A Raisin in the Sun Character Analysis

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Walter Lee (Brother) Younger

Walter Lee is a chauffeur who dreams of becoming a businessman and improving the lives of him and his family. He hates having to serve a rich white man, saying 'that ain't no kind of job... that ain't nothing at all'. He has high hopes for the future, and when the insurance cheque is on its way, he sees a way to make his dreams possible.

Walter wants to open a liquor store with his friends, Willy and Bobo. His wife, Ruth, calls them 'good-for-nothing loudmouths' for filling Walter's head with ideas that he cannot bring into reality, and for 'runnin' their mouths' in the living room late at night, where their son, Travis, must sleep. She does not approve of his schemes, which he seems to think up all the time but never do anything about. He becomes angry and annoyed with her because he does not feel like she supports him- indeed, he does not think anyone in his family supports him. He resorts to drinking heavily to drown out his pain and anger at constantly having his dreams deferred.

George Murchison teases Walter, calling him 'Prometheus'. Walter does not know who Prometheus is and supposes George made it up on the spot to annoy him. Prometheus wass Greek mythological character, said to have brought fire to mankind. He was punished by the gods- he was tied to a rock, where an eagle would come every day and eat his liver, which would grow back the next day to be eaten again. This is a good metaphor for Walter's position. He is trapped by his low position and lack of money. His deferred dreams eat away at him, but he is replenished by fresh hopes every day, only for them to eat him alive again. The mythical Prometheus was freed by the hero Hercules. Walter thinks he can be freed by this business deal, but in fact he is freed by the realisation that money is not everything and his pride cannot be sold.

In the later part of the play, Walter changes dramatically. Mama puts a down payment on a house in an all-white neighbourhood, which infuriates Walter, who says she 'butchered up a dream of [his]'. In spite of her disapproval of his ideas, Mama decides to trust him with the remaining $6,500. She tells him to put $3000 in the bank for Beneatha's medical school and keep the rest; instead, he loses it all to Willy, who runs off with it. This crushes the family, who are left with nothing. They think he can't sink any lower, but he crashes even further by calling Lindner back to accept his offer to buy them out of the house Mama bought. However, Mama makes Travis stay in the room, and Walter finds he cannot sell his family's pride and honour; he tells Lindner that they are moving in. This is the start of a new Walter Lee, one who is…

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