Walter is a man who ultimately cares about himself and his family and tries to keep this conceit and their well-being as central as possible even in the face of change. Walter, A Raisin in the Sun’s protagonist, is an economically ambitious man. He buys into mythic ideals such as those he associates with Ahab, the A-student “golden boy” in school who went out into the world and earned riches; he does not accept that Ahab is dead. He believes that he is Ahab (he even tries to procure an Ahab-esque Moby Dick for his living room), and like Ahab he desires economic success at any price.
Walter seeks to earn enough money to move his family out of the south side ghetto; when his mother dies, she leaves him $10,000 with which to do this. When Younger Brother announces that he has lost all of the money playing dice, Walter explodes in anger because it will make achieving his dream impossible. He initially lashes out against Mama, then Baby Sister who were his mother’s heirs, then Mother Younger who is simply a conduit for the money.
Even when he has given up on attaining Ahab-esque riches and has decided to use his $10,000 to help Youngers get a liquor store and leave the ghetto, he decides not to give them all of it because they do not deserve it: Walter needs an Ahab to cut down in order to feel worthwhile. He gives Mama her share only after she agrees that if they win the lottery (and thus become rich) she will buy herself a mink coat and let him have his pick of any car in stock at Cadillac. However, through out A Raisin in the Sun Walter shows that he does care about others as well as himself.
A large part of this is due to his love for his family, which he needs to feel as though he has succeeded as a man and made it out of the ghetto. Walter tries very hard throughout the play to convince his wife that he loves her and can provide for her, but she continuously makes it apparent that money is not all she wants from him. The only way he seems able to prove this to her is by showing her that he cares about others besides himself. Walter’s relationship with Mama provides an excellent example of how Walter’s understanding of being a successful husband and father comes through caring about others first.
In A Raisin in the Sun, Walter constantly argues with Mama because she tries to support the Youngers out of Walter’s $10,000. Whenever Mama starts talking about helping Walter with Ahab-money, he always tries to convince her that she should not worry about it because “the money’s for you too. You know that! ” He does this not only because he loves her but also because Ahab is dead and his single greatest fear is being poor without anyone around him who cares about him.
Mama represents the family members who cared about Ahab when Ahab was rich; however, now Ahab is Walter and he understands how Ahab could have died alone in an apartment watching others grow rich while he struggled. This theme comes through most clearly at end of A Raisin in the Sun when Mama dies. A short time after her death, Walter is visited by his Ahab-self which confronts him with all of the ways Ahab could have died. Ahab is also his fear of dying alone and poor; he tries to explain this to Ruth but she does not understand because Ahab is dead inside of her now too.
Ahab leaves Walter terrified at the prospect that he might turn out just like Ahab unless he can provide for his family through some other means than money. Walter fails as a husband because he does not consider Baby Sister’s feelings about living on the south side, which leads to their argument over her beau George Murchison. Although Walter loves himself more than he loves anyone else, he still tries to convince Lorraine to let George live with them because it is the right thing to do and Ahab would have done it.
”A young man living in a society based on racial segregation and discrimination, Walter has difficulties figuring out where he fits in his own life. The only thing he seems to know is that his value lies within becoming successful in the eyes of other people through materialism.
In Walter’s attempt to achieve this “American Dream,” Hansberry uses symbolism to project how pressure from society can change a character’s view on success and wealth to be much more shallow. A perfect example is when Walter chooses not to spend time with his family so that he can have a one-night stand with a white woman who lives next door.
Because she was well-dressed, Walter believed her to be wealthy and therefore worthy of pursuing. This shows how Walter is so obsessed with being accepted by society that he puts a higher value on a woman who is not of African-American descent. Achieving success, or becoming “somebody” to society, is something Walter feels as if he must do in order to feel fulfilled about himself and his position in the world.
In the end, Hansberry demonstrates that materialism leads one down a path towards emptiness instead of fulfillment through Walter’s suicide. In this sense, A Raisin In The Sun can be seen as a tragedy because it follows a character whose life spirals out of control thanks to pursuing the wrong things in life. I think Lorraine Hansberry was trying to make a statement about what society can do to a person when they place too much emphasis on what is perceived as “worthy” and “successful.”
– A Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry that takes place in a cramped apartment in Chicago’s South Side, where a poor African American family eeks out their living while trying to realize their American Dream.
– Walter Lee Younger is the son of the protagonist Lena Younger and husband of Ruth, he has been working for three years at night school with plans to become a lawyer, but lives lavishly trying to impress women with his money instead of spending time with his family. It leads him into trouble with his wife and causes him to have unrealistic expectations which he acts on by having casual sex with a white woman, which is his downfall.
– A tragedy is “a form of dramatic literature in which the protagonist’s downfall is brought about by an error or flaw in judgment. At the end of the story (almost) all obstacles are removed and all subplots are resolved, leaving him free to live happily ever after; but instead he makes some foolish choice (or series of choices), commits some tragic act, and brings his life to ruins.”
