A Raisin in the Sun
by Lorraine Hansberry

Throughout the A Raisin in the Sun Mr. Younger, Walter and Beneatha's father, is present. He appears when Ruth is thinking about aborting her baby, when Mama is getting ready to receive the insurance check he left behind when he died, and when she buys the house. He is an inescapable presence in the Younger Family's lives. His memory impacts their reactions (especially Mama's) and how they see the things that happen to them. For example, when Ruth is thinking about getting an abortion, Mama tells Walter to tell her not to get an abortion. When he doesn't say anything she says, "If you a son of mine, tell her! You...you are a disgrace to your father's memory."(Hansberry 75) His father would have been appalled that he was going to let Ruth Get an abortion. Mama had lost a child and Mr. Younger was so upset by it that he worked himself to death so that he could earn enough money that he could afford to save his other children if something bad happened. So now that They are getting rid of their child on purpose, Mama is angry because she remembers what her husband would have thought about the situation.

Mr. Younger also influenced their reaction to the news that the money was gone. Of course they were all upset that the money was gone; however, the main reason they reacted so strongly was that the insurance money was what Mr. Younger had worked for all his life and died for. He wanted to give his family a better life. This was the reason Mama was angry at Walter, not because she cared about the money.