The Meaning Of Manhood In A Raisin In The Sun

Submitted By Elise-Heck
Words: 767
Pages: 4

Elise Heck
Period 6

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
.

The type of man that