In “A Raisin in the Sun” we see a story of an African American family who is going through many hardships and trying to get by with any means possible. In this story we are introduced to a character named Walter who is trying to live out his “dream.” For many people in Walter’s situation living out their own dreams is not as realistic as they believe, and many things are holding them back. Walter seems to always come to disagreements about his dreams and aspirations when discussing them with the family.Walters family believes that they are African Americans and just that is enough to show him that his dreams are just a fantasy. Walter wants to open a liquor store and follow through with his dreams, but many obstacles are getting in his way.
Mama and Ruth are two people in the story who Walter desperately tries to get support from and explains how he does not want to settle for what his life is. He also states how it is emotionally distressing being a black man during his time. Walter says “Mama – sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool-quiet-looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking ‘bout things…sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars…sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me” (Hansberry 74). This example explains how Walter sees rich white men the same age as him and how he feels hopeless about himself and far behind his peers. For Walter having money is the only way he can feel respected and free in the world. Being a black man at Walters time was challenging and they were not seen as equal as well as not having opportunities, while many were serving white men in one way or another. Walter is tired of his boring life as a chauffeur for Mr. Arnold and wants to be worth something in life. “I want so many things that they are driving me kind of crazy…Mama – look at me” (Hansberry,73). Walters’ fight to achieve his dreams and want more has taken a toll on his mental health because he wants his dreams to be a reality so much and cannot seem to figure out how to get by. He knows what he wants and imagines it but needs to turn it into reality. Walter does not feel like race should hold someone back like the rest of the family thinks. Walter does not want to be serving people anymore and wants to the boss of his own business and must take a leap of faith to do this. If successful with his investment he would make more money, feel respected, feel more free and be able to provide for his family. He would show his son that you can be anything you want and do not have to do what society thinks is right for you, in his case driving around another white man all day. It even gets to the point where Walter does not show up to work for three consecutive days because he is tired of his meaningless life.
For Walter to go after his dreams he needs support through the process and that is lacking throughout his journey. Ruth is one character who is not supportive of Walters investments and always thinks they will fall through. Walter has seen one of his missed investment opportunities fall through because Ruth thought his partner was a “good-for nothing loudmouth.” In this case Ruth was wrong since Charlie Atkins was grossing a hundred thousand a year but she still does not support the liquor store investment. Walter is tired of the way they live, and Ruth believes Walter never says anything new and is always talking about his so-called investments that will get them money. In one of the scenes when Walter is talking about the liquor store investment, all Ruth can say to Walter is “eat your eggs.” He is pouring his emotions out and trying to get support and all Ruth can say is “eat your eggs.” Walter believes that the phrase “eat your eggs’ illustrates how women keep men from achieving their goals. Also, if Walter just sits down and eats his eggs, he is accepting the misfortunes that he faces in life and living the same day as he did the day before, not pursuing his dreams. Not having any support and getting held down by race is why Walter thinks African American men cannot pursue more in life.Walter does not need nourishment in life and wants moral support, not something he is expecting every day. This is just another one of the difficulties Walter faces in trying to go pursue his dreams.
Discussion Questions:
1) Is too much trust a bad thing in a relationship? Did it cause Walter to make bad financial decisions?
2) Is support an essential component in a relationship? Can to much support be a negative quality in a relationship?
Work Cited
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print.
Hey Justin, really liked your blog post! I agree with you that Walter feels that having money is the only way he can feel validated and respected by others. I feel overall that too much trust can be a bad thing because of Walter and Mama’s relationship. After Bobo shows up to relay the bad news, Walter said that, “Mama… I never… went to the bank at all” (129). Since Mama trusted Walter wholeheartedly, she gave him both his and Beneatha’s share of the money with the intention that Walter would put her share in the bank. Since he did not do what Mama told him to and gave both portions of their money to Willy for the business investment, the family lost the rest of the money. Ultimately, Mama trusting Walter with the rest of the money made them lose a substantial amount of money, making it an awful financial decision.
Work Cited
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print.
Hi Justin! I found this comment very informative and I feel it describes Walter’s situation very well. It is very clear that as a black man he is struggling to be respected like any other man or woman should. It is disheartening to see that he feels having money is the only way to be respected as a man. I feel that when it comes to having too much trust in a relationship, it can cause negative outcomes as we see what happens with the money Mama gives Walter. She trusts Walter and feels badly for him, giving him a significant amount of money and it disappears pretty much instantly. I feel that support is a very important aspect in any relationships and there can never be too much support because you never know where someone is at in their life. In Walter’s case, he seems to be at a very low part of his life and struggles to get move along everyday. I feel that Walter truly does have aspirations and dreams. His conversation with Travis shows how much he wants to provide for his family. The quote from Walter, “You name it, son….and I hand you the world!” shows that Walter cares and wants to be able to support his family. Walter clearly has struggles and disagreements with the family however he has big dreams and he just has to overcome those obstacles in front of him.
Work Cited
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print.
Hi Justin! Your post was very helpful, and actually made me realize how selfish Walter can be. I feel as though Walter is selfish because when Mama finally decided to show him that she trusts him, he took advantage of the power that was given to him. Mama states, “Monday morning I want you to take this money and take three thousand dollars and put it in a savings account for Beneatha’s medical schooling. The rest you put in a checking account with your name on it… I’m telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be.” (Hansberry 107). Too much trust is a bad thing in a relationship because some people might take advantage of it just like Walter did. Walter took all the money and didn’t follow the directions Mama gave him. He took it upon himself to go invest all of it and ends up losing the money. So therefore, it did cause Walter to make bad financial decisions. Support is somewhat an essential component in a relationship because in a relationship it is important to uplift one another. It reminds me of the saying in a relationship you’re supposed to water each other. Too much support can sometimes be a negative quality in a relationship because it can cause people to make mistakes and not own up to them. Walter got too much support and it negatively affected Mama and his relationship because he wasn’t being responsible and was only thinking about himself.
Work Cited
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print.
Hey Justin! I thought this blog post was very informative and helpful. It is evident that Walter is not only a black man who is trying to make ends meet, but who also wants to live out his dreams. I especially like how you said that for Walter, having money was the only way to feel respected in this world. I think an example of that can be seen after the check comes, and Walter and Mama are arguing. Walter states, “No – it was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it” (Hansberry 74). Walter’s whole life revolved around money, and like Angelica stated above in her comment, Walter was selfish about it. When it comes to too much trust in a relationship, there was too much trust in Walter to make a good, financial decision with the check that inevitably ended in Walter making poor financial decisions and disappointment.
Work Cited
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York; Vintage, 1994. Print.
Hi Justin! Thank you for posting about this. It was very helpful to analyze the relationship between Walter and other characters in the story. In this situation, not enough support was a bad thing in the relationships. The lack of support that Walter had from his family caused him to make bad financial decisions. Walter would often not tell his family about his decisions because he knew that they believed that since they were African American, they cannot pursue their dreams successfully. When he did tell them about his plans and dreams, they shut him down and said to just continue on in life. For example, Walter told Ruth about his plan to buy the liquor store and she quickly shut him down. She just said to “eat your eggs, Walter” every time he brought up a point about the liquor store investment (Hansberry 34). Walter felt no support from Ruth and thought that why men cannot achieve their dreams is because of the lack of women’s support. Without her support and advice for the investment, he can make bad decisions freely and get more backlash from Ruth. Support within a family or any relationship is crucial for success in decision making.
Work Cited
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print.