She cannot really understand that Beneatha does not believe in God or that Walter struggles in life. She dreams about a secure home and freedom, whereas Walter is interested in making money in order to be someone. This makes it very clear that Mama is the head of the family.
She takes all the decisions; she is the matriarch. This can be illustrated by her action to go out and buy a house on her own without telling anybody in advance. Mama is the head of the family, the leading person who takes all the decisions.
You can define Mama as the matriarch of the family. All these things are true for Mama. She would love to see her son Walter as the head of the family. Yet she keeps him from it: She does not really rely on him and on his opinion as he wants to open a liquor shop.
This is something Mama does not approve. She saw what influence alcohol can have on men. For Mama, such a job is not desirable. Mama does not believe that Walter can be the head of the family as long as he has such ideas and behaves immaturely.
Thus, Mama helps to deprive Walter of his masculinity. Walter cannot be the provider as long as Mama does not let it happen.
She finally tells him to be the head of the family and gives him the money to invest in his dream Hansberry ff. By losing all the money, Walter loses faith in himself again. But in the end, Mama helps him to eventually embrace his manhood. With the memory of the late Big Walter, a man who died over working for his family, she teaches him how to be a man.
Mama gets her strength from believing in God Anderson On the one hand, her faith helps her to bear her way of living, but on the other hand, it is the trigger of conflicts in the family Andrews In addition, Mama shows the third trait of the typical matriarch: She is a very familial person, and she loves to care for her family.
It represents the sufferings the family experienced living in the small apartment. They faced a lack of space and privacy, and the plant lacked sunlight. Lena nurtures the plant and her family as best as she can. In the new house, the plant can flourish anew just like the Youngers. Under slavery the Negro family was largely at the mercy of the slave owners. The Negro husband and father was not the provider because wife and children worked too. It was difficult for the Negro man in these conditions to play the role we consider proper for a middle class husband and father Schwartz Back then, black men were not in charge of their families.
They were unable to be the patriarch, because they were unfree men working for their masters. In addition, families were separated, and fathers and husbands could not do anything against it. Men were emasculated, deprived of their strength, and abandoned women had to take the lead and be strong for their families. Mama clearly is the matriarch of the family. Whereas Mama portrays the traditional woman, Beneatha depicts more modern and secular ideas. Beneatha is very different from Mama.
Her values are education and independence. Beneatha does not believe in God, nor does she see the necessity to marry. On top of that she plans to become a doctor and she tries different ways of self-expression. Unlike her mother, Beneatha does not believe in God. This leads to a big quarrel between mother and daughter. Mother and daughter believe in distinct things, because they come from different generations. Mama finds her strength in God, whereas Beneatha thinks that man is responsible for what he achieves Cheney As already mentioned, Mama belongs to the old generation.
Beneatha, though, is a woman of the new generation. The difference in age and upbringing leads to generation gaps which are likely to arise in any family. Everyone can relate to generational problems. Beneatha is an independent and educated woman. She delays marriage, because a profession of her own is of much bigger importance for her.
Beneatha does not want to be dependent on a man. Although Beneatha's family has been in America for several generations, and Beneatha has never been to Africa, Asagai insists that once in Africa, she will feel as though she has been away for only one day. Historically, this attitude gained some popularity among black Americans as they felt that no matter how long they had been in America, they could never truly call it home.
On the total other end of the assimilation debate is Beneatha's other rich boyfriend George. He's a black American as well, but sees absolutely no reason to honor their African heritage. George sees himself as an American first and foremost and thinks that blacks who spend a lot of time worrying about Africa are wasting their time.
Unsurprisingly, Beneatha seems to not be into George at all by the end of the play. When we leave Beneatha at the play's conclusion, she is even considering marrying Asagai and practicing medicine in Africa. We never get to find out what ultimately happens to Beneatha, but we here at Shmoop hope somehow she finds that thing she's looking for. Beneatha prides herself on being independent. Asagai criticizes her for being both too independent by not wanting to marry and too dependent by not wanting to leave America.
When she realizes this dependence, she gains a new perspective on her dream and a new energy to attain it in her own way. This realization also brings her closer to Walter. Meanwhile, Walter returns home drunk. George Murchison arrives to pick up Beneatha. Beneatha removes her headdress to reveal that she has cut off most of her hair, leaving only an unstraightened afro.
Everyone is shocked, amazed, and slightly disappointed with Beneatha, prompting a fierce discussion between Beneatha and George about the importance of their African heritage.
Beneatha goes to change for the theater, and Walter talks to George about business plans. George does not seem interested. George and Beneatha finally leave, and Ruth and Walter then begin to fight about Walter going out, spending money, and interacting with people like Willy Harris. They do begin to make up, though, by acknowledging that a great distance has grown between them. Mama comes home and announces that she has put a down payment on a house with some of the insurance money.
Ruth is elated to hear this news because she too dreams of moving out of their current apartment and into a more respectable home. Meanwhile, Walter is noticeably upset because he wants to put all the money into the liquor store venture.
0コメント