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A Rough Life
- Walter Lee Younger is a middle-aged, African-American who works as a chauffeur
- He's been doing this for many years and is not fond of it
- He lives in a very small home crowded with 5 people: his wife, son, sister and mother. But he has grown tired of all of this
- "Mama- I don't need you nagging at me today"
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His Views on the World
- Throughout the play, Walter provides an everyman perspective of the mid-twentieth-century African-American male.
- He is the typical man of the family who struggles to support it and who tries to discover new, better schemes to secure its economic prosperity.
- Difficulties and barriers that obstruct his and his family’s progress to attain that prosperity constantly frustrate Walter.
- He believes that money will solve all of their problems, but he is rarely successful with money.
Issues with Money
- Walter had a very ambitious project of his own. He planned to go into business with a couple of his friends running a liquor store in town
- He was going to do so with the insurance money the family would receive because of the death of their father.
Protagonist and Antagonist
- Walter serves as both protagonist and antagonist of the play.
- The plot revolves around him and the actions that he takes, and his character evolves the most during the course of the play.
- Most of his actions and mistakes hurt the family greatly, like investing in the liquor store which inevitably led to the loss of all the money.
- But his belated rise to manhood makes him a sort of hero in the last scene, as he rejects Carl Lindner's deal
- Walter often fights and argues with Ruth, Mama, and Beneatha, mostly about money in relationship to the liquor store business
- Far from being a good listener, he does not seem to understand that he must pay attention to his family members’ concerns in order to help them
- "(ignores her) 'Bout what me and Willy Harris was talking about last night"
Arguments (continued)
- During the play, Walter at times mentions to others about his plans and visions
- "Listen, man, I got some plans that could turn this city upside down"
- At this time, Walter tries to share with George his plans about the liquor store . But, before he even starts, the two get into a slight argument because Walter is offended by George's uptight behavior.
- Walter wanted to be in control of the entire ten thousand dollars that the family got from the insurance in a liquor store, Mama, Ruth and Beneatha were all in favor to get a house with the money
Walter becomes a man
- Eventually, he realizes that he cannot raise the family up from poverty alone, and he seeks strength in uniting with his family.
- Once he begins to listen to Mama and Ruth express their dreams of owning a house, he realizes that buying the house is more important for the family’s welfare than getting rich quickly.
- Walter finally becomes a man when he stands up to Mr. Lindner and refuses the money that he offers the family not to move in to its dream house in a white neighborhood.
Selfishness
- After getting the house, Walter had promised to give some of the money for Beneatha's medical schooling
- But, Walter's plans felt more important than what he had promised. He wanted to use all the money for himself
- "Mama: Oh—So now it’s life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life—now it’s money. I guess the world really do change . . .
Walter: No—it was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it."
Conclusion
- Throughout the play Walter seemed very ambitious and persistent to accomplish what he had planned.
- Although Walter's plans didn't go as he had planned, things still did work out for the better of him and his family.
-Instead of taking the money from Lindner, Walter decided to sacrifice his dreams to move into a new house.
-He finally realized that his family was more important than the plans he had in mind, and that moving into the new house was the best move for him and his family
-The new house was a sign of a new and hopefully better life.