Lena Younger.
Character Analysis Mama (Lena Younger) Raisin actually tells the story of Walter Lee — granted that his is a story greatly influenced by Mama.
What does Mama symbolize in A Raisin in the Sun?
Mama is the most nurturing character in the play, and she constantly reminds Walter that all she has ever wanted is to make her children happy and provide for them. She cares deeply for Walter and shows this care by giving him the remaining insurance money.
What did Mama want in A Raisin in the Sun?
Mama dreams of moving her family out of their cramped apartment and into a house with a yard where children can play and she can tend a garden. Her dream has been deferred since she and her husband moved into the apartment that the Youngers still inhabit.
What did Mama do for Walter and why?
She gives him the remaining $6,500 of the insurance money, telling him to deposit $3,000 for Beneatha’s education and to keep the last $3,500. With this money, Mama says, Walter should become—and should act like he has become—the head of the family. Walter suddenly becomes more confident and energized.
Why is Mama’s Little plant so important to her?
Mama’s Plant
Her care for her plant is similar to her care for her children, unconditional and unending despite a less-than-perfect environment for growth. The plant also symbolizes her dream to own a house and, more specifically, to have a garden and a yard. With her plant, she practices her gardening skills.
Who is the hero in A Raisin in the Sun?
Walter
Walter is the protagonist in Raisin, for even though he does not appear to be a hero in the traditional sense of the word, he is the person around whom the drama revolves.
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.
What is Mama’s dream for Walter?
Mama’s dream is to attain a satisfying life for her family, own a house, and have Walter be the head of the household.
What is one of the main reasons Mama bought the house?
Mama wants to buy a house to secure a more comfortable standard of living for the whole Younger family.
Who revealed Walter’s pregnancy?
Mama
Mama sits down with Walter who is upset by—and ashamed of—his poverty, his job as a chauffeur, and his lack of upward mobility. Finally, Mama tells him that Ruth is pregnant and that she fears that Ruth is considering having an abortion.
How does Mama symbolically make Walter?
How does Mama symbolically make Walter the head of the household? She gives him “control” over the money as head and as the man of the household.
What does Mama want for her family?
Overall, Mama wants her family to succeed in life. In addition, when it comes to momentous family decisions she does what she believes is best for everyone. However, other members of family sometimes have contradicting beliefs, which makes them feel like their house is matriarchal.
What is Mama’s plant a symbol of?
Mama’s Plant Symbol Analysis. Mama’s feeble plant represents her family’s deferred dreams for a better future, which have struggled to survive under the strain of life in Chicago’s South Side. Mama’s unending devotion to her small houseplant signifies her constant care for her family and her attention to its dreams.
Why did Mama call Walter a disgrace to his father’s memory?
Why did Mama call Walter a disgrace to his father’s memory? He had become overly concerned with money and had lost his traditional family values, so much so that he didn’t try to convince Ruth no to have an abortion.
What is Mama’s advice to Beneatha?
Beneatha and George come home from a date, he wants a kiss but Beneatha just wants to talk. They fight and break up. Mama gives her useful advice on men telling her to marry for love, not for money even if that is the more useful thing to do.
Who is the antagonist in raisin in the sun?
Walter believes that the women in his life are his main antagonists. In particular, he believes that his wife, Ruth, prevents him from taking the steps necessary to escape his dead-end service job and create a better life for himself.
What is the main conflict in raisin in the sun?
Major conflict The Youngers, a working-class Black family, struggle against economic hardship and racial prejudice. Rising action Ruth discovers that she is pregnant; Mama makes a down payment on a house; Mama gives Walter the remaining insurance money; Walter invests the money in the liquor store venture.
What does Lena Younger represent?
Her nurturing personality is symbolized by the way she treats her houseplant. Though it is wilting, Mama loves it unconditionally. Just like her family, Lena’s plant lacks the necessary resources to flourish. Rather than giving up, however, Mama does all she can for it and has faith that one day it will truly thrive.
What happened at the end of raisin in the sun?
A Raisin in the Sun ends with the Younger family leaving their longtime apartment in Chicago’s South Side neighborhood in order to move into a house they’ve purchased in the otherwise all-white neighborhood of Clybourne Park.
Why does Beneatha break up with George?
As Beneatha dances in a robe that Asagai gives her, George deems her interest in her African roots absurd. His comments put him further at odds with Beneatha, and she begins to feel more of an affinity with Asagai and her African roots than with George and what she considers to be his false roots in American society.
Who steals the money in a raisin in the sun?
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.