Summary: Act I, scene ii. Once upon a time freedom used to be life—now it’s money. The next day, Saturday, the Youngers are cleaning their apartment and waiting for the insurance check to arrive. Walter receives a phone call from his friend Willy Harris, who is coordinating the potential liquor store venture.
What happened in the raisin in the sun Act 1 Scene 2?
Beneatha and Mama are busy doing weekend housecleaning when Ruth comes in, announcing sadly that she is pregnant. Mama is upset when she realizes that Ruth is contemplating an abortion. Joseph Asagai brings Beneatha a gift of African records and some Nigerian robes.
What news does Ruth have in Act 1 Scene 2 of a raisin in the sun?
Walter cannot accept Mama’s views, which he finds naive. Mama finally tells Walter that Ruth is pregnant and considering an abortion. Walter is shocked but insists that Ruth would never think of doing such a thing.
What happened in Act 1 in a raisin in the sun?
The main conflict in A Raisin in the Sun Act 1 is how the family should best spend the check they are going to receive. Mama wants to buy a house, Walter wants to open a liquor store, and Beneatha wants to go to medical school.
What happens in Act 2 Scene 2 of a raisin in the sun?
Analysis: Act II, scene ii. In Beneatha and George’s conversation, Hansberry reveals two sets of values regarding education. Beneatha believes in education as a means to understanding and self-fulfillment, while George sees education as a means to get a good job.
What happens when Ruth realizes that she is pregnant?
When Ruth finds out she is pregnant, she considers an abortion. However, in the end she decides not to get one because she and her family are moving into a house and she belives they can support a new baby.
What scene does Walter lose the money?
Act II, scene iii.
What page does Ruth talk about abortion?
The part that’s already living” (1.2. 235). Though Ruth hates the idea of aborting her child, she feels it’s the best decision for her financially-strapped family.
Why did Ruth want an abortion?
She contemplates an abortion, for example, not because she wants to, but because she is worried about the additional burden she would bring to the family that she already has. Still, Ruth is not an “emotional weakling.” She never raises her voice (as Walter does quite often), but she exhibits a remarkable strength.
Does Ruth tell Walter about her pregnancy?
Walter finds out about Ruth’s pregnancy from his mother who realizes that Ruth is considering an abortion, illegal during that time, and knows that Walter Lee needs to be aware of this and to provide support for his wife.
What happened to Ruth at the end of Scene 1?
At the end of the scene, Mama discovers that Ruth has fainted and fallen to the floor. Lorraine Hansberry’s debt to Richard Wright can be noted in the similarities between Hansberry’s Walter Lee and Wright’s Bigger Thomas.
How old is Beneatha in a raisin in the sun?
Twenty years old
Beneatha Younger (“Bennie”)
Beneatha is an intellectual. Twenty years old, she attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family. Some of her personal beliefs and views have distanced her from conservative Mama.
What is the setting of Raisin in the Sun Act 1 Scene 1?
The play opens in an apartment worn down from generations of ownership. It’s in the South Side of Chicago, and it’s a three-room apartment – there’s a bedroom for Mama and Beneatha, a bedroom for Ruth and Walter Lee, and their son Travis sleeps on a couch in a living room. Ruth Younger is preparing for the day.
How did Walter lose the money?
How does Walter lose the insurance money? Walter loses the insurance money to Willy, a crook that he mistakes for a friend. Mama entrusts Walter with all the money that remains after the down payment on the new house.
What gift does Travis give to Mama?
gardening hat
Scarlett O’Hara When Travis gives Mama his gift, of which he is enormously proud, everyone laughs because it is an oversized gardening hat worn, as he says, by [rich] ladies “who always have it on when they work in their gardens.” However, instead of looking like a rich “lady” in her garden, in this hat, Mama looks
Why did Mama give Walter the money?
She believed the realization of her dream could eventually open the door for other family member’s dreams. When she realizes she was doing to Walter what the rest of the world was doing, not giving him a chance to be a man, she corrected her actions by giving Walter part of the money to open a personal bank account.
Who was the last to know Ruth is pregnant?
Ruth returns from seeing a doctor, who has told her that she is two months pregnant. She reveals this information to Mama and Beneatha. Ruth and Beneatha are worried and uncertain, while Mama simply expresses her hope that the baby will be a girl.
What does Beneatha’s hair symbolize?
Beneatha’s Hair Symbol Analysis. Beneatha’s natural hair symbolizes her pride in her African heritage and her desire to explore her African roots.
Why is Ruth Younger unhappy with her pregnancy?
When Ruth gets pregnant, she considers having an abortion because the family cannot afford another child. She finds hope when the family decides to move into a better home in a white neighborhood and decides to keep her child.
What does Mama do with the $10000 in Act 2 Scene 1 of a raisin in the sun?
Walter’s bitterness increases when Mama uses her $10,000 life insurance money to buy a house in Clybourne Park, an all-white neighborhood. Walter wants to use the money to buy his own business.
Who stole Walter’s money?
Character Analysis Willy
Willy has no loyalty toward Walter or Bobo: He absconded with their money. Although he knows that he is robbing two people who have as little as he has, this does not stop him; he takes their money and runs off anyway.