Walter Younger, a character in Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun begins as a very conflicted character who puts his needs before his family’s. But as time goes on and he matures, he learns from his mistakes. Hansberry shows with symbolism and conflict this transition and that anyone can accomplish anything by never giving up and staying hopeful. Walter is a character who is constantly faced with obstacles and must continually overcome them. He also shows the greatest change as a character in the play. Many of the conflicts that arise in the play are because of the insurance check worth ten thousand dollars that Mama receives when her husband Walter Sr. dies. Mama entrusts him with the remaining 6,500 dollars on the condition he …show more content…
Walter believes there’s nothing else he can do to get some money for his family so his last resort is to take the money Mr. Lindner is offering them. When Walter admits to his family he’s taking Mr. Lindner’s offer because there’s nothing else he can do Beneatha looks at him and says “That is not a man. That is nothing but a toothless rat.” (128). Beneatha and Walter’s relationship has gotten so tense that she degrades him to something subhuman. However when Walter reconsiders his decision and tells Mr. Lindner the family has actually decided to move into their new home he’s suddenly given a new image. When Mama and Ruth are alone in the kitchen, Mama tells her “He finally come into his manhood today, didn’t he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain.” (135). Walter suddenly went from being described as a rat, often imagined as dirty and useless to a rainbow, a symbol of hope and prosperity. Showing another example of a transformation but this time on a more symbolic level. The rain in Mama’s quote represents the hardships Walter has had to endure and him becoming a rainbow shows that through hope and determination one one can get through