Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

In Lorraine Hansberry’s, A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Lee’s character and actions are greatly influenced by women in his life. Within a typical family during the 1950s, males were seen as the alpha of the household; however, women were always there to keep men grounded. Women have a certain perspective that men can never see, so their presence helps males see situations in different ways. Women also give insight to men on the heavy decisions and responsibilities they have to make as the breadwinner of the home. This advice is crucial because men can sometimes get overconfident and forget about the consequences of their actions; therefore, women are there to keep them on the right track. In the play, Walter Lee has many high and low points, however …show more content…
Beneatha is studying to be a doctor and the family praises her dreams and ambitions. However, Walter doesn’t support her dreams because he believes that she should be working a typical female job, such as a nurse, instead of wasting money and time in school. Since Walter doesn’t receive the same positive attention from his family for his own dreams, he tries to always find a way to look down upon his sister. This causes them to constantly bicker and take personal jabs at each other. Although, the insults are much deeper to Walter because they threaten his strong male ego. He doesn’t want to see his little sister succeed in life over him, since it will only make him feel more like a failure. Therefore, Beneatha being a steady reminder that Walter isn’t making anything of himself causes Walter to have a bitter and desperate personality. This is why he feels the need to validate himself as tough and superior every time he argues with the women in the family by yelling at them and going off to drink. Along with those traits, Beneatha being a regular negative support in Walter’s journey helped build him up for his powerful action at the end of the play, declining the offer. Since she is always on him and bringing him down playfully, it only motivated Walter to come back up strong in the end so that he could prove her wrong in the long run and finally feel appreciated. Therefore, Beneatha acted as a necessary critical influence in Walter’s life that helped develop his