A Raisin in the Sun Character Struggles Saanvi Kunisetty

 A Raisin in the Sun Character Struggles

Saanvi Kunisetty

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, is a book surrounding a black family (the Younger family) during the time racial prejudice and discrimination was very popular, and tells the tale of how each member of the family overcomes their struggles and achieves their dreams. 

The eldest of the family is Mama, who’s husband is now deceased. Mama’s dream was for her to be able to raise her family in a house of their own, away from the apartment they had lived in and paid rent for for years. She wanted a place that her family could live happily and peacefully. Mama struggled throughout the course of A Raisin in the Sun, mainly through her eldest child and son, Walter. One of the biggest hardships she struggled with was when Walter had lost a big portion of the money given to them, not putting it in the bank like he was supposed to, but giving it to a friend to do it for him. She struggled throughout this, since she put her trust in her son to put the money away, especially since some of it would be going to Beneatha’s college funding. Mama’s struggles changed her life for the better since she learned how to properly take care of her family without the need of enabling people, as well as learning how to talk with her son. 

Mama’s son, as mentioned before, is Walter. He always dreams of power, wealth, status, and investing in a liquor store. Unfortunately, his family disagrees with his ideas, and he doesn’t have the needed money to invest in a liquor business. When he does receive the money, as Mama gives her deceased husband’s insurance money to him, Walter gives it off to a man named Willy, who steals it and runs away. Now, Walter will mature because he understands the value of money and family. He is smarter with his money, but also listens to his family. This shows that he is making good decisions that will benefit him and his family financially, and will make them better people.

Mama’s daughter, and Walter’s sister, is Beneatha. Her dream is to continue her studies in college so that she may one day become a doctor. When Walter loses all the money to Willy, Beneatha’s money for college tuition is gone too. With this, Beneatha starts to lose hope. I could argue that making Beneatha work hard in school to be accepted to a college changed her life for the better. Now, this obstacle of a lack of money, will motivate Beneatha to find more of her perseverance and strength, and help her get through the tough times.

The final main character in the story is Ruth, the wife of Walter. Her dream is simply to live a happy married life and get out of this shabby house. This dream is something that cannot be achieved at first because Walter is always miserable, and makes Ruth’s life miserable too. Ruth’s hardships allowed her to constantly adapt to her surroundings, and face whatever struggles may come her way later in life. By already facing a lack of money and continuously working, when Mama wanted to give up her dream of living in a new house after Walter lost majority of the insurance money, Ruth was able to motivate Mama and stay strong, and tell Mama that she was willing to work for most of the day just to earn enough money for the family. Ruth was only prepared to do this because she had already been working so hard before.