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Walter Lee Younger: A Materialist Portrait
A Raisin in the Sun, a play by Lorraine Hansberry poses conflicts of a black family in Chicago and presents Walter Lee Younger as one of the more important and influential to the plot. Walter Lee Younger is a frustrated 35 year old chauffeur who lives with his poor African-American family in a small apartment in Chicago. There are important actions that determine his personality in the play and his involvement. He is always dreaming of ways to make money and improve the family’s live. The plot revolves around him and the actions that he takes, and his character evolves the most during the course of the play. Most of his actions and mistakes manipulate the family greatly, but his belated rise to manhood makes him a sort of hero in the last scene. Walter believes that money can buy the happiness of his family; therefore, he is incapable of taking on the responsibilities implied when being head of a household. Walter Lee Younger, the key character in this play, which has the power within the family as the “man,” to change the course of their lives, illustrates scarce capabilities of emotional guidance and monetary responsibility, furthermore, relies on money to meet his family’s needs and believes that “life is money,” more than he believes in Mama and in the family. Walter is a rather unsuccessful man in his household, who has failed to obtain his economic independence, therefore he is a dependent member of the family which has to rely on Mama’s authority over the economic ruling. His constant unbalanced pursue in the field of monetary interest to fulfill family needs, fails to conceive the necessities of emotional support, implied behind the complex needs of a family. It becomes characteristic of Walter in his development in the play that whenever the economic stability exists his outlooks for the future are optimistic, however when this aspect seem threatened by his own misjudgment he suffers a nervous breakdown.
In this play Walter relies on money to meet the family needs rather than believing in Mama and the family’s growth, because his hopes for a better standard of living depend on receiving the insurance money. Walter has failed to obtain his economic independence, therefore he is a dependent member of the family which forces himself to rely on Mama’s authority over the economic ruling. Walter eagerly wants the money to start his liquor store and persuades his own wife, Ruth, to convince Mama to give him the insurance money for that purpose, “Did it come?…Mama- look. Old Willy Harris put everything on paper…” (I, ii,57.) Walter does not give up on this dream and pushes Mama to give him the money. He stresses the importance of this business for the whole family and for its development. When Mama refuses to give him the money he exits saying, “You don’t understand about building your man up, making them feel like they’re somebody and they can do something.” (I, i, 22.) The implications of Walter’s words, [next page]