[Music] let's go over the main characters of Lorraine Hansberry zijn in the Sun Walter in his mid-30s Walter Lee is dissatisfied working as a chauffer for a rich white man he wants to be treated as the man in charge of the family and he plans to use his mother's insurance money to invest in liquor the play is driven in part by the gendered conflict between Walters ambition and mamas role as matriarch Walter Lee is a lean intense young man inclined to quick nervous movements and erratic speech habits his character embodies the neurotic effects of Langston Hughes's dream deferred Walter doesn't dry up like A Raisin in the Sun but he threatens to explode his character shows the most significant change coming into manhood at the end of the play mama in her early 60s mama is the beautiful strong matriarch of the younger family mama was widowed before the action of the play takes place but big Walter and his legacy are present throughout the play the whole family waits for the ten thousand dollar life insurance check to arrive in the mail Ruth and Beneatha recognize mama as the one in charge of the money and the family momma's role as matriarch conflicts with Walter Lee's expectation of being the man of the house mama and her husband fled the racialized violence of the south she says of their migration we was worried about not being lynched and getting to the north if we could and how to stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity - despite the hardship she has experienced mama remains an optimist and buys a house to get her family out of their rat trap apartment Beneatha Walter's younger sister represents a new modern generation of African Americans smart and interested in their racial heritage she wants to go to medical school to help people a goal that differentiates her from her brothers plan to open a liquor store Beneatha's to suitors George Murchison and Josephus a guy highlight two very separate views of african-american identity at the end of the play her thoughts of marrying Joseph and moving to Africa effectively get rid of the assimilationist George crystallizing her characters positive sense of African heritage Ruth Ruth is described as being as weary as the apartment she's not old but she sags under the weight of a dreary life Ruth works as a cleaning woman for a white family and also does much of the younger families housework she has great respect for mama younger but also keenly feels Walter's need to be in charge though defeated and exhausted at the play's beginning as the play progresses Ruth reveals her hopes for better circumstances and a closer relationship with Walter fearful about having a second child in their economic situation she puts a down payment on an abortion her decision to keep her baby adds a positive narrative arc to the play Travis Travis is Walter and Ruth's son a sturdy handsome boy with no space of his own in the family apartment he sleeps on the old couch he shows a desire to earn his own money and prove his responsibility by carrying groceries after school Travis represents the sixth generation of youngers and hope for the future you [Music]