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

“Life will test you, but remember this, when you walk up a mountain your legs get stronger” ~ Unknown. Life tested the Younger family in Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, when they receive a large sum of money and it places the family into a feud. Trying to stop the feuding of her children, and do what she feels the family must do in the 1950s racial prejudice against people of color. Lena Younger, a woman of great strength and dominance, makes difficult choices for the sake of keeping the family together in a time of hardship. Throughout the play Mamma shows how she helps her family, even the simple ways, like being strong for them when they can not. Throughout the play the family has aspirations, especially Walter Lee. Walter strives to open a liquor store and wants to use to money for this aspiration. Leana does not support Walter, saying multiple times she did not want to be reason something negative happens, feeling she would be blamed due to her money being used. This causes a rift between Walter and Mamma until she shows that Walter can still be trustworthy in her eyes. Mama’s other child, Beneatha, strives to be a doctor, to which

For example, when Beneatha fights with Walter she states: “He’s no brother of mine.”(145) Mamma snaps at this and tells her that she must love her brother even at lowest of times not just high times because that is when being loved is most important. Her strength in Walter’s absence of it helps the Youngers forgive him for the mistake he had made. When facing Mr.Linder during his second visit, Mamma keeps silent to his passive racism, only confronting him to say: “I am afraid you don’t understand. My son said we was going to move and there ain’t nothing left for me to say.”(149) This shows her strength because she shows that the oppression of colored people will not be stood for in her world and her son will be in charge from now on, not