Walter Younger’s Growth Into Manhood.
The lines between childhood and manhood are not blurred, but one's vision might be. One just has to wipe their glasses of the dirt. This is illustrated in the character, Walter Younger, in the family drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Set on the southside of Chicago in the 1950’s, the chances for a black, young man with dreams higher than the sky like Walter, are slim. When a once in a lifetime chance comes along for him, with a price tag, he has an internal battle about which direction he should go in. Invest in a lifelong dream or succumb to the financially stable plan? Walter, in the family drama A Raisin in the Sun, believes that a man is someone who is wealthy and rich regardless of how, but overtime in …show more content…
Hansberry was African American and lived in Chicago in the 1950’s. Although she didn't have personal financial concerns, she was aware of the struggles that some others faced. Like her, other authors during the 1950’s who were African American understood the hardships and tribulations that black people faced. Racist comments, segregation, and discrimination ran rampant during this time. In A Raisin in the Sun, this is evident because the characters Hansberry created were cladding with the issues she grew up with. A quote from the article “Angry, Young Men” by William Hutchings, he describes the trials that authors faced seeping into their creations. The quote states as follows, “The fact that their iconoclastic attitudes, stylistic vigor, raucous humor, and working-class characters and settings were similar has often caused these authors’ …show more content…
When she leaves the room, his mother, Mama, tells him point-blank that there is something going south with him. Walter counters with how money is the only thing that you need in life, striking Mama utterly speechless. When Walter argues like this in other scenes, talking to his mother disrespectfully while requesting her to give up the insurance check of her late husband, Walter is not acting manly. He says in the argument: “Mama – sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool-quiet-looking restaurants where the white boys are sitting back and talking ‘bout things.sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars.sometimes I see guys that don't look much older than me” (Hansberry 58). This clip of the argument in the book proves how Walter feels about his life truthfully. He is jealous of the wealthy white men of his age who engage in business activities at expensive restaurants. Later, Mama makes the decision to use the money in purchasing a house instead of giving the money to Walter for his dream. When he hears the news, he is understandably upset. As time passes, and he makes up with his wife, he starts to come to his manhood. When he really proves his manhood is when he speaks with the courier from Clybourne Park, Karl Lindner. Lindner is over at the Younger family apartment on moving day when he asks if the
The lines between childhood and manhood are not blurred, but one's vision might be. One just has to wipe their glasses of the dirt. This is illustrated in the character, Walter Younger, in the family drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Set on the southside of Chicago in the 1950’s, the chances for a black, young man with dreams higher than the sky like Walter, are slim. When a once in a lifetime chance comes along for him, with a price tag, he has an internal battle about which direction he should go in. Invest in a lifelong dream or succumb to the financially stable plan? Walter, in the family drama A Raisin in the Sun, believes that a man is someone who is wealthy and rich regardless of how, but overtime in …show more content…
Hansberry was African American and lived in Chicago in the 1950’s. Although she didn't have personal financial concerns, she was aware of the struggles that some others faced. Like her, other authors during the 1950’s who were African American understood the hardships and tribulations that black people faced. Racist comments, segregation, and discrimination ran rampant during this time. In A Raisin in the Sun, this is evident because the characters Hansberry created were cladding with the issues she grew up with. A quote from the article “Angry, Young Men” by William Hutchings, he describes the trials that authors faced seeping into their creations. The quote states as follows, “The fact that their iconoclastic attitudes, stylistic vigor, raucous humor, and working-class characters and settings were similar has often caused these authors’ …show more content…
When she leaves the room, his mother, Mama, tells him point-blank that there is something going south with him. Walter counters with how money is the only thing that you need in life, striking Mama utterly speechless. When Walter argues like this in other scenes, talking to his mother disrespectfully while requesting her to give up the insurance check of her late husband, Walter is not acting manly. He says in the argument: “Mama – sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool-quiet-looking restaurants where the white boys are sitting back and talking ‘bout things.sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars.sometimes I see guys that don't look much older than me” (Hansberry 58). This clip of the argument in the book proves how Walter feels about his life truthfully. He is jealous of the wealthy white men of his age who engage in business activities at expensive restaurants. Later, Mama makes the decision to use the money in purchasing a house instead of giving the money to Walter for his dream. When he hears the news, he is understandably upset. As time passes, and he makes up with his wife, he starts to come to his manhood. When he really proves his manhood is when he speaks with the courier from Clybourne Park, Karl Lindner. Lindner is over at the Younger family apartment on moving day when he asks if the