Preview

Mama Grandmother Symbolism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
658 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Mama Grandmother Symbolism
In the play, the plant symbolizes hope and faith. The grandmother provides the plant with care, nutrients and protection just as she does for family. It shows her unconditional care for her family. This exhibits how she has hope that one day the plant will grow into something beautiful. Also, it shows how she views her dreams for her family. Although her dreams may seem like they are impossible to see at this point, she has hope that they will come true. The plant is struggling to stay alive just as her family is struggling to stay together, but the grandmother has faith that this is just a stage that they have to experience to appreciate the great things that are in store for them. As the grandmother cares for the plant she is also moving …show more content…
The family is poor and has just enough money to make ends meet. The family views the insurance money as a gateway to making their dreams come true. Despite how the insurance money came about, the grandmother is determined to make her family happy just as her husband would have wanted. In the play, Mama states, I guess that’s how come that man finally worked hisself to death like he done" (1483). This shows how the grandfather did everything he could to keep his family happy even if it meant working until he couldn’t work anymore and as a result, his life was sacrificed for his family's happiness. Everyone in the family has their own plans for the money. Walter wants to invest in a liquor store, Beneatha wants to save for medical school and Mama isn't really worried about the money as much as the others. After Mama places a down payment on the house, she gives the remaining money to Walter to put aside for Beneatha and himself. This shows the trust that Mama has in Walter as being the head of the house. As a result of Walters greed, he invested all of the money Mama had given him. Walter sacrificed Beneatha's school money to make his dreams come true when in reality his dreams will never come true because the money is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Walter Lee is the head of the family and in the beginning of the play he seems to be extremely bitter. He works for a rich white man as a chauffeur. This easily makes him bitter on the inside because he sees everyday what it is like to be rich. You can tell this because he tells Mama that he sees the rich white boys sitting down to eat every day and he knows they are talking about business or something about closing a million dollar deal. Walter Lee has had many business ideas in the past but they all seem to flop to the ground in a hurry like humpty dumpty. When he comes up with the idea of going into partnership with some men to open a liquor store his Mama is upset with him. He eventually convinces her into giving him a cut of the money from the insurance company after she buys a house for them to move in to. When he gives the money to his partner for the business, his partner runs with the money and is not seen again. This makes Walter very upset and he goes off the deep end for a short amount of time. The need of money may be important but it is definitely not worth losing your family over. After the money is lost, Walter invites the white man back to the apartment to discuss his offer and plans to accept the bribe to his family for them not to move. When the man gets to the apartment, Walter changes his mind and tells the…

    • 519 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Younger Family, including Walter, were very unlike other middle-class families. First of all, most of the families that were portrayed had greater economic opportunities. The income of the family was a communal effort, yet it was Mama and her check that established her as the matriarch of the family. Like his family, individually, Walter also suffered…

    • 179 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The plant represents both Seymour's mother and Mr. Mushnick, also all of the other people in the world who take advantage of Seymour and other innocents like him. The plant lives off of blood and bodies, and it only opens and feeds at night. This is a vampiric reference, however it is not only sucking the blood and eating from others, it is also figuratively sucking the life out of Seymour, making him do these things to keep the plant alive. The plant forces Seymour to feed it more and more people to keep it alive, Seymour does this because he thinks the plant will make all his dreams come true. He wants to keep Mr. Mushnick happy so he can keep his job, and he wants to be able to make money to take care of his mother. He also sees how much Audrey likes the plant, so he wants to keep it around to please "his girl".…

    • 1382 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mama goes out and buys house using thirty-five hundred of the ten thousands dollars. She then gives the rest of the money to Walter and tells him to put aside "three thousand dollars…for Beneatha's medical schooling."(pg 1808) And she told Walter to put the money in a checking account with his name on it, and every penny is for him to spend as he see fit. Mama tells Walter "It ain't much, but it is all I got in this world and I'm putting it in your hands." (pg.…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although not broke, the Youngers are considered barely above poverty. With little income, and one young boy to care for, the household wealth does not hold up well. Even though Walter works as a chauffeur, he does what he can on his meager remuneration. Obviously, most people would hate being a chauffeur for many years and Walter is no exception. Later on in the play, Walter defies his work by staying out and going to the bar instead. This seeds the start of a long string of bad decisions that ultimately lead to Walter’s job being on the line. This defiance, developed within Walter at young age due to his fiery and explicit personality, will begin to greatly affect how he reacts to certain situations and his overall decision making process, furthering the risk on each choice Walter makes. Henceforth, Walter would rather drink his problems away than work through them. This will impact Walter’s goal of obtaining a middle income lifestyle for his…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Beneatha Analysis

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Money played a great role, due to everyone having different opinions on how to spend the money, and what to do with it. Along with those being selfish and wanting to spend the money on their personal needs. Beneath did have a right to be upset at her brother, but she needed to understand that his intentions were good. He invested the money to make more, he thought money would solve everyone’s problems, not knowing it could do the opposite, make it worse. The cause of this made Walter loses his pride as a man, and his sister only made him feel worse, when his heart was in the right place. Even mama told Beneath she needs to show her brother love during his time of need instead of bashing him. Expressing to her how she is putting her own selfish concerns over her sibling weakened pride. She encourages her daughter to let go of her hateful rage and display love towards her brother. Mama wishes that her daughter can show love towards her brother by cause of wanting to bring her family together and repair the damages the prejudice world has created for them. Though the family takes pride in their victory of showing they have morals, by Walter not accepting Mr. Lidner’s deal, things still don't look quite well for the relationship of Beneath and Walter, since he insisted she married someone who has money presenting that he has not overcome the understanding that finances…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When analyzing the characters in this play, it is evident of their dreams and aspirations are affected by their personalities. Walter Lee, being the main character, had the role of the family provider. Since the family’s income comes from the occupation of Walter, he wants to feel respected and appreciated by his peers. He wants to be the one that chooses how his life is, he wants a luxurious and lavish life for his family. Although the other characters see his actions as selfish and ignorant, the readers know that Walter’s only intention is to provide for others. In Walter’s subconscious mind it is evident that he wants to use the money to invest in order to create a life for his family, a life that his son will able to take with him.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Big Walter Masculinity

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mama says that big Walter “worked himself to death” just so he can support his family. Walter has troubles supporting his family because he is trying to be the best man in his eyes which is hurting the family. Walter wants to be a rich successful man and can give whatever his family wants. Walter sets his mind on his liquor store and he will do whatever it takes for it. Walter wants to have this liquor really bad that the money Mama gave him and spent it all on his store and didn’t even get the store.…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, the petunia is a good representation of Sammy Lou’s life. She has endured a harsh typical life for a southern black woman. She has cultivated the land to provide food and raise her children in circumstances not exactly ordinary. The nature of the flower is to live and thrive against all elements of nature. The poet compares the physical nature of the flower to Sammy Lou. In other words, she wants those around her not to “forgit to water [her] purple petunias” (line 26). The beauty of the flower will be strong and continue to thrive and will not give up. She wants her children and others that surround her to continue her fight even after she is gone. She reflects upon what is important to her as she is taken to the place she will die. The petunia will live on and so will her fight against those that try to hold her back. She is proud of the achievements she has accomplished.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The reality of being unable to achieve his dreams burdens Walter and eventually changes him into a greedy, selfish and cowardly young man who makes poor decisions and hurts those who love him. Walter’s obsession with money has caused his family a lot of trouble, especially when it comes to the discussion of the $10,000 insurance money they receive. He belittles Beneatha’s dreams of becoming a doctor and says, “Ain’t many girls who decide to be a doctor”(36). Walter even claims that spending money on Beneatha’s education is a waste, and that he and Ruth would have been richer and happier if Beneatha dropped school. Not only does he put down Beneatha’s dreams, he also selfishly wants all of the insurance money so that he can open a liquor store to make his own dream of being rich and successful come true. Ruth thought Walter was a dreamer and tells him to “eat your eggs” (34) every time he brings up his dreams. When he realizes that he none of his family supports his desire to opening a liquor store, he becomes a bitter and cowardly man. When Ruth tells him that she is pregnant and considering an abortion, he…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    walter

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As Walter’s aspiration for the liquor store increases he starts to become more greedy and narcissistic, especially when his father’s ten thousand dollar insurance money check gets closer to arriving. As the family waits for the check to arrive there is anticipation on how the money is going to be divided. Walter is getting jealous of his sister Beneathea because, like Walter, she is a big dreamer and is becoming a doctor, and he knows his mother is going to put away money for her medical schooling. Walter and Beneathea were bickering about what Mama should do with the money and Walter got quite hot headed and said, “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor?” (I.I .38) At this point in the play Walter was being very egotistical and didn’t realize that he and his…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What is the meaning of the plant metaphor? See if you can spot further plant references.…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    But one can quickly dismiss this as there is a much more informative understanding what the representation of the flower is and what more can be understand from what follows. The beginning of the poem describes the flower as being untouched and unseen from what can be assumed is other plant life, but what sets the poem into deeper comprehension by stating that no foot or hand can harm this plant where it is. In the mention of hand and foot that the human aspect is brought into analyze the real representation of the plant, as Freneau goes on to refer to the flower as she, make the flower a human woman. With a basic understanding of this it goes on to be further understood that the woman goes through her life as represented by the flower, with her birth being protected from the dangers of the world, to the reference of the coming of Autumn as a time when she may wilt and…

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The major conflict within this family was the struggles that her family and community were currently in. The Dirty Thirties brought unemployment, suffering, and dust, all of which Lizabeth, the main character, was somewhat oblivious to until the painful realization of just how bad her family was struggling to make ends meet. The sight of her father's tears and vulnerability awoke something in her. It brings Lizabeth back to the Marigolds, the most predominant symbol in this heart wrenching story. The marigolds, the bursts of sun, were too perfect in a world that was so far from it. They are a symbol for everything Lizabeth wished she had, they were the happy and easy life that she wouldn’t ever have, they were happiness in a world where that was almost impossible, and it wasn’t fair. So while in that moment, to her they were just flowers too perfect, after she realized why and what it meant, and it was brutal. Collier uses this symbol so not only readers would further interpret and understand it as the story progressed, but also something that the main character would eventually realize herself. This conflict, both an internal struggle in finding who she is and external when she she's her father break down, caused a lapse in judgement that would change the…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I'M Getting Old Now

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As is possible only in dreams or in old memories, the poet is not sure – perhaps he had not been playing but had been kneeling on the ground picking peas from the vines while his mother stood still beside him holding in her apron the peas he picked or they picked together. She was not working but letting him work, enjoying just being with him and looking at her child with a sense of wonder and happiness. It is a cherished memory of the poet’s and it comes to haunt him in his old age. Her presence as she watched over him as he grew from infancy to childhood to maturity gave him a tremendous sense of security which he reaches for now in his old age as he goes closer to death and the end. It is with nostalgia that he remembers how his mother always said that he grew like “a bad weed”, an affectionate endearment implying not judgement or condemnation but an acceptance of his shortcomings and his fast but not perfect growth.…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics