Raisin Notes

Characterization

Ruth
- already upset about taking care of the family, now worried about the baby as well
- Income would go down because she cant work
- Upset about how travis was playing with the rat
- She might lose track of travis
- Worried about how travis will interact with the baby
- Went to a different doctor than their normal family physician
- Went to a woman to get an abortion
- Illegal, so people went to other methods to get them

Walter
- Walter gave the money to Travis to get on Ruth’s nerves
- Walter doesn’t think beneatha should go to medical school and become a doctor, she should
be a nurse like every other woman (overt sexism)
- He thinks she should stop sucking up to mama
- Walter is greedy with money
- Makes generalizations about women
- Needs Ruth for money and things, is nicer to her, is meaner to beneatha because she only
takes (bc she is young and in school)
- Walter wants things he cant afford and its eating at him
- Believes black people are holding themselves back, thinks his wife and sister should support
him in his liquor store
- He is missing out on things (ruth wouldn’t let him invest, cannot become a businessman) and
beneatha isn’t (going to medical school and becoming a doctor)
- Walter is jealous of his sister - feels like because he has responsibility (wife, son) he can no
longer follow his dreams (dreams deferred)
- He feels he deserves a second chance
- Walter is so caught up in the fantasy of being a businessman who provides for his
family, that he forgot about his family
- All this stuff is eating at him, cant get out of his own way
- He’s bitter over his job, poverty, his mom wont give him her money
- Everything is about him, not about ruth or travis
- Thinks of beneatha and George about the same, they are the same in his eyes so he tries to
compete with htem because he feels inferior, harsher with George
- Shallow
 - Got the money and didnt put any consideration into what mama said
- Immediately talking about his goals and dreams
- Expects things to be handed to him
- Guilts mama into giving him the money
- Might take all the money?
- Might not respect mama’s money, will make more bad decisions
- His plant the whole time is that he will get money from mama and just magically make his
fortune after investing
- Stuck in his single goal
- Unrealistic goals while the rest of the family is practical and realistic
- Mama, ruth, travis, beneatha’s goals benefit other people as well as themselves
- Walter’s dream is about making him look better, not about his family
- If he cared about his family, he would be happier about moving
- Expected to be the man of the family, mama gives him the means to do that
- Mama trusts him, audience does not
- Addictive personality: cannot take care of himself because he is too caught up in achieving his
dream, irrational behaviors when ruth finds out he hasn’t been going to work
- Doesn’t interact with his son, slowly getting father away from him
- Sign that his dream isnt about his son, it’s about him
- Only feels the highest highs and the lowest lows
- Sees himself in the role of his current employer
- Everything is perfect once he gets the money
- Sitcom-esque
- Thinks he deserves the “American dream” but doesnt want to work for it, assumes that if you
start a business you’ll automatically become rich
- More oblivious to racism of Lindner, so in a happier mood
- Also gets to act as the man of the house
- Expects the “welcoming committee” to be welcoming, takes it at face value
- In a good mood, better relationship with ruth
- Happy because of something that mama’s money did, we dont know yet
- Bruh he gave away all the money
- What an asshole

Mama
- Mama and ruth have a really good relationship, treats her like her own child
- Mama has a dream to own her own house
- Family is more important to mama than money
- Education is important to her
- Reflective of past
- Religious (why she won’t give Walter the money, doesn’t approve of liquor store, doesn’t want
that on her conscious)
- Lost a baby (baby Claude), devastated her family
- Doesn’t want to look at the check
 - Comes from the death of her husband
- Mama disapproves of the abortion because she’s religious
- Claude died because they were too poor
- expects Walter to act like his father and tell Ruth that she is keeping the baby no matter what
- Doesn’t kick Walter out because she has guilt about his dream
- Spoiled Walter as a child and now he doesn't have the work ethic, drive, compassion
- Gives him the money because she wants him to have an opportunity to gain trust and to
succeed
- Gave him beneatha’s money as well as his own to show him she still trusts him
- A test to see if she can really trust him
- To see if he would do the right thing for his sister
- Split the money evenly between each of them so they all have the opportunity to achieve their
dreams (about 3,000)

Travis
- Travis is willing to work for money
- Worked to get the money for the hat
- Bought it by himself

Beneatha
- walter and beneatha don’t exactly mean to be mean to each other
- Beneatha didnt ask mama for money for school, thinks it is mama’s money that she can do
with what she wants (contrast to Walter who wants the whole check)
- Beneatha becoming a doctor will benefit all (especially travis bc he still has time to achieve his
dreams and he has more opportunities with education, she can be a role model for him)
- Doesn’t believe in god to rebel against mama’s religiousness
- They try to push tradition on her (marriage, religion,
- Dating George, doesn’t like him
- Dates him because of money, boredom, social pressure, transportation, expensive restaurants
and shows
- Likes to be different and go against societal norms
- Likes to bounce around hobbies
- Trying to find herself, figure out what she likes
- Because of college, exposed to a broader experience, more options
- No matter what hobbies she has, she always wants to be a doctor
- Not about the income level of a doctor, other motivations (surprise tool that’ll help us
later)
- Not only looking for money, wants substance, values experience and ideas
- Differs from Walter, he only thinks of the profit of having his own store
- Asagai criticized her getting her hair done
- She says it’s harder to take care of its natural
- Asagai doesn’t want her to style her hair because he doesn’t want her to be ashamed of who
she is
- Wants to find herself, but as soon as Asagai criticizes her hair, she goes to change it
- Changes when George wants her to
- She does care how people see her
- She doesnt know who she is, so when people give their advice she conforms to it
- Wants to be acceptable
- Doesn’t let Mrs. Johnson bother her
- Went to college, so understands and pick up on Lindner’s subtle behaviors
- Better at picking up those things than Walter and Beneatha
- They work for whites people, but become invisible and aren’t spoken to
- Only changed her views on helping people during this one situation
- Her one view of helping people never changed
- Experience of watching a kid almost die made her want to help people
- What’s wrong with Walter cant be fixed by a doctor, makes her feel helpless

George Murchison
- Cares about people’s opinions of him (clothes were expensive)
- Changes his opinion about beneatha’s hair
- Wants her to look nice for his reputation
- He doesn’t understand beneatha, doesnt respect her
- When he explains assimilation, mocks what she would say, doesnt respect the fact that
she is trying to find her roots
- Downplays anything that is important to her, all he cares about is what she looks like
- He isnt there for a real relationship, just their to have fun and to piss off his mom
- Grew up rich, privileged, spoiled, cannot relate to or understand

Mrs. Johnson
- saying that once they move their house will be bombed
- Trying to get a rise out of them
- Jealous of their situation, thinks her and her husband should get to leave instead
- Tries to scare them into staying
- Tries to insult beneatha
- Suggests that beneatha is pregnant because she is still asleep (even though its the
morning)
- Baby out of wedlock, socially awkward situation
- Then turns around and says that she is the only one who is doing things for herself, insulting
the rest of the family
- Insulting them for all living together, cant do things for themselves
- Taking food from them, subtlety
- Keep reaching over and patting her stomach
- Talking about how Walter is a good looking guy, “keep on having babies around here”
- Sounds like they are having babies all the time
- We do not slut shame in this house
- Talking about how Walter is a chauffeur
- “It doesnt do much for him and he isnt satisfied, its ok tho”
- Mama defend him, Johnson gets offended
- Pulls out Booker T. Washington
- Advocating for menial jobs for black people
- Education ruins people
- Cant help herself, pulls down the Youngers
- Doesn’t get a rise at first so she keeps trying things

Lindner
- Gently saying that it is the general interest of the people
- Sugarcoated
- On and on about how people should talk to each other
- Doesn’t want to hurt them, trying to be practical about the affair
- Trying to cover up his true meaning with guilt in the hope that they will take it better
- Really saying that him and the committee dont want them to move into Clybourne Park
- Not threatening them, offers money instead
- Higher home prices in black communities was a

Relationships
Walter and Ruth
Ruth is more strict about money, in charge of the budget, power in the house
- Rocky relationship between Walter and Ruth, playfulness in their bickering
- Money problems
- Walter is trying to get Ruth to convince mama to give him money
- Wants it to invest in a liquor store
- The check is not for them, Ruth tries to tell him this (check is life insurance for Walter sr
and is for mama)

Beneatha and Travis

- sibling dynamic
- Closer to age in travis than to Walter
- Fun relationship between themOt
Asagai and Beneatha
- he doesn’t understand her
- He feeds into her desire to find herself - brings her things from Nigeria
- One-sided love, she is attracted to him but doesn’t love him
- He thinks of her as a possible wife
- Nickname of Alaiyo - One for whom food is not enough
- She wants more than sustenance because of college, exposed to more of the world
than her family
- Looking for something deeper
- We dont see how deeply she is invented in the relationship

George and Walter

- George thinks and displays that he is superior
- “Prometheus” is an insult
- Story of prometheus signifies the beginnings of culture
- walter wants to give advice and intelligence to George’s father
- Father doesn’t need it, doesn’t want it
- Walter thinks he can give advice to someone superior to him
- So, Prometheus

George and Beneatha

- he doesn’t care about what’s in her mind, just wants to touch her
- Superficial

Mama and Beneatha

- beneatha thanks mama for understanding
- Permission to not date George murchison
- No need to become connected anymore because they got money
Beneatha didnt ask mama for money for school, thinks it is mama’s money that she can do with
what she wants (contrast to Walter who wants the whole check)
Plot Notes
Act 2 scene 2
- started with humor, ended with drama
- Ruth is happy about the house because shell have a new house for her family
- Walter wont be able to invest in the liquor business, mama and ruth are better
- Happy about the baby now because she’ll have room
- Ruth’s dream was to raise her baby - her dream comes true
- Mama’s dream was to have a house and a garden - her dream is going to come true
- Walter wouldn’t convince ruth to keep the baby, so mama takes it into her own hands
- Sunshine - the plant that they have, they’ll have more than one window, so the plant will thrive
- light represents hope (space, openness, growth, opportunity)
- Walter’s dream was to invest in the liquor business- dream differed
- He wants to control the money
- Competitive with his family, jealous of how everyone elses dreams come true and his is
pushed to the side
- Upset about the women in his family taking control, when he feels he should be providing for
his family because of societal standards, he cant be the man of the house
- Walter is being childlike, wants the power, money, status, but doesnt want to work for it, wants
it to be handed to him
- Mad at mama so says something purposely hurtful
- When he is upset, he goes and gets drunk and lashes out
- Throws a temper tantrum when he doesnt get his way

Act 2 Scene 3
- 30 pieces and not a coin less
- Allusion to the Bible
- Judas was paid to betray jesus
- Ironic because she told mama that she isn’t religious
- Mama grew up in the south
- She’s seen violent actions and threats
- Beneatha tells her that people dont do racism like that anymore
- They’re all laughing about Lindner’s offer
- They were expecting it, not bothered
- Cant report Willy taking the money as a crime
- Especially in an impoverished, black neighborhood, no one will care about what happens to
her
- Beneatha’s money is gone, what will she do with school?
- Which dreams are they going to pursue?
Act 3 Scene 1
- asagai makes her an offer to come to Africa with him
- Wants to let her help people in his village
- Outsiders perspective into the situation with the money, able to step back
- Says its not the end of the world
- “Was it your money”
- It wasnt her money to start with
- Became like her brother for a moment
- She was going to school before, so why does this loss of money change that?
- Because he is from Africa, he’s able to bring the idea that change happens (British weren’t
there forever)
- There will always be problems
- His own people may kill him one day to make room for change
- Even though its not what you wanted, you should still keep going
- Walter hit rock bottom
- There is nothing left for him
- Hysterical, manic, frantic, desperate
- Saying that he would accept being lesser if he could get the money
- Wanted to gain back some of the money, to gain back trust
- They could move in if they wanted to
- Taking control of the situation, didnt consult anyone else
- Wants to be the man of the house, pretentious and controlling
- Doesn’t think things through
- Keeps making bad decisions because he doesnt take others opinions into
consideration
- Cant seem to do any good
- Beneatha hopes that he cant do any worse
- Ruth is desperate to move into the house so she can keep her baby
- Wont keep it otherwise to not endanger the others already in the house
- Travis staying helped Walter realize what he had to do
- Helped him realize he had to help his family in the future
- Cared about the impression he made on his son
- Wants to be a good role model
- Realized this choice is not only his, affected other people
- Beneatha referred to him as the man of the house
- Children are selfish to survive - become and adult when the brain develops to realize that you
need to put the needs of others over your own needs
- Not everything is about him, in the future he could do better for himself and his family
- Open ending, taking the next step for their family
- We dont know what happens if they’ll be ok in their new house
- Don’t know if beneatha will go with asagai
- Says that he’s proud of beneatha for becoming a doctor in front of a stranger
- Started picking on her, but lightly
Other Notes
Conflict at the beginning: insurance money, people’s differing opinions about it

Setting: Southside of Chicago, 1959

Beneatha’s conflicts:
- Identity
- Wants someone to appreciate her for her thoughts
- Rebelling against societal standards and pressures

- Nonsense language - beneatha tries to imitate a traditional nigerian dance

- Owimoweh - the lion sleeps tonight (allusion)
- Pearl Bailey - high pitched, twangy voice (allusion)

Themes
- The house you live in offers different opportunities, struggling neighborhood = struggling
people
- Some dreams are never found, some just need patience
- To achieve your dreams, you need a plan to do it
- Walter couldn’t achieve his dreams because he relied on other people giving him things
- Beneatha was working towards her dream, classes, school, asagai
- Things dont always work out exactly how you want them to
- Mama lived in this apartment since she married Walter Lee
- Many dreams together that never came true until now
- Sad that she’s leaving, but understands that the best opportunity is elsewhere
- Best decision for her children and grandchildren
- People like this started social change
- “We’re just normal people”
- Help people realize everyone is the same

Symbols
- plant becomes a symbol
- Struggling to survive in the window
- Symbolizes the family, cant stay healthy (no sunlight) in the apartment
- “Does the new house have a lot of light”
- Light symbolizes hope, dreams, possibilities, motivation to keep getting better