By far the youngest member of his family (stage directions describe him as ten or eleven years old), Travis represents the future of the Younger family. Hansberry drops some not-too-subtle symbolism on us when we hear that one of Traviss favorite pastimes is playing with rats. This symbolism definitely doesnt slip by Lena and Ruth. It kind of sucks when your “future” is hanging out with vermin. Mama and Ruth understand that if they stay living in their crappy apartment, Travis is destined to always settle for less than he deserves. Symbolically, the Younger family will never escape the slums.
Travis plays a symbolic role again in the last scene of the play. When Walter, Traviss father, is planning to take the money from Mr. Lindner to not move into the white neighborhood, Mama insists that Travis stay and watch his father give in to “The Man.” Traviss eyes are just too innocent, though, and Walter cant bring himself to do it in front of his son. If Travis saw this, Walter would always feel like a giant tool and a bad father. And symbolically the future of the Younger family would always be one of shame.
Is Travis starting to sound like less of a person and more of a symbol to you? Yeah, us too. The youngest Younger never really gets fleshed out as a character. For the most part, hes a kind, innocent, and good-hearted child, who hasnt yet been corrupted by the big, bad world. Still, though, he plays an important part in the play. Without Travis serving as his fathers good angel in the final scene, the plays conclusion would go from bittersweet to tragic real, real fast.
Is Travis starting to sound like less of a person and more of a symbol to you? Yeah, us too. The youngest Younger never really gets fleshed out as a character. For the most part, hes a kind, innocent, and good-hearted child, who hasnt yet been corrupted by the big, bad world. Still, though, he plays an important part in the play. Without Travis serving as his fathers good angel in the final scene, the plays conclusion would go from bittersweet to tragic real, real fast.
Travis plays a symbolic role again in the last scene of the play. When Walter, Traviss father, is planning to take the money from Mr. Lindner to not move into the white neighborhood, Mama insists that Travis stay and watch his father give in to “The Man.” Traviss eyes are just too innocent, though, and Walter cant bring himself to do it in front of his son. If Travis saw this, Walter would always feel like a giant tool and a bad father. And symbolically the future of the Younger family would always be one of shame.
By far the youngest member of his family (stage directions describe him as ten or eleven years old), Travis represents the future of the Younger family. Hansberry drops some not-too-subtle symbolism on us when we hear that one of Traviss favorite pastimes is playing with rats. This symbolism definitely doesnt slip by Lena and Ruth. It kind of sucks when your “future” is hanging out with vermin. Mama and Ruth understand that if they stay living in their crappy apartment, Travis is destined to always settle for less than he deserves. Symbolically, the Younger family will never escape the slums.
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1. What are the dreams of the main characters—Mama, Ruth, Beneatha, and Walter—and how are they deferred?
Mama dreams of moving her family out of their cramped apartment and into a house with a yard where children can play and she can tend a garden. Her dream has been deferred since she and her husband moved into the apartment that the Youngers still inhabit. Every day, her dream provides her with an incentive to make money. But no matter how much she and her husband strived, they could not scrape together enough money to make their dream a reality. His death and the resulting insurance money present Mama’s first opportunity to realize her dream.
Ruth’s dream is similar to Mama’s. She wants to build a happy family and believes one step toward this goal is to own a bigger and better place to live. Ruth’s dream is also deferred by a lack of money, which forces her and Walter to live in a crowded apartment where their son, Travis, must sleep on a sofa.
Walter dreams of becoming wealthy and providing for his family as the rich people he drives around do. He often frames this dream in terms of his family—he wants to give them what he has never had. He feels like a slave to his family’s economic hardship. His dream has been deferred by his poverty and inability to find decent employment. Over the course of the play, his understanding of his dream of gaining material wealth evolves, and by play’s end, it is no longer his top priority.
2. What does Mama’s plant represent, and how does the symbol evolve over the course of the play?
Mama’s plant, which is weak but resilient, represents her dream of living in a bigger house with a lawn. As she tends to her plant, she symbolically shows her dedication to her dream. Mama first pulls out her plant early in the morning. In fact, it is the first thing that she does in the morning; thus, at the beginning of the play we see that her plant—and her dream—are of the highest importance to her. Mama admits that the plant has never had enough sunshine but still survives. In other words, her dream has always been deferred but still remains strong. At the end of the play, Mama decides to bring the plant with her to their new home. In doing so, she gives a new significance to the plant. While it initially stands for her deferred dream, now, as her dream comes true, it reminds her of her strength in working and waiting for so many years.
3. How does the description of the Youngers’ apartment contribute to the mood of the play?
Because all of the action of the play takes place between its walls, the Youngers’ apartment determines the play’s entire atmosphere and feel. The residence is very small, with one window, and the Youngers—especially Walter—feel trapped within their lives, their ghetto, and their poverty. Hansberry creates a stage that helps to illustrate this feeling of entrapment. The lack of natural light in the apartment contributes to the sense of confinement, and the tiny amount of light that does manage to trickle into the apartment is a reminder both of the Youngers’ dreams and of the deferment of those dreams. Similarly, the furniture, originally chosen with pride but now old and worn, symbolizes the family itself. The Youngers are overworked and tired, and their dreams are trampled under the conditions of day-to-day existence, though they retain a core of pride that can never be entirely hidden.
Travis shows remarkable maturity by requesting permission to make some money by “bagging groceries” at the local supermarket. He is not so spoiled nor so pampered that he shirks responsibility. This scene contains, perhaps, another of Hansberrys attempts to pay homage to the “children of the poor,” those whom she admired for their “spirit of independence.”
Clearly, Travis is spoiled. In the first scene of the play, we watch him cleverly get what he wants (the fifty cents his teacher has told him to bring to school) from his father after his mother has emphatically stated that they just dont have fifty cents. Earlier, Travis said that he could get it from his grandmother, which implies that she gives him whatever he asks for.
In spite of his manipulative nature, however, Travis is a likeable child because, although he might be mischievous at times, he is always mannerly. He seems sheltered and overprotected by the numerous adults in the household, yet he is a “street kid,” drawn to the life of his ghetto neighborhood. In Act I, Scene 2, Travis and his neighborhood pals are chasing a large rat for “sport.” (This scene was omitted from the original stage production and also from the original screenplay.)
FAQ
What did Travis want to be when he grows up?
What does Travis want to be when he grows up in a raisin in the sun?
What are mama’s dreams for Travis?
