A Raisin In The Sun Essay

546 Words3 Pages

A Raisin in the sun is a play that portrays a black family living in the bad side of Chicago. The family comprises of Mama; the matriarch of the family, her son Walter, daughter Beneatha, Walter wife Ruth and their son Travis. The family is living in a cramped apartment, with limited privacy and space as well as a shared bathroom with another tenant. The two members of the family that are actively working in the job market hold low paying jobs in the service industry. The family has money problems. They need an inspirational occurrence to happen in their lives quickly in order to make the necessary changes, to break the recurring cycle of poverty and desperation. The inspirational occurrence happened in the form of a 10,000 life insurance check, issued to Mama, from the death of her late husband. The entire family has been looking forward to this check in order to make their dreams come true. However, none of the members of the family was as starved and desperate for the money as …show more content…

He does not display aggression, but he wanted to protect and provide for his family. The trials that he is up against; lack of a career, lack of opportunities and low economic status, makes fulfilling his role as a man challenging. The desire to provide for his family was taking a toll on him. It started to affect all of the decisions that he made. During the first scene amid the exchange between himself and his wife, while discussing fifty cents that their son Travis was requesting for school, after Ruth refuses her son’s request, Walter Lee told Ruth “What you tell the boy things like that for”?” (reaching down into his pants with rather important gesture) and handed Travis the money. He hands Travis the money all the while, keeping his eyes on his wife. Walter wanted to prove himself to his family. He is telling his wife, verbally and nonverbally, that he is the man of the household and he is able to provide for his

Open Document