Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Pride or Money "Hold fast to dreams / For if dreams die / Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly." is the first line of the poem "Hold Fast to Dreams" by Langston Hughes. Without dreams one's life has no purpose. In the play A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that tells the story of the hopes and dreams of a five person African American family living in Chicago in the 20th century. As Mama, the head of the house, receives a retirement check of 10,000 dollars, each person in the family has their hopes and dreams of what to do with this large sum of money. Walter is the son of Mama and the main male figure of the family, and he wants to use this money to invest in a liquor store. But most importantly, Walter values his …show more content…
Travis asks for fifty cents, but Ruth said that she doesn’t have fifty cents. Walter says, “What you tell the boy things like that for? (Hansberry 31)” Even though his family can barely live on their meager earnings, Walter wants his son to have the impression that they don’t have to worry and to give Travis a comforting childhood so he has a better future. He finds it embarrassing to admit to his son they cannot afford the little amount of a couple of cents. He also values his pride and reputation by declining Lindner’s offer and deciding to move into the new house on a street full of whites. Walter says “And we have decided to move into our house because my father-my father- he earned it for us brick by brick…We don’t want your money.” (Hansberry 148) This shows he has pride to stand up to Lindner and say that his family wants the new house, which represents a new, happier beginning for his family. Although the house is exceedingly expensive at 125 dollars a month, all four members of the family that are able to work are willing to work so they can live a better life and Travis can have a real home. Although Walter and his family were perfectly fine living in the apartment, in the end, he insists his family moves to the lavish and ornate house. A large reason for Walter's life changing decision is that he wishes to uphold his esteem needs. Thus, moving into the house increases his …show more content…
He wants to use the check to invest in a liquor store because he believes this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that can help his family succeed and live a better life. Walter makes it sound so easy, “You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on the place be ‘bout thirty thousand, see. That be ten thousand dollars each. (33)” Ruth, Benethea, and Mama are hesitant about letting Walter invest in the liquor store because they are uncertain about some of the people involved with this investment. Ten thousand dollars is the largest amount of money the family has ever had and it represents the life earnings of Walter Senior. The rest of Walter's family is afraid that they could lose this money in this extremely risky investment. However, Walter understands that they only way for his family to be affluent and respected in society is to take risks. Walter dreams of his family succeeding. One morning he decides to tell Travis about his dreams. He talks about how he is going to make a life decision, "You wouldn't understand yet, son, but your daddy's gonna make a transaction...a business transaction that's going to change our lives" (Hansberry 108). He talks about how he will change his family's life. He even imagines how it's going to look, "And I'll pull the car up on the driveway... just a plain black Chrysler, I think, with white walls -no- black tires.