This play tells the story of a family of five living in a two bedroom apartment on the south side of Chicago in the 1950s, Walter who should be the man of the house, is stuck in an uncomfortable situation because he is living with his mother. His job is not that great and there is not a lot of money flowing for the family. But he still has his pride and wants his son to observe him being a proud man so that he has high spirits when leaving the home. An example of this happens in the beginning of the play when Travis ask his mother for 50 cents to take to school because the teacher has asked for it. His mother Ruth being a realist and knowing that they do not have a lot of money tells him that she does not have it. But when Walter catches wind of this request his pride steps in and he coughs up the 50 cents. After asking Ruth “Why did you tell the boy that we don’t have it” (315). This creates a little tension between the couple; tension that might not have happened if they lived in a bigger home, because Walter might not have given Travis the money in front of her and disregarded everything that she said.
One thing about living in a small apartment is that they do not have their own personal shower it is shared between residents. Which I observed affected the family because they had to come up with a system in the morning that would ensure that both Travis and Walter could take care of their morning business with enough time to make it to school and work on time. This is a positive aspect because it requires the family to work together, but this issue would not occur if the family did not live in this small apartment, with a bigger apartment or a home the family would have their own restroom to use at their convince.
Another conflict that is showcased is the sibling conflict between Walter and Bernetha, which is intensified with the presence of their mother for a couple reasons. first because of that natural chemistry and strives for attention, second they are living their own separate life’s but because they are living in the same space bernethas opinion about what Walter is doing with his life or Walters opinions about who Bernetha is dating becomes an bigger issue because they are discussing them with each other or in the presences of each other. Another conflict between the two is their aspirations, Bernetha wants to go to medical school so that she can become a nurse and Walter has a vision of going into business with his buddies and opening a liquor store. Problem is they both need the money from their mothers check to start. Walter is Dealing with a Few issues of his own, on top of living in these uncomfortable conditions
him and his family he also has a dream of owning a liquor store and making millions, but the investing any money in liquor in against his mother’s morals and she is against the idea. This would not be that big of an issue if the family did not have this 10,000 dollars of insurance money coming in from the father’s death.
This money becomes a big source of conflict for the family because they all have their own ideas about