A Character Analysis of Walter From a Raisin in The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry has characters Walter, Ruth, Mama, Beneatha, George, Asagai and the list goes on. Walter the lead man in this play is shown as a colored man who wants to change his life in being rich and wanting to be like the white people who have money and can afford colored people to work for them. In the play Walter has different values from the beginning than in the end. In the beginning Walter has values of wealth, power, achievement, and recognition. After the change Walter now values health, honesty, pride, loyalty, and love.

Walter’s top value before the change was wealth, power, achievement, and recognition. Before everything he was waiting for the check that Mama was going to get in a couple days. He was planning to persuade Mama to give some of her money to open a liquor store to earn more money. In his mind at this point all he can think about is the wealth that he will obtain or wants to obtain. He wants the wealth of the whites, power and recognition of what they have to have other people do things for them and to be recognized of a rich colored person just like George. In his goal for achievement, his goal was to buy a house for his family but that got crushed when Mama told Travis that she had bought a house and the house was going to be Travis’ but at that point Walter thought he was no longer a man.

After the change Walter now has new values like health, honest, pride, and love. After looking at the new house, Walter realizes that he has a better living condition without roaches and bug that live with them. He found honesty when Bobo told him that Willy took all the money from them and ran, telling Mama that he never banked the money that he was supposed to for Beneatha but instead invested all of $6000 on the liquor store. His pride has developed more when Mr. Linder came in and welcomed” them to Clynbourne Park. Walter took his colored pride and didn’t accept the money that Mr. Linder offered. Though he was tempted to take it because of Youngers’ sudden situation of a loss of money. He still took pride in what he believed in what was right Lastly Walter’s love has developed more when he and Ruth were fighting about what Ruth is supposed to do. Walter realizes that he hurt Ruth so much that she has decided to choose abortion.

The change shows Walter is growing into the man that Mama wanted to see, not the man of what society wants (the rich and fame). Walter falls back into what he used to be, a loving husband, father and someone who doesn’t want the wealth or recognition but the simple achievements with his family.

From the before and after of Walter Lee Younger, his values change to a better person and what society needs. Not the wealth, power, recognition, the great achievements but the simple achievements with his family, pride of his colored family, the love from his family, being honest about what is wrong and the health of his family with the new house that they have.

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