In A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter Lee is portrayed as a man who does not consider the people around him. Through out the play Walter only ever talks about himself. Walter talks about his dreams and what he could be. He is very rude to not only his mother and sister but also his wife. Walter showed no care to tend to his wife and appeared to only be worried about accomplishing his dreams. Walter talked to his mother as if she hasn’t already given him what she has to give. He talked down on his sister and her dreams of being a doctor whenever given the chance and never showed any interest to actually be happy for his sister and her dreams. As Hansberry stated, “I don’t want nothing but for you to stop acting holy ’round here. Me and Ruth done made some sacrifices for you—why can’t you do something for the family?” (37). As a man that often dreams of what could be, Walter should have only ever supported his sister and what she was accomplishing. Walter appears to be only worried about himself and not considerate of the rest of his family through out most of the play but after considering the position he is in, is he really a misogynistic jerk?
Walter is an African American male in the mid 1900s’ that has never experienced a wealthy life style. During that time, the way America treated African Americans was cruel and inhuman. Walter grew up and experienced racism throughout his whole life and after experiencing so much hate, it is likely that Walter became cold. Walter’s father had passed away essentially from working too hard most of his life and that pressure then got put on Walter. It is expected that Walter steps up and takes care of his family but he was not in a great position to do so. Walter had a son (with another child on the way) and a wife he had to support, along with feeling obligated to take care of his mother and his sister. With the job that he managed to have, it was unrealistic to be able to support them all. Through out the play he only ever talks about his dreams but his dreams weren’t really for himself. Walter only ever wanted to fulfill his dreams in order to take care of his family. He believed by achieving his dreams that would help his family accomplish theirs. As stated by Hansberry, “You wouldn’t understand yet, son, but your daddy’s gonna make a transaction . . . a business transaction that’s going to change our lives. . . .” (108). Walter was always considering the well being of his family, he just had a terrible way of showing it. He seemed to only be chasing his dreams and not acknowledging the dreams of his loved ones but he truly believed that he needed to accomplish his dreams in order for his family to have the opportunity to achieve theirs. Through out the play, Walter was portrayed as a man that did not care much for the dreams of his loved ones but it is revealed that he was only obsessed with accomplishing his goals so he could have the opportunity to take care of his family and help them achieve their dreams.
Walter Lee did have his family’s best interest at heart, he just got caught up trying to put his family in a better position that he was blinded to the fact that he wasn’t showing enough love to the ones that care for him. The way that Walter treated his mother, sister, and wife was uncalled for but after analyzing his situation, he is not to blame. He was doing his best for his family and whenever anything was going his way, something seemed to go wrong. Walter is a loving and caring son, husband, brother, and father that was willing to give his all to his family. Walter made risky decisions that would benefit his family’s situation greatly but was once again introduced to a very unfortunate event, that clearly effected Walter very negatively which he expressed when he was on he knees, crying. He was defeated and broken but he still tried to come up with a solution for his family. Walter redeemed himself at the end of the play by standing his ground to Lindner and defending his family and their honor. Although Walter did not act the way a man of his household should, he showed that at the end of the day he has his family’s back and will do what it takes for them. Walter used the moment to teach Travis what a real, respectable, and honorable man is and truly showed his true colors to his entire family. After finishing the play it is obvious that Walter is not a terrible man, he is simply misunderstood.
- Do you believe that Walter is a good man and truly cares for his family or is he not fit to be the man of the house hold?
- Is the way Walter treated his family through out the play excusable? Does he have reason to act the way that he does?
Work Cited
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Vintage Books, 1994.
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Hi Christopher, I thought that your analysis of the character of Walter was very interesting! I admit that in the beginning of the play, I did not love Walter. I thought that he was very misogynistic and that he didn’t care about the dreams of his other family members, only his own dreams. Like your blog post detailed, I slowly changed my mind on Walter and also feel that he is just misunderstood. I do believe that he is a good man and the only reason he wants so badly to accomplish his dreams is so that his family can live out theirs as well. I think this was evident in the scene with Travis when he details what he wants for Travis out of life and tells him that he wants him to be anything he can dream of. An emotional scene for me also was during Walter’s last conversation with Mr. Linder and he says “and that’s my sister over there and she’s going to be a doctor- and we are very proud.” (148) This is the first time in the play where he acknowledges Benethea becoming a doctor and tells her that he is proud of her which I’m sure meant a lot to her and the rest of the family. While at times it seemed that Walter was being very selfish, I think he always had his family’s best intentions at heart.
Hey Christopher, I think your analysis of Walter Lee was great; offering an ulterior perspective and reasoning to why acts how he does. I also believe that Walter was attempting to act in the best interest of his family and felt that it was his sole purpose to make the dreams of his loved ones a reality. Walter has felt like he has been on his own since day one and that he is the only one that can make dreams come true. Ruth stated “Oh, Walter – ain’t you with nobody!” Walter replied “No! ‘Cause aint nobody with me! Not even my own mother!”(Pg. 69) This line shows that Walter believes he is on his own to take care of this household. With the death of his father, Walter is meant to be the head of the family, however we see a power struggle between Mama and Walter often. Although Walter is the man, mama has a powerful voice above all and also is in control of the money from the check. Walter believed he could quadruple his investment and allow the family to live well off, spoiling Ruth, sending Travis to a good college but unfortunately that was not the circumstance. To answer your question I believe that Walter has the ideals of a good man but he does not have the execution. His ideas of benefitting his family often contradicts with the true dreams they have. It is not seen until the end of the play where Walter finally stands up for his family and supports them despite adversity where he truly becomes the man of the household.
Hi Christopher! This is a great analysis of Walter’s character, as you are looking at him through the lens of the time period and his personal pressures and goals. I believed that there were other factors at play that made Walter act so selfishly towards his family, and I also figured he was mostly stressed about being unable to provide for his family the way he wants to. Despite this, I think his dishonesty regarding the loss of the money is something he did that is inexcusable. When Mama said, “You mean…. your sister’s school money… you used that too… Walter?” (Hansberry 129,) I believed that was the one line he absolutely had no reason to cross. By doing this he completely disregarded the dreams of his sister as well as deceiving his own mother. His misogyny could be blamed on the family’s own standards of masculinity as well as those of the time period, and his intentions with the liquor store were good in general, but there’s some aspects of his character that I find to be inexcusable.
Hi Christopher, I found your blog post very informative, and you helped to give Walter a new perspective and understanding on why he may be the way he is without just judging him harshly based on his actions. Walter has so much anger and aggression because he has such strong dreams and desires that he wishes to achieve while knowing the likelihood of making these dreams come true are slim. Since Walter is a chauffeur to the rich white people, he has spent all his time seeing the life that he could have and being reminded of the life that he is stuck with. It is almost like the possibility of a new life dangles in front of his face every day but is just out of reach. The way Walter treats his family throughput the play is inexcusable because no matter how hard it is for him to live like that and how miserable he is, he should put that energy into making his life better and uplifting the family not bringing them down. But I can also see why Walter does act the way he does because he truly is a broken person with dreams that he can’t reach and sometimes pain like that can overwhelm you and consume you which make you treat others badly, although its wrong I can see why he is the way he is. Towards the end of the book, we see Walters softer side where he shows his childlike hopes and dreams, and his real vulnerability is shown. In the book it states, “That money is made out of my father’s flesh-“(Hansberry 128). This quote shows the true importance of that money and the value Walter put in it and how heartbroken and scared he now is.
Hi Christopher, I really like your blog about Walter. I agree with you about how Walter was blind to see what the other members in his family were thinking about for what’s best for the family when it came to the money they had just received. I think the ending scenes when he tells Lidner that he changes his mind about selling the house is powerful to me and shows his change of character. On page 147 you see this when he says to lidner “we have decided to move into our house because my father—my father—he earned it for us brick by brick ;(He looks the man absolutely in the eyes) We don’t want your money.” Again, I find this quote very powerful in showing how Walter has a change of heart for the good when he is being unselfish and decides not to sell the house. This adds to one of the themes of family and how important your family is.
Hi Christopher, when reading you analysis on Walter Lee’s redemption it really caught my attention as you would talk about all of the actions that would take place in this scene. You made great points on how Walter is a great person, but that he does makes some bad choices which does get him into trouble. This show that Walter has a big heart for the people he loves and cares about. Walter goes “You trust me like that, Mama?” and Mama says ” I ain’t never stop trusting you. Like I ain’t never stop loving you.”(page, 107). In this quote, the author makes Walter and Mama really have a moment which shows the readers how much Walter truly loves his family. When talking about this, it makes the outside viewers show the relationship between these two actors. Making this connection with this quote and your blog post really opened my perspective on these characters and how they deal with these situations.
Hi Christopher!! Many times throughout your blog post I was taken aback. I loved your perspective and interpretation of the character Walter and how that analysis of him has now changed mine. “He believed by achieving his dreams he would help his family accomplish theirs.” I believe Walter put the weight of his family on his back because of the stigmatism around the role men play in society, especially within the household. Prior to this, I did not see Walter in a way that tried to aid his family and their future success, I only saw him hold them back. After reflecting on your post, and thinking about the play I thought of a scene where Mama and Beneatha talk about the lost/bad investment. When Mama said, “Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is.” (Hansberry 144). This scene made me realize that I too did not take into account what hills and valleys he had come through before he got to the perception of Walter the audience was given to interpret and perceive. Although, the author gives the audience many times to strongly dislike Walter for his let-downs and mess ups; Hansberry also shows us why Walter is the way he is. To answer your last question I do believe that Walter is excusable for the way he treated his family throughout the play, even though I personally don’t like to say it. He is a man with good intentions but has a poor way of showing, sharing, and expressing them.
Hey Christopher! Exquisite blog post if I do say so myself. I agree that Walter is an extremely misunderstood character. I feel like a lot of people take his actions at face value and don’t think about the underlying causes and motivations that this man has. I would like to answer your first discussion question by stating that I do think Walter is a good man, yet I do not think he is fit to be head of the household. What I mean by this is that Walter has a good heart and pure motivation, but he is neither wise nor mature enough to be the head of the household. Walter wants to help his family out by achieving his own dreams, which has caused him to become fixated on his aspirations while throwing caution to the wind along with $6500. “Though I’ll have to get something a little sportier for Ruth —maybe a Cadillac convertible to do her shopping in.(Hansberry 108)” Walter says this right before he blows all the money. This quote shows Walter was thinking about his wife even while he was foolishly giving his money away. Great blog post!
Hey Christopher, I agree with your blog post and how you say Walter is very selfish. Walter always had something to complain about wether it was if breakfast wasn’t ready when he got up or if it was how little money they had or if it was beneatha going to school. In the quote “ Mama … I never … went to the bank at all…” (Hansberry, 130) we can see how Walter did not fully think his actions through. He has to tell momma that all the money is gone and he didn’t listen to her. I also believe that Walter still had good intentions. He has a talk with his son about how he was going to make a transaction that would change their lives. He did this “transaction” in order to make his families life better but at the same time he didn’t think of what could go wrong.
Good job Chris! I think the first question you asked was great for a few reasons. The first is because, at the beginning of the film, Walter truly didn’t care about anyone else’s dreams and aspirations and was only focused on himself and was upset that he wasn’t living the dream he has always had of being financially free. But towards the end, he starts to do things that he thinks are right and will benefit his family. Mama – “ I ain’t ever stopped trusting you. Like I ain’t ever stop loving you.” (pg. 107). I think that when mama said this it was a way of trying to show everyone that even his Mama knows that his heart is in the right place and he’s trying to do his best for the family. Walter also knows that you have to be willing to take risks to make it big and it’s hard for his family to do that because they know they can’t afford to lose anything.
Hi Christopher, I thought your analysis of Walter was very interesting! At the beginning I wasn’t very fond of Walter’s character, and I agree with the notion that Walter is very self-centered and throughout the beginning it is clear he only really focuses on his own dream and doesn’t care for the dreams his family have. And just like you stated I began to realize there is more to Walter’s character. I started to understand that the reasoning behind Walters sole focus being on his dreams is that he wanted to accomplish so much in order to support his family allowing them to achieve their dreams as well. One scene where this is demonstrated is when Walter is talking with his son Travis about him achieving his dreams which will then allow Travis to be whatever he wants to be in life and then Travis replies with wanting to be a bus driver. Another quote that explains Walter’s true character is when he is discussing talking to Lindner about receiving the money to stay and he has a change of heart as he says, “And that’s all we got to say about that. (He looks the man absolutely in the eyes) We don’t want your money” (148). I found this quote to be very effective in showing that Walter has changed his character and realized his selfishness. I do believe that Walter’s behavior throughout the play is pretty inexcusable at times but then we can see at the end that his reasoning for acting the way he did was he wanted to achieve his dreams so he can support his whole family and he wanted to do it on his own.
Hi Christopher, I thought you did a good job in your blog post, I agree with how you pointed out that Walter often talks about himself and shows to have a lack of respect for women. To answer your second discussion question, I think that Walter lacks care for his family. Walter’s behavior towards his family throughout the play is certainly understandable due to the struggles he and his family face but it’s definitely not necessarily excusable. It seems like Walter’s actions are driven by his frustration and feelings of not having enough to provide for his family the way he wants to. Walter wants to give them a better life but feels trapped in his dead-end job and unable to achieve his dreams. It seems as though his desperation leads him to make poor decisions, such as investing in the liquor store and lashing out at his family when they do not share his vision.
However, despite his struggles, he has a responsibility to treat his family with respect and kindness. His behavior towards them, particularly his wife Ruth and his sister Beneatha, is often harsh and dismissive, and he does not always take their needs and feelings into consideration. One example of this is when Ruth and Walter are having a conversation with one another, Ruth asks “Honey, why can’t you stop fighting with me?” and Walter responds by asking “Who’s fighting you? Who even cares about you?” (Hansberry, 87), his part of their conversation shows that Walter has a lack of respect for his.
Citation:
Hansberry, Lorraine, and Robert Nemiroff. A Raisin in the Sun. 1st Vintage Books ed. New York, Vintage Books, 1994.