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Objectives:
1. Read tutorial
2. Create FIVE questions based on each symbol
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Mama’s feeble plant represents her family’s
deferred dreams for a better future, which have struggled to survive under the
strain of life in Chicago’s South Side. Mama’s unending devotion to her small
houseplant signifies her constant care for her family and her attention to its
dreams. “Growing doggedly” in a small pot by the apartment’s kitchen window,
Mama’s plant has “spirit,” despite the fact that “this little old plant . . .
ain’t never had enough sunshine or nothing.” Like the plant, the Youngers have
struggled to overcome the circumstances, such as racial prejudice, that curb
their growth and social mobility. Mama dreams of owning a house with a small
garden, and until the play’s conclusion her plant is as “close as I ever got”
to achieving that dream. In the final moments of the play, Mama picks up her
plant and leaves the South Side apartment for the last time, showing that this
symbol of perseverance will accompany the family as it faces new challenges in
Clybourne Park.
"My students can't get enough of
your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Plant Symbol Timeline in A Raisin in
the Sun
The timeline below shows where the symbol Mama’s
Plant appears in A Raisin in the Sun. The colored dots and icons
indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1
...between
me and them that don’t let us understand each other.” Tending to her
struggling plant by the apartment’s tiny window, she continues
to think aloud and, with her back to...
Act 2, Scene 3
...relate
the story of Lindner’s visit. Visibly concerned by this news, Mama tends to
her plant and asks whether Lindner threatened the family.
Beneatha explains that Lindner’s efforts were much more... )
Beneatha “laughingly” notices that Mama is
carefully tending to her plant during this conversation. She
asks Mama what she is doing, and Mama replies that she...
...“gruffly”
but very happily telling Walter to leave her alone while she tends to her plant.
Walter “sweetly” and “playfully” begins to sing, and Ruth brings Mama the
package that Walter...
Act 3
Ruth enters, followed shortly by Mama. Mama seems
“lost.” She picks up her plant from the table and returns it to
its former spot by the window. She asks...
...stifles a cry. She exits the
apartment only to reenter a moment later, retrieving her plant and
leaving for the final time.
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Beneatha’s Hair
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Beneatha’s natural hair symbolizes her pride
in her African heritage and her desire to explore her African roots.
After Joseph Asagai refers
to Beneatha’s Caucasian-style
straightened hair as “mutilated,” Beneatha reevaluates the significance of her
“assimilationist” hairstyle and decides to cut her hair and wear it in its
natural form. While Ruth, Walter,
and George Murchison are
flabbergasted by Beneatha’s abrupt decision to wear her hair “all nappy like
that,” Beneatha sees her new hairstyle as a way to distance herself from “the
dominant, and in this case oppressive” mainstream culture and to
fully embrace her African heritage. With her natural hair, Beneatha proudly
marks herself as an anti-assimilationist and visibly expresses her racial
identity. Her decision foreshadows the “Natural Hair” movement that many young
African Americans embraced in the 1960s, which championed the beauty of
African-American hair.
Beneatha’s Hair Quotes in A Raisin in the
Sun
The A Raisin in the Sun quotes
below all refer to the symbol of Beneatha’s Hair. For each quote, you can also
see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by
its own dot and icon, like this one:
). Note: all page numbers and citation info
for the quotes below refer to the Vintage edition of A Raisin in the
Sun published in 2004.
Act 1, Scene 2 Quotes
Asagai: You wear it well . . . very
well . . . mutilated hair and all.
Beneatha: My hair – what’s wrong with my hair?
Asagai: Were you born with it like that?
Beneatha: No . . . of course not.
Beneatha: My hair – what’s wrong with my hair?
Asagai: Were you born with it like that?
Beneatha: No . . . of course not.
Related
Characters: Beneatha Younger (speaker), Joseph Asagai (speaker)
Related
Symbols: Beneatha’s Hair
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The Insurance Payment
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The insurance payment that results from Big
Walter’s death illustrates the tremendous sacrifice that makes at least
some of the Youngers’ dreams a reality. As Mama tells Ruth,
Big Walter “finally worked hisself to death” in an effort to support his family
financially, procuring a $10,000 life insurance policy that would provide for
his family after his death. In the hope of helping his children achieve their
dreams, Big Walter sacrificed himself to give his family the opportunity for a
better life. Knowing that racial prejudice prevented him from obtaining a house
and a fulfilling job during his own lifetime, Big Walter’s sacrifice symbolizes
the efforts that generations of African Americans made to give their children’s
dreams a chance for success. The extreme nature of Big Walter’s sacrifice shows
the extent to which racism limited African Americans’ opportunities for social
advancement, but the insurance payment also gives purpose to Big Walter’s death
and epitomizes the hope and dignity of the Younger family. Conversely, the
frequent arguments between the Youngers that result from the insurance payment
signify the divisive power of money.
The Insurance Payment Quotes in A Raisin in
the Sun
The A Raisin in the Sun quotes
below all refer to the symbol of The Insurance Payment. For each quote, you can
also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated
by its own dot and icon, like this one:
). Note: all page numbers and citation info
for the quotes below refer to the Vintage edition of A Raisin in the
Sun published in 2004.
Act 1, Scene 1 Quotes
Mama, something is happening between
Walter and me. I don’t know what it is – but he needs something – something I
can’t give him anymore. He needs this chance, Lena.
Related
Characters: Ruth Younger (speaker), Lena Younger (Mama), Walter Lee Younger
Related
Symbols: The Insurance Payment
Related
Themes:
The Insurance Payment Symbol Timeline in A
Raisin in the Sun
The timeline below shows where the symbol The
Insurance Payment appears in A Raisin in the Sun. The colored dots
and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1
...the conversation promptly circles back to the
anticipated check, which Mama reveals is a $10,000 insurance payment resulting
from her husband’s recent death. Mama declares that some of the money must
be...
Act 1, Scene 2
...as he keeps a “good lookout” for the postman,
who is supposed to deliver the insurance check that morning.
After Travis exits, Beneatha asks Mama where Ruth is, and Mama says
“with...
...the
doorbell rings, a sudden sound that signals that the mailman has arrived with
the insurance check . Ruth sends Travis downstairs to get it.
Travis returns moments later and Mama opens...
Walter
rushes into the apartment and immediately asks to see the insurance
check . He launches into a discussion of his proposal to use the money
as an...
Act 2, Scene 1
..“to
tend to some business.” Walter angrily worries that she did “something crazy”
with the insurance money . Travis enters and tries to explain
his lateness, but Ruth cuts him off and...
Act 2, Scene 2
...a down payment on the house. She gives control
over the remaining $6,500 of the insurance payment to Walter.
She tells him to put $3,000 in a savings account for Beneatha’s
schooling...
Act 2, Scene 3
Mama
goes to Walter and asks him if all of the insurance money is
in fact gone. Walter admits that he never went to the bank and never
Act 3
An
hour later, Walter’s loss of the insurance money fills the
apartment with “a sullen light of gloom.” Asagai enters the apartment to visit
Beneatha
laments that with the loss of the insurance money her dream
for the future has been stolen “right out of my hands.” Asagai asks...
...the
world done whipped him so!” Mama tells Beneatha to mourn her brother, not
the insurance money that he lost.
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