Lena Younger In A Raisin In The Sun

The play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry introduces the Younger family, post-World War II. Throughout the play, the African American family face issues and challenges. These problems are especially addressed as the Younger family receives an insurance check for ten thousand dollars because of Mr. Younger's death. Lena Younger is a prominent role within the play as the motherly figure and the head of the family after her husband's death. Lena Younger is a family oriented mother that looks out for everyone in the younger family. Throughout the story, Lena grows and develops, as she leads the family through their struggles. Lena Younger is the stronghold of the Younger family that impacts the family with her authoritative, traditional,

For example, Lena states, "We ain't no business people Ruth. We just plain working folks." (Hansberry 1.1.500). Lena is used to her parents and childhood lifestyle. During her time growing up, her family was never wealthy or successful within the business world. Mama is not open to the idea that her family could ever become business people. She feels as if the Younger family has reached their potential with little growth towards anything more than what they already have. One can also see Lena's traditional nature when she states, "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." (Hansberry 1.2.522). Mama has lived with the idea that freedom was the meaning of life. All her ancestors were slaves. Her entire family wanted freedom. Now that her son is telling her that money is the new meaning of life, she is finding that concept hard to grasp on too. Mama is so set that her views still apply to the world she lives in now, but Walter has proven her wrong. Lena also states,"Son- I come from five generations of people who was slaves and sharecroppers- but ain't nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn't fit to walk on the earth. We ain't never been that poor." (Hansberry 3.571). Mama is so accustomed to her way of life that she is astonished by what Walter is trying to

This is clear between Lena and her daughter Beneatha when Lena states, " Now- you say after me, in my mother's house there will be a God." (Hansberry 1.1.507). Mama is dedicated believer in God. She will continue to push the ideas on to her children and others because she believes that is the right thing to do. Mama's dream to spread God's word to her children. Mama has always been a faithful woman and she wants to see that Beneatha is faithful as well. This is especially crucial to Mama because she sees Beneatha as a younger version of herself. Mama continues to push Beneatha towards God's word by saying, "It don't sound nice for a younger girl to say things like that—you wasn't brought up that way. Me and your father went to trouble to get you and Brother to church every Sunday." (Hansberry 1.1.507). Mama continuously shows her dedication towards God by going to church and making her children go to church as well. Mama states that it was a trouble to get her kids to school every Sunday but that didn't deter her from wanting to go. She pushed passed the difficulties and made going the to church a weekly routine for the family. Lena also goes on to say, "Well-whether they drinks it or not ain't none of my business. But whether I go into business selling it to ‘em is, and I don't want that on my ledger this late in life." (Hansberry 1.1.501). Lena