Conclusion of A Raisin in the Sun

Just as I had feared, the insurance money that Walter was in charge of leaves his possession during the end of the play.  Walter was going to go into business with one of his supposedly good friends, Willy, but Willy ends up taking his money and disappearing.  I felt bad for Walter, but he had to know that people don't all of a sudden get rich.  He should have been a little smarter about how he invested his money.

This leaves the family with a hard decision.  Do they continue the move to their new house where they will need to all work to pay the bills or do they stay in their run down apartment and continue the same style of living they've had for decades?  Mama leaves this decision up to Walter.  At first Walter wants to take the offer that the White people in the neighborhood gave to them.  They said that they would buy the house from them at a substantial increase from what they paid.  Walter feels like this would be a good deal for the family.  Mama however thinks that taking the money would be a slap in the face.  She takes their offer as a sign that they are not welcome in the neighborhood and an attack against her pride.  She goes on and on about how she and her husband grew up and that they would never sacrifice their pride.  Eventually Walter  decides to move into the house.

Although I understand why he made the decision I'm not sure I agree with him.  Granted I'm not in his shoes, but if I had just squandered $6,500 and had the opportunity to get some of it back I think I would get it back.  The money could really help the family out.  I think Mama would have been extremely upset though.  I can understand how it would be a little degrading, but why do they need to prove anything to those White people?  In this case it seems like money is worth more than their pride.  Making the decision to move in makes Walter more like his dad.  This makes Mama very happy because all along she has been wanting Walter to step up and act like his dad.

Moving into the house satisfies Mama's dream.  She will finally be able to plant her garden that she has always wanted.  At the same time moving into the house destroys Beneatha and Walter's dream.  Now that the money is gone Beneatha will more than likely not be able to go to medical school.  She will have to find some other way to get money or she will probably fall into the same routine as the rest of her family, which is sad.  Walter's dream disappears because he will almost certainly not have that kind of money to invest again.  I hope if he does choose to invest money in the future he will be a little bit smarter about it.

I really enjoyed this play overall.  I thought there were some good messages throughout the play that added a lot of depth to it.  I would have liked to have a little more information about what happens to the family though.  The ending does not have many details.