A Raisin in the Sun
Act III-A Lesson Learned In the final scene in “A raisin in the Sun,” some very important and much needed lessons are learned. Life changing decisions are made and for the better. In the last scene, Walter calls Lindner over to agree to take payment in lieu of moving into the all white neighborhood. Walter, as usual, can only think of money, and in his mind believes the large payoff from Lindner will be well worth selling out his family’s pride and honor. Lena decides, as Walter’s mother, to force his son Travis to stay to witness this life changing moral decision, in hopes that Walter will come to his senses; to everyone’s surprise he does. Walter looks into his son’s eyes and can’t sell his family short with his son watching. He decides to do what is best for the family’s morale rather than do what will put money in his pocket. That one decision shows the enormous lesson learned by Walter and how he changed.
Character:
The characters are well illustrated for us by the way they speak, their actions, and reactions to things. It is clear that Lena (Mama) has very little education and comes from a different time than the others. Ruth and Walter, the next generation, are slightly better spoken but still lack the educated speech that Beneatha and Travis, even younger, display with their current educations. Mama (Lena) is described as a big, strong woman, which is shown by how she reacts to the other characters, steering them the way she wants and mothering them all despite their ages. It is made clear from the beginning that Beneatha is intelligent and very outspoken, and that Walter has only money on his mind.
Structure:
The main conflict that fuels the play is Walter’s inner conflict with himself and his priorities; how to become the man of the house and be respected. Walter struggles with figuring out the best way to accomplish both.