The Younger Spotlight

A Raisin in the Sun is easily my favorite movie we've seen in class this year. Even though the vast majority of the runtime took place in the same room, I enjoyed the plot and I loved the characters. Each member of the Younger family impacted the story in their own way, even if some had more depth and/or importance than others.

For instance, Ruth and Walter's son Travis barely appears on-screen. He has very few lines, there's just not much to him, and yet he is probably the most important character in the movie. Lena and her children may have more to do, but Travis is the motive for much of the major points, especially towards the end.

That's because he represents the future, and by extension, hope.

Throughout the movie, it's often referenced by the others how he has to wear old shoes and sleep on the couch because they don't have money and space for his own bedroom. At the end, when Walter is about to crack and sell the family's new house, Lena insists he does it in front of his son, "make him understand what you're doing." While there are of course other factors, a lot of what drives the family to succeed is to give Travis the life he deserves.

He is even directly referenced as the next generation of America, and he is a big reason as to why the ending is so hopeful, even if it's not sure what's going to happen next. 

Ruth was on-screen a lot more, but I personally felt she didn't have very much personality, especially when compared to the likes of Walter, Lena and Beneatha. She was there more for exposition and situational issues. For example, she introduces the audience to the rest of the family in the opening scenes before the main 3 take over. We see her get out of bed, wake Travis from his spot on the couch, and cook for her husband while they argue over their financial problems. Once they've set this up, however, she doesn't do much else, at least in her own terms.

I think the argument could be made that she had a bit more of a role when considering her morals and dedication to her family, but I think she was there mostly to encourage others to continue the plot. After the first section, she mostly exists in the background, cleaning or watching the actions by other characters unfold. She doesn't contribute very much and she spends a lot of time resting in her room. Halfway through, she discovers she is pregnant and decides to consider abortion since she cannot afford another child. However, this is quickly overtaken by the main 3 as Lena argues with her children over the "miracle of life" versus responsibility, while Ruth, the one who is actually pregnant, just rests in her bed off-screen.

Even if Ruth may not be the best character in terms of personality, she's still pretty likable and manages to impact the plot and dynamics of the others. 

Walter. I hate Walter. 

He spends much of the movie running around in a drunken rage, punching things and yelling, insisting he is the man of the house. He is sexist and doesn't believe in his sister. As time progresses, the audience sees this is because he struggles with a lot of anxiety about not amounting to anything, but he still spends a good majority of the film as the definition of 'toxic masculinity.' I bet he'd be the type of person to smash his TV if his team lost the Superbowl. If your family, especially your wife, flinches away from you whenever you get mad, even once, I don't like you and never will. That's not to say he isn't a good character, though. There is a lot of depth to him in every stage of the movie.

At the beginning, Walter is snarky, undermining his wife and starting arguments among his family, but is still functional. In the middle, he really seems to go off the deep-end. This is where the borderline abuse comes in, as he's often out late drinking and appears to be in a semipermanent stage of rage. He appears to get better once Lena gives him the rest of her insurance money, and is hopeful when they first see their new house, but once his partner steals his money and leaves, he reverts back into his anger, screaming about how he is the head of the house while calling the man from the neighorhood back so he can sell.

Once Lena draws attention to his son's future, however, he finally understands his family. He considers his son, honors his father, and tells everyone in the room he is proud of his sister. He decides to not sell, and is later seen laughing with his family while they move out. 

Without a doubt, Walter has the most depth of any character in the movie. I have very little to say about this because I don't think it needs much justification. Bottom line is: the plot revolves around him, focusing on his financial troubles and his worries about his family and their futures. The story follows his highs and lows and we see how his opinions change and affect his decisions. While the others may contribute to conflict, he is almost always the instigator. Things may be done for Travis, but are almost always done by Walter.

Lena is another character I hate and for similar reasons. She is very much like her son. Overall, she wants the best for her family, especially Travis, but she can also be very tyrannical in her beliefs, becoming overwhelmingly angry when people don't agree with her. Beneatha said she wasn't religious and Lena walked up and hit her before forcing her to recant, practically radiating in anger. Walter's family may be scared of him, but at least he doesn't physically abuse them.

We see her in all sorts of moods, from a loving mother who spends time with her family to a grieving wife who wants to honor her husband to straight-up terrifying in her attempts to enforce her beliefs, and we see each of these beliefs multiple times, as if she cycles through them regularly. 

Her impact was undeniable. Her anger establishes her as a driving force. When she tells Walter he is a disgrace to his father's memory, he comes back to it when considering a decision. In that same decision, Lena's anger in regards to Travis's future also helps to change his mind. 

These coupled with the simple facts that her money is what got them the house in the first place and that she gave the rest to Walter, which later drives the rest of the story, marks her as one of the most influential and improtant characters within the story.

I knew from the moment she appeared on-screen that Beneatha was going to be my favorite character. She has so much personality and ambition as well as some rather progressive views for the 1960's. Despite my love for her, I feel she has a role somewhat opposite of Ruth's. She has a lot of personality, is often on-screen, and interacts with the rest of the family a lot (which is why I consider her in the 'main 3'), but I feel she has little impact when considering the big picture. 

A lot of her ideas drive conflict, such as suggesting that Ruth get an abortion and her views on religion, both which anger Lena, but these conflicts are minor and relatively short-lived. They do work in bits to showcase some of the relationships between the family, but that's really kind of it. We see her bring men home while she tries to find love (and herself), and we watch as she tries to navigate her way through a white and male-dominated field knowing her family has little faith in her. 

All of these, however, do little in the ways of progressing the story or dynamics. Her love and self-image issues don't do anything in terms of finances and are mostly there to progress her rather than the plot. In other words, her story, while honestly more enjoyable to me than the main plot, was really just filler. 

Her school funds are mentioned a few times in relation to finances, but it never felt like too big an issue compared to those of Walter's, and it was sort of forgotten when Lena finally got her insurance money. She gave it to Walter, said some was for Beneatha, and that was it. Once Walter lost the money, the focus was on him and his store as well as the family's new house. Beneatha's school was mostly pushed to the side.

It's not that Beneatha has no impact, but the impact she does have is either minimal to the overarching story or is dedicated to herself rather than her family. Despite this, I think she's without a contest the most enjoyable character in the movie and I loved every second she was on-screen.

Even if I personally liked some characters more than others, I appreciated the writing for each Younger and I loved that they all had a dedicated role that impacted the story in their own way.