to a beneficial impact on her dream. Mama constantly puts the needs of others before her needs. While trying to apologize to her son for leading him onto the wrong path in life, Mama states, “...I ain’t got nothing, don’t own nothing, ain’t really never wanted nothing that wasn’t for you. There ain’t nothing as precious to me — there ain’t nothing worth holding on to, money, dreams, nothing else — if it means — if it means it’s going to destroy my boy” (Hansberry 93). Mama’s earnest tone while talking to her son about how much she loves him shows the caring person that she is. The pauses in her speech along with words such as “destroy” make …show more content…
Mama also shows her generosity, as she implies that she has given up a lot of her material possessions to just see her child smile. Although she yearns to accomplish her own dream, she puts that aside to look after Walter and his sister, which shows her determination. Although she has struggled with accomplishing her dream for a while, she has not yet given up hope. Looking back to the time when she and her husband first started conceptualizing their version of the American Dream, Mama says, “(smiling) Hadn’t been married but two weeks and wasn’t planning on living here [in this apartment] no more than a year… But lord, child, you should know all the dreams I had ‘bout buying that house and making me a little garden in the back — (She waits and stops smiling.) And didn’t none of it happen” (Hansberry 35). As her smile begins to wane, Mama realizes that even though she has not yet accomplished her dream of owning a house and a garden, she could still do it in the future. Since the dream has stuck with her after all these years, Mama begins to understand that although