May as well do a little introduction..
Walter Younger, is an example of a dynamic character. A dynamic character is someone who changes throughout a piece of literature or media. Walter lives with his wife Ruth, his sister Bennie, his son Travis, and his mother in a small, one-room apartment on the Southside of Chicago. The Younger family lived in a time period between 1945 and 1959 when segregation was starting to become more established. Since his father died, the family has been having a hard time money wise and are slowly falling apart. Walters idea of an “American dream” is to have anything and everything. He wants his family to have the best of the best. Walter works as a chauffeur for a rich white man named Mr. Arthur. He works extremely hard every day. Mr. Younger wants to earn as much money as he can because he believes it will bring his family tranquility and happiness. Mr. Younger’s main goal is to have money and he dreams up so many different ways to make money that he sometimes overwhelms himself. He doesn’t want to think about reality and how things really are. He only concentrates on the future. Walter is an example of a dynamic character because his character evolves throughout the novel by changing from a selfless, compassionate, family man to a very selfish person, only looking out for himself.
Walter experiences the most significant change throughout the course of the play. Walter has dreams of using his mother’s insurance check to start his own liquor business to reach financial success. Walter believes that he’ll be able to buy happiness and thinks money will solve all of the families problems. After Lena refuses to invest in Walter’s dream of owning a liquor business, Walter becomes depressed and loses hope. When Lena asks her son why he talks so much about money, Walter tells her, “Because it is life, Mama!” (Hansberry, 74) In an emotional moment, Lena confesses that Ruth plans on having an abortion and begs her son to say something to stop his wife from going through with it. When Walter remains silent, Lena says, “You . . . you are a disgrace to your father’s memory.” (75) As the play progresses, Lena ends up giving most of the money to her son, who ends up losing the money when one of his business partners steals it. Walter’s mood changes from being depressed to excite and happy when he receives the money, to being upset and full of despair when his partner runs away with it. Yet, his attitude is determined by his financial situation throughout the majority of the play.
Coming up to the plays ending, Walter calls up Mr. Lindner and is responsible to sell the house Lena bought in Clybourne Park. Lena watches over Walter ’s shoulders and makes Travis watch his father sign the papers, Walter experiences a change of heart. He refuses to sign the deed and tells Mr. Lindner, “And we have decided to move into our house because my father—my father—he earned it for us brick by brick. We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, and we will try to be good neighbors. And that’s all we got to say about that. We don’t want your money.” Hansberry (148) Walter’s attitude changes from being solely focused on his financial situation to be focused on his family and his integrity. Originally, Walter goes from being a selfish man into a morally upstanding, noble individual by refusing to sell Lena’s house back to the white community. The amount of growth Walter goes through is very clear.
Questions!
- What are the marks of manhood at which he arrives and what do these have to do with the major themes of the play?
- What causes the changes in his character?
You did great explaining Walter during this act Brianna. He definitely has experienced a lot of change throughout this entire act and i am glad that you emphasized that. Your focus on how fixated he was on the money was spot on and it shows very clearly how it affects him this entire time. Going from extremely depressed to excited and much more. Most of his growth seems to be related to how he views money and you expanded on that very well. great job!
I really enjoyed your analysis of Walter and what he had gone through in the second act, he was so bogged down by the family’s financial situation and it finally took the partner running away with the liquor business money to realize what really matters to him. Can’t wait for you to expand on this during class?
*class!
Walter is incredibly affected by Moma’s trust. Becoming the head of the family changed him. He is achieving his dream by gaining responsibility.
I entered my comment too early- here is what I wanted to add on to that:
I found the paragraph where Walter talks to Travis particularly riveting. (The “You wouldn’t understand yet… and I hand you the world!” paragraph). He wants his son to have a better future than he had, but his son does not have big dreams, at most he wants to be like his father. Walter does not dream of having the world himself, but instead of having the ability to give the world to his son.
I really liked how you explained Walter as a dynamic character. I think the biggest change Walter has endured is going from trying to chase his dreams with money to trying to become a better man for his family. Before this change, Walter thought he could only provide for his family with money and only be happy with money. However, now, he sees that going through life, no matter what comes up, it will be okay as long as he’s got his family by his side. Great blog post!
Walter is one of my favorite characters in this play because of the way he evolves over the course of the events that transpire. And this is one of my favorite moments. The second question you ask is something that I am still pondering. I think one aspect of his change of heart arises because he has now seen how fleeting the money can truly be. By making another deal with someone outside his family, he is risking the possibility of losing it again. I think that this idea of how money is viewed in the eyes of his mother and wife, in this moment, has finally resonated with him. He also at this point in the story seems to be evolving more as a paternal figure in Travis’ life, and seems to start seeing the bigger picture for his family.
Brianna-
I liked your idea on how Walter is a dynamic character, he most certainly shows how changes in many scenes of the play. Showing us where exactly in the text though and giving an example may have helped us fully understand your point, but since we all had the opportunity to read the same text I understand why and how he changes. Even though Walter does not want to face reality, he has to every single day of his life making it harder for him to try to compress these big dreams he has. This is ultimately one of the biggest problems of the story and leads to many arguments between Walter and other characters of this story. Also, he may be selfish and concentrated on his own success, but he is thinking about the overall greater good of their family. So, at the end of the day what seems like his own selfish concept is actually for the bigger picture for everyone he loves, but he is just not going about it in the right manor and is being sneaky and shady because the ones he loves don’t agree with him. Overall, I think you did an excellent job at explaining Walter as a character, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you have to say in your presentation!