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In the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry portrays some conflicts within the Younger family. While the family is waiting for an insurance check and trying to decide what to do with the money, few conflicts evolve between the members. Conflict is one of the underlying themes of the play because it helps to tell the story and explain the situation the family members are in. Hansberry shows some minor conflicts involving the other people who are not a member of the Younger family; but the three major conflicting people are: Walter and Mama, Walter and Beneatha, and Mama and Beneatha.
Lena Younger is the head of the family, referred to as a Mama and she is religious and moral. Although she is a good mother to the Younger family, she comes to have conflicts with her own son, Walter Lee Younger. Their conflict is mainly about the money they are getting for the loss of a family member. They are getting ten thousand dollars from the insurance company and the two of them have different things they want to do with the money. Mama says that she must pay for Beneatha’s tuition first before anything. Then she wants to buy a nice house with a garden so she can plant things and Travis can play. Walter though, has his own plans about what to do with the money. He wants to do a business in a liquor store with his friend. When the money arrives, Walter tries to talk to his mother about owning a liquor store. Mama strongly disagrees by saying, “…And there ain’t going to be no investing in no liquor stores.” (70). She believes that owning a liquor store is not very Christian-like and also thinks that their family isn’t business people. Therefore, she goes against Walter’s dream about the liquor store and creates a conflict between her and her son. When the money arrives, anxious to know what his mom did or will do with the money, Walter asks her sharply, “Mama, you didn’t go do something with that insurance money, something crazy?” (90). Mama ignores him...