Why Do We Hurt the Ones We Love?
“You love each other but can’t manage to communicate without arguing, fighting and ending up exhausted, each one in his corner, trying to lick his wounds and thinking of how to protect oneself against a new attack. And in spite of that..you love each other?” (Westt, James) Lorraine Hansberry’s acclaimed play A Raisin in the Sun, tells the story of the Youngers, a poor African American family in the 1950s. There are four of them, all living in a cramped and tiny apartment. They have a difficult life, and although their family is five generations of hard working people, they have little to show for it. With every person disagreeing on how they should spend the life insurance money, it’s no surprise that the …show more content…

When speaking of Walter, Beneatha remarked, “That is not a man, that is nothing but a toothless rat” (III-1, 117). Although she does still love her brother, it is hidden by the anger that she feels. When being overwhelmed by the feeling of helplessness, there is little that can be done other than trying to make another person feel as horrible as possible. Despite these two characters constantly butting heads with the rest of the family, there is one character who knows how to bring them all together. Mama acts as a mediator, and reminds them all that they are a family who loves each other and needs to support one another no matter what. When granting Walter the responsibility of choosing what to do with the remainder of the money, Mama raises his confidence as the man of the house when telling him, “I ain’t never stop trusting you. Like I ain’t never stop loving you” (I-2, 80). In a family, after fights and disagreements, there is bound to be regretted things that have been said, and wounded feelings all around. However no matter how bad it gets, a family that truly loves each other know that after all is said and done, they are there for one another and will always love each other no matter what. Mama is also the voice of reason in the house, and calls the others out when they are treating each other horribly. Speaking to Beneatha about Walter and his mistake, she snapped, “Child, when do you think the time to love somebody