Human Passion Motivates Actions

In life, it has been demonstrated that with passion, we humans can

accomplish anything, as George Hegel stated, "Nothing great in the world has ever
been accomplished without passion." However, sometimes our passion blinds us
and causes us to be unrealistic; after all, life isn't as simple as some of us believe.
Nonetheless, a theme we can see being pointed out in Lorraine Hansberry's play "A
Raisin In The Sun" is 'Human passion motivates action' and as we get into this
essay, we'll discuss three characters we see this theme present in, beginning with
Mama (Lean Younger), then Walter Lee Younger Jr., and finally Beneatha
Younger.
The play is simply a backdrop for the ten-thousand-dollar check that the
Younger family should receive as life insurance for the late Walter Lee.
Throughout the play, we see how the various characters' passion motivates them to
want and use the money for various reasons, but because there is only a limited
amount of insurance money, each character's dreams begin to conflict with one
another, threatening to tear the family apart.
Striking up with Mama, who has now become the patriarch of the family as
a result of her husband's death, and has thus become a widow. She wants to use the
money to buy a new house because the family of five currently lives in an
apartment that is far too small for a family of that size, and so she does, her passion
motivates her to buy a house for her family located in Clybourn Park (a white
neighborhood), and as the play progresses, Mama discovers that Ruth is pregnant,
which makes her happy because the child will be more comfortable in the new
house, and this house may also be able to give the child a better life. Mama's other
passion is to be able to send her daughter Beneatha to medical school to become a
Doctor, as she knows it's always been a dream of hers, and as a mother she wants
to see her daughter succeed in life, even if she knows her daughter's dreams may
be too high, especially in the society that they live in.
In the rising action, Walter Lee (Mama's son), a dissatisfied chauffer in his
mid-30s, tries to persuade Mama to give him the money to invest in a liquor store,
but Mama is opposed to liquor and prefers to buy the house and support her
Beneatha in her medical school journey. We see Walter attempting to dissuade
Beneatha from pursuing her dream in order to gain more money for himself,
demonstrating how much money has influenced him and motivated him to be this
cruel individual, he even goes as far as to insults his sister about her dream, asking
her to be like other black women, "If you're so crazy about messing around with
sick people, then be a nurse like other women, or get married, or shut up," he said
to Benetha, clearly implying that Walter is a bit sexist, as he seems to believe that
women can't be anything important in the world, even the way he refers to his wife
as a "colored-woman" and "small-minded" shows how ignorant and shallow he is
as an individual. After hearing mama's plans and discovering that she is unwilling
to give him any money for fear of him wasting it, he goes into a depressive state,
stops going to work, and drinks his life away, clearly playing the victim in his own
charade, and so out of pity Mama gives him the remaining money after she's
purchased the house and tells him to put some aside for his Beneatha's education,
and use the rest for whatever his heart desires, and with that, he uses the money to
get a liquor license, but he is only robbed of his money, and Benatha's share is also
gone, because he was selfish and invested all the money. The news has
disappointed and saddened the family, especially Benetha, who will no longer be
able to pursue her dream. Walter Lee's passion had blinded him, and he was unable
to make rational decisions. According to Deepak Chopra, "Always follow your
passions, never question whether something is realistic or not.", and this can sums
up how Walter's mind worked and how he justified or tried to justify his actions.
The final character is Beneatha, who acknowledges that the money belongs
to her mother, saying "I don't care if she wants to buy a house, or a rocket ship, or
just nail it up somewhere and look at it," demonstrating how unconcerned she is
about how the money is spent. ".... picking on me isn't going to make her give it to
you to invest in any liquor store," she says in an argument with Walter Lee Jr.,
expressing her disapproval of him investing money in a liquor store. Moreover,
Beneatha may not have stated explicitly in the play that she desired money for
medical school, but given that it was a dream of hers, we the audience can infer
that she expected or hoped to have a share to do so. Unfortunately, this is the one
character whose passion may not have been enough to motivate her actions, as she
has to now settle and marry her wealthy African suitor instead of attending medical
school, but it's not all bad, because once she moves to Africa with her soon-to-be
husband Joseph, she will be able to help her husband people (nation), and would
still be able to one day attend medical school, as her husband is rich and can afford
to pay the tuition.
In conclusion, the play depicts the various levels to which a person can be
driven by passion, especially when money is involved. First, they can be driven by
passion to do the right things and not allow money to influence them, and has
everyone interest at heart, and example of such person would be Mama. Second,
those whose passion is too great, they're considered dreamers, they're disorganized,
and they expect nothing from others, but they're willing to work every day,
bending over backwards to achieve their passions/dreams, whether the money they
require is available or not. These people can also be unrealistic in their
expectations of life, Beneatha being a perfect example of such. Finally, those
whose passions are very unrealistic and may be a bit problematic for others in their
life, they are so greedy, and their passions are so high that they do everything to
achieve them, even becoming shallow individuals, and not taking others into
consideration, as they see their goal alone, they're passion has completely blinded
them, and they don't care about others, and if they are causing them unhappiness.
This play teaches us that, while we all have dreams and passions in life, we must
always be mindful of the emotions of others, be realistic, and not be blinded by
money. It also teaches us about family love, because despite their trials and
tribulations, they always had each other's back at the end of the day, a prime
example would be Walter Lee Jr.