Ruth is the stay at home mom of the Youngers. She is the wife of Walter Lee Younger, and is just as motivated for accomplishing her dreams. She is the second head of the family because of how she tries and guides others like Lena Younger. That is because of how she wants a better life for her child and family as a whole. Even if everyone in the family wanted a better life, Ruth was the one affecting everyones’ dreams with her circumstances and personality. Those traits that affected the story the most were how frugal she could be, her protective nature as a mother, and Ruth’s honesty with reality. The play opens up by describing the apartment complex that they live in. A rundown apartment building that shares a few bathrooms with other residents. Their apartment has cracks, cockroaches, small living space, and furnishings. With the introduction you get a glimpse into what the family lives through, and what the family hates about it. So it’s not a surprise that Ruth will try and save money. You can see this in the first act where she is trying to get Travis out of bathroom so he can eat his meager breakfast, and so Walter can get ready …show more content…
Ruth doing this is just one of her forms of protecting the family. One act she planned was to have an abortion so that her existing family could still live the way they do. She didn’t want to bring a child into the world who would be living in such conditions. I also believe that this changed how Lena and Walter saw themselves for the future. When Lena talks to Walter to discuss the house on Clybourne Park she ends up giving him the rest of the insurance money. I think it made him think of what he was going to do for his family’s future. This only made him more motivated for his dream of the liquor store because he wanted to provide for that baby. Ruth’s protective nature caused her dream to change, as well as