A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry
In the course of the play, many characters undergo significant changes. Ruth becomes pregnant. Mama becomes wealthy. Beneatha continuously changes her opinions. However, of all the changes undergone by the characters, the most important occurs within the character of Walter.
Although his change occurs in the conclusion of the novel, it is still significant to the overall meaning of the play. It displays how he has matured as a result of the action in the play and also how he is willing to accept new roles in the life of his family. Early in the play, Mama calls Walter "a disgrace to your father's memory,' stating that Walter has done little to live up to the legacy of the man who had raised him. His father's ideals, morals, and wisdom had apparently failed to take up root within himself. Throughout the play, Walter struggles with borderline alcoholism and the increasing gap between himself and his wife. The epiphany that make him recognize this fault within his character occurs when he realizes he no longer has the money that once drove his ambitions. It is revealed to the audience through one of Mama's final lines of the play: "He finally come into his manhood today, didn't he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain," (Hansberry 151). With this statement, Mama revokes her earlier claim that Walter could not live up to the legacy of his father. In the end, he did.
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