Female Roles of the Younger Family
In the play “The Raisin in the Sun” there are three main female characters. There is Mama who is the head of the family. Her husband just died, and her kids are choosing now to go against everything that they have been taught by focusing on money and losing faith. Mama is having to find a way to bring her family together and back to the way they were before her husband died. Ruth is the wife of Walter and the mother of Travis. Ruth found out she was pregnant in the play, and with all of the hardships going on with money and lack of space she is trying to find a way out of it to try and please her husband, because she thinks he does not want it. Beneatha is Walter’s sister and also Mama’s daughter. Beneatha is breaking the mold of most women her age by pursuing a career in medicine, but not as a nurse. She wants to be an independent, successful doctor who does not have to depend on her brother or her mother’s generosity. These three women go through many problems, but each of them find a way to persevere and try to find happiness by the end of the play.
As I said before, Mama’s character is portrayed as the head of the household. She is in charge of the family’s finances and seems to meddle in everything that they do. When Ruth tries to get an abortion, Mama intervenes and brings Walter into it even though Ruth didn’t tell him. When Beneatha brings George and Asagai home, Mama is there to meet both of them and act as hostess. Although Mama seems to handle all of the situations thrown at her with ease, she is struggling with the loss of her husband. She falls into trances where she envisions what her husband would do, and how he would handle things, and when Walter throws away the rest of the family’s insurance money she breaks down and shows just how broken her husband’s death has left her. Even through this struggle though, Mama finds a way out by putting a down payment on a new house for her and her family. She believes that if she can get her family in a new environment then they could be happy and start different, better lives.
Someone who is also wishing for new scenery is Ruth. Ruth plays the role of a loving, hardworking mother and wife. She only wishes the best for her family and is taking great leaps to try and make that happen. Even going so far as to putting a down payment on an abortion because she believes her husband would be unhappy and doesn’t want the family to be even more crammed into their small apartment. The pregnancy just shows the problems going on between Ruth and Walter. In the beginning of the play Walter brings up his dreams of himself and his liquor store, but since she has probably heard this numerous times Ruth becomes impatient wanting her husband to just go to work. This leads to an argument where Ruth is exasperated, making it seem as if this has happened on more than one occasion in the past. By the end of the play Ruth is looking forward to the new house because she feels like the new house could give a new perspective for Walter since he always wants to be like Mr. Arnold, his employer, instead of just his driver. As they are moving into this new home, Walter becomes the man he needs to be for his family and Ruth decides to keep their new baby in hope that their family can be happy and prosperous in their new home.
Unlike Mama and Ruth, Beneatha does not have family on her mind at the beginning of the play. She portrays a strong, independent young woman who is trying to rise above where she is at the moment and leave the situation she has had to live in her whole life. Beneatha is incredibly intelligent and likes to prove