dream of someday owning her own home.  In the meantime, she nurtures and cares for her plant as best she can.

In a household often filled with anger and arguments, however, Mama is frequently reminded of the struggles the family continues to face.  She sees both Walter and Beneatha slipping away from her, not holding on to the values she has tried to instill or being the people she wants them to be.  This concern shows itself in her concern for her plant:

"Lord, if this little old plant don't get more sun than it's been getting, it ain't never going to see spring again" (40).

When Ruth and Mama talk about possible uses for the insurance money, Mama mentions that she is thinking of putting some money down on a house so the family can move out of their cramped apartment.  This, she explains, has been her dream for a long time, something she and her late husband had hoped to do many years before.  They had even had a particular house in mind:

"Looks right dumpy today.  But Lord, child, you should know all the dreams I had 'bout buying that house and fixing it up and making me a little garden in back" (45).

They were never able to buy that house, and Mama's regret is apparent as she looks at her plant.  When Ruth points out, "You sure loves that little old thing, don't you?" Mama explains why her plants means so much to her:

"Well, I always wanted me a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of houses down home. This plant is close as I ever got to having one" (53).

When Beneatha later criticizes Mama for wanted to bring that old plant to the new house, Mama adamantly states: "It expresses me!" (121). 

The news that the money has been lost leads Mama to give up momentarily on her dream - she tells the others that they better call the moving men and tell them not to come.  Then, as the notes state:

A sense of waste overwhelms her gait; a measure of apology rides on her shoulder.  She goes to her plant, which has remained on the table, looks at it, picks it up and takes it to the windowsill and sits it outside, and she stands and looks at it a long moment (139).

In this scene, we see Mama resigning herself, it seems, to the idea that this is the only garden she will ever have.  However, with the ultimate decision, after Walter rediscovers his pride, to move into their new house, Mama readies her plant - it is one of the final items to be packed, as she steps out to finally see her dream be realized.

Initially, the new house in Clybourne Park represents an obstacle that impedes both Walter Jr. and Beneatha's dreams. Walter Jr. wishes to use the money from Lena's insurance check to invest in his liquor business and opposes her plans to buy the home in Clybourne Park. While Beneatha does not overtly reject her mother's dream, she expresses her desire to enroll in college to become a doctor. One could surmise that Beneatha would rather use Lena's money to enroll in college instead of buying a new home.

Both Walter Jr. and Beneatha are portrayed as relatively self-centered individuals, who have their own dreams and plans of spending the insurance check. While Beneatha at least recognizes that the money belongs to Lena and is hers to spend, Walter Jr. sees the money as the key to his family's financial freedom and happiness. Essentially, Walter Jr. views the home in Clybourne Park as a significant obstacle deterring his dream of entering the liquor business.

In contrast, Lena and Ruth view the home as a new beginning and fresh start to life. Both characters believe that the new home will uplift the family's spirit and inspire hope. Lena sees the home as a comfortable environment for her family to enjoy their lives while Ruth sees it as a cure for her depression. Both Lena and Ruth feel cramped and stressed in their small South Side apartment and see the new home in Clybourne Park as an escape from their tired lives.

At the end of the play, Walter Jr. experiences a significant inner change as he is about to sell the home back to the white community. He decides to keep the home and illustrates his integrity by refusing to sell the home to Mr. Lindner. By the end of the play, the entire family sees the home as a new chance at life and a new beginning to achieve their goals.

The house does not mean the same thing to each member of the Younger family initially. However, by the close of the play the house comes to have a single meaning for the whole family, ultimately representing a chance to come together as a family. 

Walter and Beneatha are both more interested in achieving individual success and in finding some personal dignity through individual achievement. They each feel that looking outward for success is the surest way to build up a pride. They do not look at family as being a source of pride. 

This outlook carries over to the views that Walter and Beneatha initially hold regarding the prospect of buying a house. As the house is meant for the whole family, it does not seem to satisfy the individual needs of these two characters. 

For Walter, in particular, the house represents an alternative to his plan to buy a liquor store. By extension, the idea of buying a house serves to undermine his authority in the household. It is not what he wants to do. The house offers no possibility for moving up in the world financially. The house will not change Walter's position in the world as he sees it. 

For Mama and Ruth, who see the family falling apart, the house does represent a kind of possibility. The apartment is worn out, small and dark. The family is following the same arc as the apartment. 

"Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too many people for too many years."

A larger house will offer comfort to the family and may ease some of the inevitable tensions of living in a cramped space. Additionally, the new house will take the family out of the impoverished environs where they currently live. The house represents a chance for the family to remain intact.

When the family's pride is put on the line, both Beneatha and Walter begin to see the house as a means to achieving dignity. Choosing to move into the house will not only please their mother. It will demonstrate their own view of who they are and what value they hold as people and as a family.

Walter is able to prove that he has pride and dignity by refusing to be kept out of the new neighborhood. This course of action also allows Walter to choose to define himself through his family. The same is true of Beneatha.

The house, finally, becomes a symbol of hope and faith in the family structure, in the unity of the Younger family, and in the potential of the family unit to be a generative source of individual value and positive identity. Mama had worried that Walter would not be able to find this value and this pride in his family. 

As the play ends, Mama talks to Ruth about the change in Walter that happened that day; both women are very proud.

The check is the ten-thousand-dollar life insurance compensation that Lena Younger receives after her husband passed away. The check represents possible financial freedom and the opportunity to pursue the various dreams of each of the family members.

The check means something different to each person in the Younger family and represents numerous future possibilities. For Walter Jr., the check provides him with the financial backing to go into the liquor business, which he hopes will prosper and bring the family more financial freedom. For Walter's wife, the check gives her husband the opportunity to follow his dreams and a rare chance to leave the south side of Chicago. For Beneatha, the check means an opportunity to enroll in the college of her choice to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. For Lena, the check means an opportunity to provide a comfortable home for her family and the financial means for her children to pursue their lofty dreams.

At the beginning of the play, the characters keep referencing a check that is supposed to be arriving the next day.  The audience learns that this check is a life insurance check, and it's coming because Mama recently lost her husband, Walter Sr.  The check is worth $10,000, quite a large sum for this poor family that lives on Chicago's Southside.  

This check is the center and symbol for each of the family members' dreams.  For Mama, she dreams of a house where her family can grow and flourish.  Currently, she, her daughter Beneatha, her son Walter, her daughter-in-law Ruth, and their son Travis all live together in a very small apartment.  Because of the cramped living conditions and because of their poverty, Mama and the audience see the deterioration of Walter and Ruth's marriage, and Mama wants more for them and for her grandson.

For Walter, the check represents a chance to be a man, the leader of the family.  Walter wants to use the money as a downpayment on a liquor store, which he thinks will make him big money.  For Walter, money means power and respect.  Currently, he is a chauffeur for a wealthy white family, and Walter idolizes that family because he thinks they "have it all."  So the money would mean the American Dream for Walter.

For Beneatha, the money would mean a college education and a chance to create an identity for herself.  Currently Beneatha is the only adult in the household who is not working to support the family.  She is trying to attend medical school, but really, that is just one step in trying to find out who she is supposed to be--her identity.  

For Ruth, that money would just mean happiness for her family that seems to be falling apart.  While Ruth does not have specific plans for the money like the other main characters, she thinks that the money can make the other three happy in their endeavors.  That dream is complicated, however, when the audience discovers in Act I, scene II, that Ruth is pregnant.  Because of the family's poverty, Ruth feels she must give up the baby in order to keep the family together.  That $10,000 could mean the opportunity to keep the baby.

The living room, which is described in the play's exposition in Act One, Scene One, is a metaphor for the Youngers' lives. The room is described as one that would be "comfortable and well-ordered...if it were not for a number of indestructible contradictions to this state of being." The "indestructible contradictions" are related to the Youngers' cyclical poverty, further represented by the worn places in the carpet and "the once loved pattern of the couch upholstery," which has since been covered by "acres of crocheted doilies and couch covers".

The Youngers are proud people who do not wish to be defined by their poverty, despite their inability to escape it. The doilies and couch covers are attempts to mask what they cannot control but desperately try to. Hansberry describes the room as one in which "[w]eariness has, in fact, won." She describes a space that has been frequently washed, scrubbed, and polished, but still shows the signs of "weariness" and "depressing uniformity." The space reflects the lack of change that characterizes the family's lives--a condition that is reversed at the end of the play when they decide to move to Clybourne Park.

The significance of the Younger's living-room is that it emphazises their poverty and their life of struggle and strife.  Nearly every important scene takes place in this living room full of run down furniture and cramped living space.  Travis, Walter's son, has to sleep on the couch because there are not enough bedrooms for this family of five.  Another child is to be born and and Walter's sister at one point in the play asks, "where is he going to sleep; on the roof?  The living room also emphasizes the importance of the closeness of this family.  They need each other and they need the love and support of each other.  The living-room is the soul of the play.

The Younger family name alludes to the young members of the family who have hope for a better future and desire to climb the social ladder along with the newer generation of African Americans as the Civil Rights Movement gains traction. Walter Lee Younger and his sister Beneatha are depicted as ambitious, enthusiastic characters, who both have extraordinary dreams. Walter Lee dreams of becoming a successful businessman while Beneatha dreams of earning a college education and becoming a doctor. Their fantastic dreams correspond to their youth and their hopeful attitudes align with the demands for equality championed by the Civil Rights Movement. In addition to their optimistic outlook on life and big dreams, the Younger family name also alludes to their naivety, which is a typical characteristic of young people. Beneatha struggles with her identity while Walter Lee loses the family's insurance money after he is robbed by his shady business partner. In many ways, Walter Lee and Beneatha underestimate the challenges and obstacles that stand in the way of attaining their dreams and rely on the oldest member of the family, Lena, to make the correct decision. In the end, Lena influences her son to make the right decision by refusing to sign over the house to Mr. Lindner. Overall, the Younger family name alludes to the strong youthful members of their family and aligns with the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement.

The name calls to mind the "younger" generation.  This family is living in a time a great change.  The Civil Rights movement is promising equality to African-Americans, who have suffered unfairly for hundreds of years.  Opportunities are present everywhere, and there is hope that the "American Dream" can be for all people and not just for white people.  However, there is much that still stands in the way.  Racism, greed, pride... these sins plague the family from inside and out.  Although the younger members of the family should be able to make a better life for themselves, it is the oldest member of the family - Mama - who has the most ambition and sense to actually make it happen.  Although change is present, it is slow and arduous.  The "Youngers" will still have to work hard if they really want to see success.

This is an interesting question to think about. If I understand you correctly, you are asking for what images we can relate to the principal characters of this play. I will respond by talking about Ruth, Walter, Mama and Beneatha.

When we think of Mama it is important that she is the central matriarchal force of the family. She is trying to keep the family all together and she at the same time assumes the position of power for the family. Having the inheritance and deciding how it will and will not be spent gives her the most power. The image that we can relate her to is therefore a strong family head that does everything she can to stop her family imploding.

Thining about Walter and Beneatha for one moment, these siblings are similar in the way that they rage against the low position society keeps them in. Both of them desire and strive to rise above the racism that they face, Walter by opening his own store so that he does not have to work for whites and Beneatha by training to be a doctor. Both of them wish to defy society and the position that society gives them. This makes them angry and passionate. The images I would associate with them both would be malcontented individuals who refuse to accept their position in society without a fight, and constantly strive to follow their dreams.

Lastly, Ruth is a figure who is a nurturer, like Mama, but also a figure who is slowly losing hope. This is shown through her desire to have an abortion because of the poverty of her family. Also, she constantly has to act as something of a mediator between the various angry elements of her family and try and keep the peace. I think of her as being a peacekeeper, but one who is losing the will to live and keep up the fight of life.

In addition to the previous poster who has drawn attention to the plant, you might want to think about a certain phrase that is repeated throughout the play: "eat your eggs". Bit of an odd symbol, you may be thinking, but bear with me. This phrase first occurs quite early on in the play in the form of an order from Ruth to Walter to shut him up. Walter then goes on to reinterpret the phrase to demonstrate how women impede men from accomplishing their aims - Walter claims that every time a man becomes thrilled by something, a women tries to "calm him down" by telling him to eat his eggs. Thus, thinking about the context of the play as a whole, shutting up or being stocial and eating your eggs symbolises the kind of acceptance and stoicism in response to adversity and problems that Walter and the rest of his family certainly confront in their lives. Walter of course sees Ruth (who is making his eggs) as an impediment in the way of him accomplishing his dream, and he tries to argue that she should be more encouraging. The eggs that she cooks him every day represent her somewhat robotic approach to supporting him. She does give him sustenance, but every day this is in the same, repeated fashion.

That is a major one, but you also might like to consider how Beneatha's hair becomes a symbol of her identity. Go back and read the play and consider how her hair changes in style and why. Hope this helps!

One of the symbols in A Raisin in the Sun is Mama's straggly plant. She wants to take this to the new house, although she plans to have a much more successful garden there, because this plant "expresses ME" Though the plant has struggled to live and seems to lack the beauty for which it would ordinarily be valued, it is significant to Mama because it has survived despite the struggle, as her family has survived.

Among the symbols that Lorraine Hansberry incorporates into A Raisin in the Sun, three important ones are the plant that Lena tends, the anticipated check for Walter, Sr.’s insurance policy, and the house that Lena decides to buy. Lena is both the head of the family, now that her husband has passed away, but an individual with her own dreams and aspirations. Her careful nurturing of the plant in some ways parallels the love with which she cares for all the family members. It is also a personal symbol that stands for her private hopes.

The check that they all await will be a physical, concrete representation of the money that Lena will receive from her husband’s insurance policy. The check is meaningful as a representation of the money but also for its connection to Lena’s difficult decisions.

The symbol of the house is important as an indication of the major changes the family will undergo through their move. It stands not only for the expanded opportunities but for the challenges they will face as the first Black family to integrate a white enclave. While the play concerns events in the lives of the Younger family, their experiences also apply more broadly to those of other African Americans in the 1950s.

Symbolism is used in several instances throughout this play. Beneatha's hair style is symbolic for her character and the choices she faces and Mama's plant represents her character, her dreams, and her passion.

The use of symbolism in the play is not necessarily limited to these two examples, but in Beneatha's hair style and Mama's plant we have poignant, physical representations of the inner life of these two characters. 

Beneatha's conflicts in this play relate to ambition and a need to establish an identity worthy of respect. 

Throughout the play, she struggles for an adult identity, determined to express her ideas but often failing to do so tactfully.

Unable to see value in marrying or dating a proudly conventional man like George Murchison, Beneatha is drawn to Joseph Asagai, an African man with considerable dignity. We see Beneatha's choice in her hair style as she goes "au natural", inspiring negative comments from Murchison. Utimately, Beneatha desires both pride and dignity but the experiment with her hair style represents her willingness to be bold, to be independent, and to choose her own identity.

Mama's plant is a more obvious symbol and is discussed directly as a symbol in the play. The plant represents Mama's undying hope to find a better life for her family. The plant never gives up, despite difficult circumstances. It struggles to grow, but it lives. 

Though the plant has struggled to live and seems to lack the beauty for which it would ordinarily be valued, it is significant to Mama because it has survived despite the struggle, as her family has survived.

This question can be answered in a number of ways. First of all, consider the way in which their present abode is compared with the house that they hope to have. The place they live in at the time of the play is small, cramped and infested by insects. It has no yard. Mama's plant, which is another object with massive symbolism in the play, is not thriving in this home, because it does not have enough light and space to thrive.

By contrast, the house that they hope to move into has more space, and has a yard, which is particularly important for Mama, as she is the nurturer of the family as its matriarch. In particular, her plant symbolises her desire to see her family live in an environment where they can thrive, rather than just survive. So, in a sense, the house symbolises a fruitful future for the Younger family.

However, it also symbolises something else, too. Consider how Walter refuses the offer made by Mr. Lindner on behalf of the community where they are about to move:

We have decided to move into our house because my father—my father—he earned it for us brick by brick. We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, and we will try to be good neighbors. And that’s all we got to say about that. We don’t want your money.

Therefore the house also symbolises the hard work of Walter's father and his hope of having a home for his family. Because this money has been gained through the death of Walter's father, and it has been earned through years of hard, solid labour, the house symbolises a right that the Younger family fully deserve.

The garden is significant because it represents Mama's long-denied dream. From the time she married and moved into her small, dark urban apartment, Mama hoped to own her own small house with a garden. She and her husband, Big Walter, thought they would only be in the apartment a year, not a lifetime. Mama says to Ruth,

you should know all the dreams I had 'bout buying that house and fixing it up and making me a little garden in the back—(She waits and stops smiling) And didn't none of it happen ...

All Mama has as she speaks to Ruth is a plant, which doesn't do well in the dark apartment.

Mama is delighted to get gifts of garden tools and then a garden hat from Travis. Although the family criticizes the hat as too much like what the white Scarlett O'Hara might wear, Mama is delighted with the gesture, which means her dream is closer to reality.

The garden represents the American Dream, and for Mama, after inheriting the insurance money, this dream seems finally within reach, even if Big Walter can't share in it. The garden, along with the house in the suburbs, symbolizes to Mama a chance for the family to breathe and grow and have a better chance in life than was afforded them previously.

Apart from the straggly plant that Mama nourishes in A Raisin in theSun, there are many other symbols in the play. One such symbol the author uses is the reference to the eggs that Ruth cooks for Walter. Walter feels that the eggs are symbolic for Ruth discouraging his dreams:

“That’s it. There you are. A man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs. ” (15)

Ruth does try to hush Walter up by insisting that he eat his eggs. When Ruth tells Walter to hush up and eat his eggs, she is instructing him to accept life the way it has been dealt to him. Walter believes that Ruth is keeping him from achieving his dream. He blames her for not being supportive. 

Another symbol in the play is connected to Beneatha's hair style. In the beginning, she has a straightened hair style that conforms to the expectations of a Caucasian society. Later, Beneatha cuts her hair in a radical Afro style. She symbolically is saying that black and natural is beautiful.

Beneatha's new hair style is a symbol of her anti-assimilationist beliefs. Her actions are radical as she tries to shape her identity to her roots in Africa. Beneatha's new hair style is a symbol that Beneatha is in conflict with trying to fit in and desiring to go back to her roots.     

To begin to write an essay, a scholar must first choose their topic and identify a thesis statement. In this case, the essay prompts us to consider the "most important" symbol in A Raisin in the Sun. Since the play is full of symbols, it's up to the scholar to choose which symbol s/he feels is most important to the story or to him or herself. The A Raisin in the Sun study guide covers much of the symbolism throughout the play, especially on the "Analysis" sub-page. For the purposes of this question, let's use Mama's plant to represent the most important symbol in the play.

The PEAL essay style asks us to first make our point, then share supporting evidence, analyze this evidence, and finally, make our conclusion. Our sample thesis statement in this case will be, "In the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses Mama's plant to represent the journey of the Younger family from past to future, making it the key symbol utilized in the play." Our supporting evidence and analysis to his point can be the following ideas:

• Mama's plant is a part of her dream. She hopes to one day have a large garden where she can grow many different plants, and this is the plant that she gets first. It's her reminder of what she hopes to have someday and what her family is working towards.
• The plant is not in the best shape and requires a lot of intervention and love from Mama in order to thrive. The Younger family has had its share of struggles, but by loving and supporting each other, they continue to grow and thrive.
• When the family moves into a new home where Mama hopes to have a larger and more successful garden, she still wants to bring the plant along. Although she could choose to start fresh, she wants this plant that has struggled with her to be a part of her new life.

Finally, wrap up your essay but restating your point and the ways that your evidence supports it. For example, "Mama's plant represents her dreams, her struggle, and her ultimate triumph and stands as a significant symbol in A Raisin in the Sun."

Mama Younger compares her life to the straggly plant. The plant is alive but it has faced extremely difficult growing conditions. It has trouble finding sunlight. It has weathered the storms and is hanging on, but its growth has been hindered by the rough conditions of trying to survive in the small apartment.

Mama Younger can be compared to the plant. She too has weathered the storm. She has trouble growing in the harsh conditions she has lived through. Trying to find the light of day has been a challenge. Mama Younger has lived a hard life. She lives in the crowded apartment. She struggles to make a living. She watches her son as his dream falls apart. She is worried about his negative attitude on life. Her heart breaks right along with her son's heart as his dream falls apart.

Mama Younger watches her grandson fall asleep on the sofa every night because there is not a room in the apartment for him. Mama Younger has endured the storm as Ruth and Walter grow apart. She worries about her children. She dreams right along with her children. She hopes that the insurance money will alleviate some of the financial burdens she endures. She desires to send her daughter to college to be a doctor.

All that Mama Younger can do is exist. She, like the straggly plant, barely hangs on in life. Like the plant, there is no depth for her roots. She lives a shallow existence. Mama worries that her children are becoming bitter by the harsh existence they live. She worries about their character that is being affected because of the bitter circumstances they face in life:

At this point, she recognizes that her family's enemy has been transferred from their culture to their own hearts. Mama is clearly the source of the family's strength as well as its soul.

Like the straggly plant, Mama Younger will survive. She is the backbone of the family. She holds the family together. She will make it. She will see brighter days. She will grow and bloom in a better neighborhood. The plant and Mama are survivors. They endure harsh conditions and continue to grow. When Mama Younger moves into the new neighborhood, she can spread her roots and grow. Like the straggly plant, Mama will have a new life in the new neighborhood.

I would add some images of a small run-down apartment and label it The Younger Apartment. Also, you could find a picture of a child sleeping on the couch, as did ten-year-old Travis. You could add images of a chauffeur, which was Walter's job or occupation. Also, Walter drank alcohol and lost the family's money. Perhaps, you could include photos of someone drinking too much alcohol. Images of money being wasted would be ideal.

You could also find domestic or house keeping occupations. Mrs. Lena Younger and Ruth did other people's laundry and house keeping.

As for Beneatha, she was curious as to her roots as an African American. You could find some African clothing like the Nigerian dress and head band Beneatha wore.

You could also find college prep clothes that George wore. He wore white buckskin shoes.

You could find a picture of a straggly plant (a pitiful plant) like the symbolic plant that Mama kept, symbolizing that she would survive no matter the struggle:

One of the symbols in A Raisin in the Sun is Mama's straggly plant. She wants to take this to the new house, although she plans to have a much more successful garden there, because this plant 'expresses ME.' Though the plant has struggled to live and seems to lack the beauty for which it would ordinarily be valued, it is significant to Mama because it has survived despite the struggle, as her family has survived.

On a happy note, you could find a picture of a nice, new home in a nice neighborhood. This house symbolized hope for the Younger family. They were ecstatic to move into a new home of their very own.

These are some ideas, symbols and images you could put on your poster board. Hope these ideas help. Good luck with your assignment.

In literature, there is a fine line between saying a character is a "symbol" and recognizing that authors always use characters to express ideas and represent concepts that are part of a work's themes. A Raisin in the Sun is not an allegory in which the entire construct of the work is metaphorical—as in, for instance, an Ayn Rand novel in which the characters clearly represent good and evil. Still, there are several straightforward ideas relating to the African American (and more, broadly, anybody's) experience that are embodied in the characters themselves.

Though the principal action centers around the Younger family's move to a new neighborhood and their encounter with bigotry, perhaps the relationship between Beneatha and Asagai is more relevant to your question. With all ethnic groups in the US, there has historically been a conflict or tension between loyalty to Americanism and loyalty to one's roots, the ancestral culture. Asagai, as a native African, represents to Beneatha the culture she is trying to recapture and to take pride in. As with her personality overall, the other family members have little understanding of her in this regard.

At the same time, Beneatha herself is a symbol of the new generation's wish to free itself from the constraints of the past, specifically religion and the dominance of the parents. One of the most striking moments occurs when Beneatha says she's tired of hearing about God and that man is the one who makes miracles. Mrs. Younger slaps her face and forces her to repeat that "in my mother's house, there is still God."

Mrs. Younger represents the unyielding human spirit. Regardless of the oppression of her family and of African Americans in general, she keeps going, refusing to be defeated or allow her family to accept the fate that American society has planned for it. This quality carries its own authority with it, and this is why Beneatha, despite her independence, yields to her mother at that crucial moment. It's also the quality that enables the family to succeed in the end and resist the bigotry leveled at them.