Download Characters - Manhasset Schools

Beneatha
(Mama's daughter;
Walter's sister)
Characters
Mama
Ruth
(Walter's
wife)
Travis
(Walter's and
Ruth's son)
Walter
(Mama's son)
George
Murchison
(Beneath's
other boyfriend)
Homework Questions:
• Define assimilation and use it in a sentence related to A Raisin in the Sun.
• Describe the development of Beneatha's relationship with her borther Walter.
• What advice does Walter give George? What does this tell us about Walter?
• What is Walter's final line in this scene? Why are these the words that can hurt his mother most deeply?
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Who was Prometheus?
George may have been joking when he called Walter "Prometheus," but the name was not wholly unflattering. In Greek mythology, Prometheus was an early god, one of the Titans. When Zeus, king of the gods, schemed to destroy humanity by denying them fire, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans. For his "crime," Prometheus was chained to a rock and his liver daily eaten by an eagle. Each night the liver grew back. He was finally freed from his ordeal by the hero Hercules, who killed the eagle and broke his chains.
2