The Meaning of Manhood Throughout
A Raisin In The Sun
,
Walter Lee Younger struggles with his identity as a man
.
He’s stuck in a situation where he can not be what he thinks society’s view as a man is
money making and successful
,
but uncaring
.
Neither can he be the man who wants the best for his family
,
the man who wants them to be happy and healthy
.
Walter is a passionate
,
ambitious man
,
but he is also desperate
,
imprisoned by poverty
,
and obsessed with the idea of making money and being respected
.
When someone is conflicted in this type of way
,
it can be hard to make the right decision
.
The two things
Walter wants most in the world is for his family to be happy and for him to be the type of man society wants him to be
.
He does not know what kind of man he wants to be because he does not know how to balance both ideas
.
The first kind of man the reader sees Walter as is the one who is fed up with his situation , and wants to make it big
.
“
Baby, don't nothing happen for you in this world
‘
less you pay somebody off!
”
(Hansberry li 33)
.
At first
,
Walter thinks the only way he can have a prosperous life is to be successful in business
.
Walter is okay with cheating and
deceiving his way to success if that is what it takes
.
At one point
,
he does not care at all about his personal morals
.
“
I figured it out
.
LIfe is just like it is
.
Who gets and who don't get
…
People like Willy Harris
,
they don't never get
‘
tooken
’.
And you know why the rest of us do?
‘
Cause we all mixed up
.
Mixed up bad
.
We get to looking
‘
round for the right and the wrong
”
(Hansberry llii 141)
.
The fact that he thinks their family is
‘
mixed up
’
because they care about doing the right thing proves that Walter is confused about what being a man really means
.
He wants so badly to be able to provide for his family
,
but rarely thinks that maybe his family could be happy if he merely cared more about them .
Another kind of man that walter wants to be is the
‘
family man
’.
One situation when he when he acts this way is when the family is about to move into the house
.
Walter is imagining a better life for them
,
where they are all content
. “
Just tell me
,
what is it you want to be
and you’ll be it … Whatever you want to be Yessir! You just name it son
…
and I hand you the world!
”
(Hansberry llii 109)
.
He really does want the world for his family , however he is mixed up on how to get there
.
Although walter is captivated by his dream of becoming rich
,
he is also someone who cares a large amount about the wellbeing of his family
.
