Cayla Budd
English/9
Mrs. Rowe
March 27, 2008
A Raisin in The Sun
Mama is the head of the family, and she is very much in control of her children’s lives. She is driven by a strong sense of pride and a strong faith in god. Mama dreams of moving her family out of the small apartment and into a house with a yard where children can play and she can have a garden. Mama’s dreams soon look less and less real when Walter loses all of the money she gave to him. Her and her husband bought that apartment and after he past away the family moved in with her. Mama didn’t mind because she likes to be head of the family and in control of things, but when Walter starts acting up and is all worried about money and getting out and having a place for his family things start changing. “Then isn there something wrong in a house-in a world-where all dreams, good or bad, must depend on the death of a man?”(3.3 15-19). Mama’s saying that when their father died its like all of their dreams were gone, or Walter and beneatha thought they can’t achieve them.
Walter dreams of becoming wealthy and being able to provide for his family. He wants to give them what he never had. Walter’s dreams of owning a liqueur store conflict with mama’s value system. This conflict has gotten bigger due to the fact that Walter and his family live in mama’s apartment. In which Walter is unable to make mature deciones and all he thinks about is money. Mama says, “Oh so now its life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life- now its money. I guess the world really do change” (1.1 22-25). Walter believes that money brings happiness. He soon realizes when he loses the money that the family can live without being rich and that it takes time to get to his dream. “He finally come into his manhood today, didn’t he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain…” (3.3 20-23). Money is no longer Walters’s top priority and his family is able to trust in him again.
Beneatha has a dream to become...