As the play begins a husband, Walter, and wife, Ruth, are seen having a fight over Walter's dream to become a 'mover and shaker' in the business world by using an insurance check as a down payment on a business venture. Walter tells his wife that, "I'm trying to talk to you 'bout myself and all you can say is eat them eggs and go to work", which is the first sign of Walter's recurring feelings that if someone in the family would just listen to him and put forth their trust his dreams would come to fruition. Following this argument Walter goes off to his job as a chauffeur which is the job he so longs to be done away with because he would rather "be Mr. Arnold[his employer] than be his chauffeur.

This episode illustrates a major conflict throughout the story. As Walter dreams bigger and bigger he seems to leave the 'smaller' things such as his family behind. This movement away from the family is against the furtherance of the values and morals of the family. While his father would have been happy simply working and ca

Later in the morning Beneatha, the younger sister of Walter, initiates a conflict by speaking in an unacceptable manner about God ? seemingly rejecting values that have been taught to her since childhood.

In contrast, the story's ending presents a view of how standing by long term family goals, values and beliefs provides a sense of unity that can surmount any obstacle and keep the pride of the family alive. Once the insurance money is received by Mama, Leana Younger, she believes that the best thing to do with it is buy a new house for her family and help to pay for the cost of Beneatha's schooling. At first she is very adamant against giving any of the insurance money to Walter because she believes that his uses for the money will not benefit the family. But, as time progress Leana sees how downtrodden her son his because none of the family members will back his dream, so she gives him the money left over after buying the house to spend on his dream and "be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be." Walter's deal falls through though and he is faced with an even more 'pride deflating' task of talking with the head of the white 'Welcoming Committee' of their new neighborhood and pretending to be the stereotypical subservient

Some topics in this essay:
Lorraine Hansberry, Mama Leana, Walter Benetha, Raisin Sun, 'welcoming committee', insurance money, 'mover shaker', ethics values pride, beneatha's schooling, raisin sun, dreams fruition, house family, family walter, ethics values, values pride,