101!

"Unhappy man!  Do you share my madness?  Have you drunk also of the intoxicating draught? Hear me - let me reveal my tale, and you will dash the cup from your lips!" - (Frankenstein - p. 12)

Just finished painting my nails.

The letters of the novel present an interesting frame story about a man who is extremely similar to Victor, the main character of the central story.  Just as Victor, Walton is a man of ambition who seeks personal success within the scientific field; however, Victor seeks to tell his tale to warn Walton of scientific breakthroughs leading to personal downfalls.  The excerpt above is the turning point of the frame story - when Victor decides to finally tell his story to Walton.

In the passage above, Shelley uses a metaphor to compare a scientific dream to a luxurious glass of wine.  Just like wine, the dream seems to be good on the surface.  But eventually, wine and overindulgence can lead to negative effects.  After drinking too much wine, a person becomes drunk.  In Victor's case, his obsession with animating a corpse causes the creation of a supposed evil creature (I am still not totally convinced the creature is evil).  Victor sees that Walton has the same ambition and wishes to warn him of inquiry of knowledge.

   

Escape

Mama:  "He finally come into his manhood today, didn't he?  Kind of like a rainbow after the rain..." (A Raisin in the Sun p. 151)

During Act III, Walter seems to give up hope: all the money is lost, and Mr. Lindner repeatedly asks the family not to move into the neighborhood.  At one point, Walter loses it; he decides that the best thing to do is just to accept the money from Mr. Lindner and not put up a fight for the pride of his family and race; however, Mama tells Walter that this is not how she raised her family to be.  She wants Walter to be strong and stand up for the hard work and determination of his father.  In the end, Walter stands up for his family to Mr. Lindner showing that he has finally developed into a man.

Mama's simile of the rainbow is fitting for this situation.  Right before this event, turmoil and chaos grip the household driving Mama to beat her child.  The storm created in the household is not settled by money or riches; instead, Walter calms the storm through his words and courage.  Without Walter's actions on that day, the family would be trapped in the tiny apartment forever; however, the Younger's are able to overcome social boundaries to reach their ultimate hopes and dreams of escaping the apartment.
 

Money Money Money Money

Mama:  "It ain't much, but it's all I got in the world and I'm putting it in your hands.  I'm telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be.
Walter:  You trust me like that Mama?
Mama:  I ain't never stop trusting you.  Like I ain't never stop loving you." (A Raisin in the Sun p. 107)

During this excerpt, Mama hands Walter $6,500.  Mama tells Walter to put $3,000 in the bank for Bennie, but the rest of the money is given to Walter to use at his own discretion.  This is Walter's turning point in the story.  After this interaction, Walter no longer bickers with his wife; instead, he takes her out to the movies and restarts their once abusive relationship.  Ruth decides to keep the baby because of this change.  Walter even decides to stop drinking.  Later in the story, Walter buys his mother gardening tools for the new house after being told by the "Welcoming Committee" that the Younger family was not allowed to move into the neighborhood due to the "social standards" of the community.  Nothing seems to be able to stop his happiness because he has everything he wants and needs - money. 

At the end of Act II, Walter discovers that Willy stole all of the money he invested into the business.  Instead of putting some of the money into the bank for Bennie, Walter gives all of the money to Willy.  This causes the happiness to end.  Mama no longer trusts her son; in desperation, she hits her son for losing her husband's life savings.  This is ironic because Mama protests Ruth threatening to beat Travis earlier in the story.  It is going to take a lot for Mama to ever trust her son once again, but I'm sure her love will endure through this hard time.

Plants

Mama:  "They spirited all right, my children.  Got to admit they got spirit - Bennie and Walter.  Like this little old plant that ain't never had enough sunshine or nothing - and look at it..." (A Raisin in the Sun - p. 52)

In this play, Mama's beloved plant means a lot more than just a household decoration.  This plant is a symbol of Mama's children Bennie and Walter.  Bennie dreams of becoming a doctor while Walter desires to open a liquor store in order to better their lives.  Through Mama's upbringing, Walter and Bennie have developed ideas outside of Mama's control.  For example, Bennie makes Mama extremely upset when she tells her that she no longer believes in God.  After Mama's constant guidance like her tending of the plant, she can not believe that her child would believe something like this.  Bennie and Walter dream of success because they never experienced anything outside of a poor life just as the plant never received enough sunshine or water.  The plant also represents Mama's desire to live in a bigger house with a yard and garden.  Mama feels that she is unable to adequately provide for her children and grandchildren in their current home.  Moving to a bigger home was a desire she shared with her husband.  Mr. Younger gave up this desire after losing a baby.  This was a turning point for the family that never allowed them to move forward in their lives.