Authored by Lorraine Hansberry, ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ focuses on a young man, Walter Lee who evolves through character changes. He is the dynamic character and the unconventional hero of the story, living with his wife, mother, sister and son in the southern side of Chicago. They live at the onset of black segregation recognition and barely survive; the family grows weaker due to money problems. Walter seems to be a dreamer as he wants to be rich and even devises strategies on how to acquire wealth and through the story; he is wholly pre-occupied with ideas of solving his family’s problems. The character traits of Walter change throughout the story, at first; he is viewed as a very caring, generous and compassionate man but turns out to be a selfish man in his ideas of attaining the American dream (Cooper 59). Outlined below is a detailed analysis on the characters of Walter and how they define his identity and role in his own family.
As the story opens, Lee is depicted as a selfish young man with excessive thirst for wealth. Soon after his father passes on, he is expecting a life insurance check and seems excited, literally ironical. He intends to set up an alcohol store in partnership with his friend Willy Harris. He is warned by his family against trusting Harris, let alone setting up a liquor store which his mother viewed as evil. Nevertheless, he adamantly refuses to heed to the advice, his mother takes a portion of the money since it’s under her name which leads Walter to despair (Shih 279). He refuses to go to work which further portrays him as a selfish man. Lena ends up giving in and giving up the money to her son since she trusts him to put some of it in to the account to aid his studies. However, Walter stupidly trusts Harris, gives him the money and ends up losing it all as Harris betrays him (Cocola et al. 49). This selfish nature makes it really hard for people to get along with him. He picks up fights with his sister and says very mean things to his wife and is even in bad terms with his own mother.
Walter is a proud man; he is described as “a lean intense young man in his middle thirties. Inclined to quick nervous movements and erratic speech habits- and always in his voice there is a quality of indictment.” ((Hansberry) 142). By nature, he is a proud man. This is evident in his quality of ‘indictment speech’. Often, he sounds punitive and accusing. He is not contented with his current financial status and he is literally restless throughput the story. His pride is evident in the fact that, he wants to start a business and earn more money in the quest of achieving respect. This urge negatively affects him as he turns emotionally unstable and washes away in anger and frustration. His mother notices the change and at one point concludes that her son’s pride eats him up like a crazy person. Walter’s pride does not change despite him being a round character since it is what composes his inner-state. Even as the story unwinds, his proud nature is evidently shown as he moves his family to an exclusively white neighborhood.
Walter Lee Jr. is hard working as he strives all he can to provide for his family. He works as a chauffeur and aspires to be a business owner someday; he talks to his son Travis about his wishes of being able to provide for his family which would win him respect and feels obligated to his family’s economic needs. He has a dream which has being deferred by his family’s economic hardships and seems not to find decent employment (Cocola et al. 59). He struggles against all the hardships that a black family among whites encounters, racial prejudice been a thorn in his foot; he claims that the reason behind him not getting a decent job is his black skin. This brings about the need to fight racism and the value of dreams, as the story closes, he moves his family to a white’s neighborhood and gains back his respect.
He is portrayed as an ambitious man who dreams of owning a liquor store at one point of his life. His dream and ambition of attaining wealth is what drives the play since it sets the ball rolling from the many conflicts that emanate from it. The motivators of his ambition are both selfish and genuine, at some point, he wants to become rich since he has never really had enough in his life and again, he wants to gain respect from his family. Moreover, Lee cannot contain the fact that he is working for a white man and has to keep bending low to him (Cocola et al. 63). He knows so well that working as a chauffeur will not make him rich since there is no advancement in the job. He is totally dissatisfied by his life and basically, feels less of a man. He holds on to his dreams and does not rest until he succeeds. His bitterness catalyzes his dreams and ambitions as he keeps struggling in the quest of attaining richness.
Additionally, Walter appears to be arrogant and patronizing. He belittles his sister Beneatha who wants to use mama’s money for medical school. These two barely get along and they disagree on how mama should use the money. Beneatha believes that mama has every right to use the money any way she wants to but Walter wants the money to be at his disposal so he can control it. He resents her sister since he has to work as she goes to school and the two have very diverse goals and dreams (Cooper 60). Walter stands for the idea that Benaetha should just get married rather than using the money for medicine school and this portrays him as a very arrogant and patronizing young man. He appears to be a male chauvinist as he believes that women ought to stick to traditional roles like giving birth- ‘Who the hell told you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy ‘bout messing’ round with sick people- then go be nurse like other women or just get married and be quiet…”((Hansberry 38).
He wrestles with his hopes and dreams as he plays his role in showing pain, suffering and frustration. He is the focal point on how dreams grow and how crucial they are, his presence in the drama is to assess the spirit of holding on to dreams. Despite the fact that Walter makes some very poor decisions, he ends up saving his family. He appears to be a tragic hero in the aspect of being African-American at a time when it was very challenging to live (Shih 280). He undergoes many tragic situations as a black man among the whites, trying to provide for his family with a materially unsatisfying job, a clear image of the encounters of blacks in America during that specific historical time.
In conclusion, Lorraine’s “A Raisin in the Sun” is literally an artistically compelling novel that focuses on Walter lee, a black young man who struggles with providing for his family and meeting his role as a man. Focusing on isolation, victory and managing with personal tragedy, the novel portrays Walter as an all-round character who undergoes so many changes throughout the story. He is besieged by economic struggles and desires that pull him up to hard work and eventually success. The ugliness of racism is clearly shown through Lee as he struggles to fit into the system. Walter’s voyage from the beginning of the story takes him from a complete richness-obsessed jerk to a respectable man. Through Lee, Lorraine clearly shows how poverty, racism, fate and betrayal can turn humans against each other. His bitterness turns him against his own family as he keeps disagreeing with his mother, wife and sister. Through this, it is evident that that poverty can turn people against those who genuinely care for them. Again, through Walter, the writer also shows how one can possibly overcome social barriers by staying vigilant and faithful to dreams. The value and purpose of dreams is essentially availed through Walter Lee, by the end of the play, Walter attains the dream of the house and gains his respect in the family.
Work cited
Cocola, Jim et al. A Raisin In The Sun. Spark Pub., 2002, pp. 48-64.
Cooper, David. "Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun". The Explicator, vol 52, no. 1, 1993, pp. 59-61. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/00144940.1993.9938741. Accessed 20 Nov 2018.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin In The Sun. Vintage Books, 1994, pp. 1- 151.
Shih, Yi-chin. "Dance Scenes In Lorraine Hansberry's A RAISIN IN THE SUN". The Explicator, vol 72, no. 4, 2014, pp. 278-281. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/00144940.2014.962454. Accessed 20 Nov 2018.
