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A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Act 1, Scenes 1 and 2

From the beginning, the play conveys a sense of tension. The family is edgy and everything seems to be revolving around the ten thousand dollar check. Both Walter and Beneatha dream about a better life and it all depends on that ten thousand dollar check. Walter wants to invest the payment into a liquor business. He expects to receive money back from his investment and become richer. He hopes to live nicer, buy a new home, and afford to send Beneatha to medical school. Walter attempts to sell this idea to Ruth and his mama, but they disregard it entirely. They think that it's a scam and that it is foolish. Walter's only hurdle is convincing them of his plan. Beneatha wants to be a doctor, "I'm interested in you. Something wrong with that? Ain't many girls who decide--'to be a doctor.' " (Hansberry, 445). Beneatha's dream of becoming a doctor is admirable because she is a woman and she is black. She hopes that by becoming a doctor, she will make money, set herself apart from her family, and provide for herself. She is studying in school and that seems to going really well for her. Her real troubles arrive when she ponders how she will pay for it. The ten thousand dollars would really help with the expenses. Furthermore, it would be safer to just use the money for medical school rather than gamble it on the liquor business. Beneatha continues to study and learn in hopes of gaining entrance to medical school. She tries to not be a pain toward her family so that they will give her the money for school.