We got enough to do with that money, all right. (69)
A Raisin in the Sun is a good piggyback off of Death of a Salesman because it sort of furthers the story. It's like what it would be like after Willy Loman died and his family got insurance money, but in a different way where Papa dies and Mama (Lena) gets the money. The money symbolizes hope and Walter Lee sees it as his success. He's wanted to start a liquor business for a long time now and he sees the money as a means to an end. Money is the hero here. After staying put for so long, Mama decides to move the family to a new house in a better neighborhood. It's the start of a new beginning and a new hope.
Langston Hughes’s poem “Mother To Son” is about perseverance through the hard times in life. The poem uses stairs as the metaphorical “walk of life” for a mother to demonstrate to her son. She’s telling him not to give up because even she is still going, and this theme is present in “ A Raisin in the Sun” as well. Big Walter would say that God “did give us children to make them dreams worthwhile” (45-46), and Walter Lee “says” this in his speech to Travis. Walter Lee uses Travis as an inspiring moment to explain how the world is going to be when Travis is seventeen.
Langston Hughes’s poem “Mother To Son” is about perseverance through the hard times in life. The poem uses stairs as the metaphorical “walk of life” for a mother to demonstrate to her son. She’s telling him not to give up because even she is still going, and this theme is present in “ A Raisin in the Sun” as well. Big Walter would say that God “did give us children to make them dreams worthwhile” (45-46), and Walter Lee “says” this in his speech to Travis. Walter Lee uses Travis as an inspiring moment to explain how the world is going to be when Travis is seventeen.
Mother To Son
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.