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“Honey…life don’t have to be like this. I mean sometimes people can do things so that things are better…You remember how we used to talk when Travis was born…about the way we were going to live…the kind of house…(She is stroking his head)Well, it’s all starting to slip away from us.”(Hansberry 89)

This quote has to do with racism and discrimination because since they are colored, they have a less advantage of accomplishing their dreams. This quote shows how their dreams are inching farther away, and how they can’t really afford anything, no matter how hard they work.

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“Yes . . . we’ve all got acute ghetto-itis.” (Hansberry 60)

Near the end of Act 1, Beneatha and Mama found roches in their apartment and were trying to get them when Asagai walked in. This quote shows the poor living conditions the younger family was living in. Due to the racial discrimination the Black people were facing during that time in Chicago. Many were living in these conditions or worse.

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“Mama: (Quietly) Oh-(Very quietly) So now it’s life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life-now it’s money. I guess the world really do change…

Walter: No-it was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it.

Mama: No…something has changed. (She looks at him) You something new, boy. In my time 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 too…” (Hansberry 74).

In Act 1, Mama is talking to Walter about how freedom used to be different in her time. She was always worried about being lynched but now they all worry about is money. Mama is commenting about how easy things are now, because in her time it was very rough. They are always treated differently because of their color, so they are always worried about being lynched. They are always treated differently and more harshly than white people, because of who they are. This shows how much racism and discrimination there was in this time.

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“That is just what is wrong with the colored woman in this world . . . Don't understand about building their men up and making 'em feel like they somebody. Like they can do something” (Hansberry 34).

In this quote, Walter is expressing how he does not feel like women support their husbands. He feels that instead of encouraging men, women often ruin their self esteem. Walter is focusing on the importance of supporting each other in relationships. People can achieve more when they have the support of their significant other. His words reflect his own struggles on gender roles and the challenges faced by Black families.

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“Plenty. My husband always said being kind a servant wasn’t a fit thing for a man to have to be. He always said a man’s hands was made to make things or to turn the earth with-not to drive nobody’s car for ‘em-or-(She looks at her own hands) carry they slop jars. And my boy is just like him-he wasn’t meant to wait on nobody” (Hansberry 103).

In Act 2, Mama is talking to Mrs. Johnson about how being a servant wasn’t a fit thing for a man to have to be. She is talking how it’s not fair how her son has to drive people around, all day long. Mama says that her husband said a man’s hands was made to make things, not be a servant to people. She wants her son to do bigger things in life, but he can’t because of their color. Their color limits them to achieve certain things. Due to racial discrimination they are not able to be anything other than a servant to white people.

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“Son-I come form five generations of people who was slave sand sharecroppers-but ain’t nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth. We ain’t never been that poor. (Raising her eyes and looking at him) We ain’t never been that-dead inside” (Hansberry 143).

In Act 3, Mama is arguing with Walter about the money he wants from the house she just bought. She is telling him even though they were slaves and sharecroppers, she will never let anybody in their family to receive money that was telling them they aren’t fit to walk the earth. Mama is stressing to Walter saying how they have never gone that low to receive money. In this time racial discrimination was so bad, they were paying colored people to not move into white neighborhoods.

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For Mama the house was a symbol of overcoming. She never let anybody pay her to tell her that she wasn’t fit to walk the earth. She will never receive money to stop her from doing something. They got offered money to not move into the new house Mama bought, because the white people did not feel safe with colored people moving into their white neighborhood. Walter was considering receiving money to not move into their new house, because he had lost all his money. Mama was very disappointed in him, and was able to convince him not to. They ended up moving into the new house in a white neighborhood. Their family was racially discriminated when they were moving into their new house, but they did not let that stop them from moving in.

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"It means someone who is willing to give up his own culture and submerge himself completely in the dominant, and in this case oppressive culture!” (Hansberry 81)

This quote is at the beginning of Act 2, Scene 1 were we see beneatha talking about how George is assimilating to the environment around him and leaving his black heritage behind him. Beneatha is a very strong and independent women who doesn’t need to feel equal to those around her and wants her family to embrace their culture like her. Beneatha doesn’t want her family to feel like they have to change who they are to fit into the White Society.

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I’m all right…
(The glassy-eyed look melts and then she collapses into a fit of heavy sobbing. The bell rings) (Hansberry 60)

This quote means that Ruth is suffering because she is pregnant with a baby that they can’t afford and they don’t have space for, and because of her poverty since they can’t live like wealthy Americans because they got treated differently at that time since they were colored.

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RUTH (turning and going to MAMA fast – the words pouring out with urgency and desperation)
Lena – I’ll work … I’ll work twenty hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago… I’ll strap my baby on my back if I have to and scrub all the floors in America and wash all the sheets in America if I have to – but we got to MOVE! We got to get OUT OF HERE!! (Hansberry 140)

This quote means that Ruth will do anything to keep the house that they bought because she does not want to go back to the apartment since it’s very small and dirty. She feels that working harder will pay off. This has to do with racism because colored people went through a lot back then and in order to make extra money, they would have to work extra shifts and full time jobs.

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For the symbol, I put a house because it has to do with their dreams, but they can’t accomplish it. In the quote it states how their dreams are slowly slipping away from them, which means they won’t ever get to experience their dream no matter how hard they try.

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“An end to misery! To stupidity! Don’t you see there isn’t any real progress, Asagai, there is only one large circle that we march in, around and around, each of us with our own little picture in front of us—our own little mirage that we think is the future.”(Hansberry 134)

In this quote at the beginning of Act 3 we see Beneatha with her spirits down because Walter Lee just lost the families money. We see that Beneatha is trying to escape the discrimination and Asagai is trying to go back to Nigeria and fight for freedom. Although Asagai is trying to make a difference in society Beneatha has her hopes down and is saying that his vision of making a change isn’t really gonna change anything. Beneatha doesn’t believe that one person will make any real progress because the world is flawed.

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“(Bitterly, hurt) I know ain’t nothing in this world as busy as you colored college boys with your fraternity pins and white shoes…” (Hansberry 84).

This scene in Act 2 is when George and Walter are talking to each other. Walter tells George that white boys are always busy and have the money to wear nice things. Walter is explaining that he always sees white boys walking around with their books and book bags and blacks don’t have any of that. This is showing racism because they are not given the same respect and education as they should get. Walter adds the quote “fraternity pins and white shoes” because they are not as privileged in the community. Instead of nice, white shoes, blacks have to wear black old shoes.

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The symbol of money ties with this scene because Walter is telling George how white people have life easier because they are privileged and white. Black people don’t get treated the same as whites and they aren’t able to pay for half the things white people are able to pay for. For example, buying something from the store might be super expensive for blacks but for white people it’s super cheap.

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This symbol for Beneatha is a new start. In her eyes the house frees the family from the stereotypes that Black peoples have. The house is a way to be able to live a normal life without having to suffer the repercussions of discrimination. The house would be a safe place for the family away from the outside world.

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For Beneatha her hair is a symbol of her Black Heritage. So for her family to be assimilating to the White society around her and leaving their culture behind is hurtful for her. Her family recognizes that their skin color changes the way people perceive them but instead of embracing it they try to be looked as an equal by assimilating to those around them. For Beneatha her hair is a symbol of who they were before all the discrimination.

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“Life just like it is. Who gets and who don’t get. Mama, you know it’s all divided up. Life is. Sure enough. Between the takers and the tooken” (Hansberry 141).

In this scene, the white association is giving money to Walter’s family and they are kicking them out of their house in the white community. Walter is saying the words “takers and tooken” to show that there are two different group in society. They are the tooken because they usually are left with nothing and the Whites are the takers because they have everything they need.