The Family In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

The Younger family in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun faces many oppositions and conflicts, but Mama, the matriarch of the family, keeps them held together. She helps them work out their issues with her wisdom that she has received through her own trials and tribulations. She can best be described as puritanical, dignified and caring woman who would do anything for her family. Hansberry separates Mama from the family through her wisdom and values, but she uses her to tie the story together. Mama’s puritanical values are the basis for how she runs the family. This character trait is the source of her strictness. She holds her family to a standard that they often times do not live up to. A prime example of her steadfast faith is

Hansberry gives us many examples of her caring nature, starting when she first enters the play, when she takes care of her plant. The plant is old and withering because it doesn’t recieve much light; however, Mama never gives up on her plant. This plant symbolizes the love for her family, even though they do not always have the right intentions at heart, she loves them and tries to nurture them back to health. Another prime example of her caring nature is how she treats Travis, her grandson. She “babies” him in a way, like when he does not make up his bed at first she questions why it is not made, but then she makes it for him. Probably the most obvious example is how she handles the money. While both of her children have their own dreams of how the money will be split, it is ultimately Mama’s money. She has always dreamed of having a house with a garden and a yard for Travis to play in and for everyone to have their own rooms. So she uses some of the money as a down payment, but she wanted the other portion to go to Beneatha’s college fund and then the rest to Walter for his dream. Throughout the play we see Walter’s frustration grow because he feels as if no one listens to him or cares about his dream, but by giving him this money Mama is showing him that she does care and she trusts in the man that he has become. “You trust me like that, Mama?” Asked Walter “I ain’t never stop trusting you. Like I ain’t ever