Pride In A Raisin In The Sun

To be prideful is human nature, even when it hasn 't been earned. Being proud of who you are and what you have accomplished is an important part of everyone 's life, but sometimes we are prideful without something to be proud of. This kind of pride is shown in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry through the character Walter Younger. He enters the play with a false sense of pride in being a man, despite the fact that he is a chauffeur who is struggling to support his family. Throughout the plot, he struggles with acceptance of his social status and economical situations, but ends up achieving true fulfillment in simply being proud of who he and his family are as people with aspirations. Walter’s evolution as a guy who is not

Walter further shows his false pride when he flaunts his newfound sense of power when Mr.Lindner, one of the Younger’s soon-to-be neighbors, offers him an unjust deal.Now that Walter has control over the family 's money, he considers himself the head of the family and decision maker; this plays an important role towards how Walter treats others now that he holds himself to a higher standard. This theme applies to Walter when the chairman of the “welcoming committee” (115) named Mr.Lindner pays a visit to the family a couple weeks before they 're supposed to move into their new home in Clybourne Park. During this visit, Mr.Lindner makes the offer of the Clybourne Park community “buy[ing] the house from [them] at a financial gain to [the] family” (118). Mr.Lindner’s offer represents the racial oppression and how the white community looks down upon and doesn’t want African american people dirtying their communities. This offer is absurd to Walter especially, now that he holds himself higher due to his recent economic gain and in knowing that it 's solely due to racial prejudice. Walter is extremely offended and on behalf of his family simply yet sternly tells Mr.Lindner to “Get Out” (119) after maturely listening to what he had to say. This is a bold move for Walter since it 's something he wouldn 't have done if he hadn 't received the money, allowing him to emulate holding a

Nearing the end of the play, Walter finally finds true pride after rejecting Mr.Lindner’s final offer of money to keep the Younger family out of Clybourne Park. As soon as Mr.Lindner arrived at the apartment, he sat at the dining room table, took out his checkbook, and invited whomever was negotiating the deal to sit across from him. Mama sends Walter forward to confirm the deal as Ruth attempts to send Travis out of the room, but Mama stops him saying “No. Travis, you stay right here. And you make him understand what you doing. ..You show where our five generations done come to.” (147). Walter realizes in this moment that the acceptance of the Clybourne Park community’s money to stay out of the neighborhood would highly affect the dignity, hope, and dreams of not only himself, but the rest of his family. From here Walter attempts to explain their family 's pride in being “..very plain people” (147), bringing Travis to his side as he speaks for the whole family rather than only himself. He ultimately states, “.. we have decided to move into our house because my father- my father- he earned it for us brick by brick” (148) implying that they deserve what they 've earned, and a chance to become even more. Linder understands that their family has enough self-worth within themselves to move in and uphold their family name without consent from others. In knowing this, Lindner leaves letting Walter use the pride in his family as who they are, carry them to reaching