Younger

Walter (In-Depth Analysis)

As Mama's only son, Ruth's defiant husband, Travis's caring father, and Beneatha's belligerent brother, Walter serves as both protagonist and antagonist of the play. The plot revolves around him and the actions that he takes. Most of his actions and mistakes hurt the family greatly, but his belated rise to manhood makes him a sort of hero in the last scene. His character evolves the most during the course of the play.

Throughout the play, Walter provides an everyman perspective of the mid- twentieth-century African-American male. He is the typical man of the family who struggles to support it and who tries to discover new, better schemes to secure its economic prosperity. Difficulties and barriers that obstruct he and his family's progress to attain that prosperity constantly frustrate Walter. Most of all, he believes money will solve all of their problems