ooooooh ghoooooosts!

A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry

Act I of the play is centered around this insurance money and what to do with it. The Youngers received the 10,000 dollars because the father and grandfather, Mr. Big Walter Younger, had passed away and his life insurance was paid off. The family is constantly reminded of how Big Walter practically worked his life away in order to get that money to the family, and the insurance money is his lasting legacy. Not only are the Youngers reminded of him through the money, but also in the house. Mama and Big Walter bought the house together and lived there all of their lives, so the presence of Big Walter never really left the apartment. The sense of his being is most evident in arguments between Walter and Mama. Mama wants Walter to act like the proud, good man Big Walter was, but Walter is too timid to truly live up to his name. He falls to follow in his father's footsteps multiple times throughout the play, and Mama routinely shows her disappointment in him. Walter finally stands up for the family when they refuse to concede to Mr Lindner's proposal of moving to a new home. When Lindner goes to ask Mama if she has a different answer, she says "My son said we was going to move and there ain't nothing left for me to say" (Hansberry 533). This is the only time Mama is proud of her son taking up responsibility to protect the hopes and dreams of the family. Mama inadvertently proclaims her son as the ultimate decider and the new man of the house.