In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun Walter Lee and Beneatha both have great dreams but encounter at least one barrier to their success. In both cases, Walter Lee himself is the barrier that stands between Beneatha's dream and Walter’s dream. Beneatha also finds a barrier in her race and gender. Walter Lee dreams of having a lot of money and becoming a successful business man while Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor, yet they both find that in their attempts of reaching their dreams that Walter Lee is a barrier because he cannot handle money properly.
Walter Lee has dreamed of having money and being a rich businessman for a long time, as stated by Ruth in act 1, scene 2: “I listen to you every day, every night and every morning, …show more content…
Beneatha was going to medical school which costs a lot of money, and Walter thinks that their mother’s money should be used by them to help pay for this and Walter’s dream of being a businessman: “You such a nice girl-but if Mana got that money she can always take a few thousand and help you through school too-can’t she?” (1.1.37). Beneatha wants to be a doctor by her own means and she does not want to take her mother’s money. Walter does not understand Beneatha’s dreams and why she will not take her mother’s money, so he uses it for the liquor store. The money that Walter received that could have helped to put Beneatha through medical school, but he wastes it, which is just another barrier he causes for Beneatha and the rest of his family. Walter addresses another one of Beneatha's barriers as being an African American woman that is trying to become a doctor: “If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people-then go be a nurse like other women-or just get married and be quite…” (1.1.38). In the time period of the play, African Americans, especially women, were not doctors or business people. Beneatha would have to overcome the racism and sexism of the time, and her brother even shares this bias. Walter Lee was a barrier in Beneatha’s dream of being a doctor, just as he was a barrier to his own
Walter Lee has dreamed of having money and being a rich businessman for a long time, as stated by Ruth in act 1, scene 2: “I listen to you every day, every night and every morning, …show more content…
Beneatha was going to medical school which costs a lot of money, and Walter thinks that their mother’s money should be used by them to help pay for this and Walter’s dream of being a businessman: “You such a nice girl-but if Mana got that money she can always take a few thousand and help you through school too-can’t she?” (1.1.37). Beneatha wants to be a doctor by her own means and she does not want to take her mother’s money. Walter does not understand Beneatha’s dreams and why she will not take her mother’s money, so he uses it for the liquor store. The money that Walter received that could have helped to put Beneatha through medical school, but he wastes it, which is just another barrier he causes for Beneatha and the rest of his family. Walter addresses another one of Beneatha's barriers as being an African American woman that is trying to become a doctor: “If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people-then go be a nurse like other women-or just get married and be quite…” (1.1.38). In the time period of the play, African Americans, especially women, were not doctors or business people. Beneatha would have to overcome the racism and sexism of the time, and her brother even shares this bias. Walter Lee was a barrier in Beneatha’s dream of being a doctor, just as he was a barrier to his own