Why Walter is the antagonist

- He causes tension in the family

- He losses all of the families money
- He does not listen to mamas wishes
- He was about to sell out to Mr. Linder
- He wastes his time drinking away his money
- He puts his dreams over Beneatha's schooling

Evidence:
1. Mama: OhSo now its life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be lifenow its
money. I guess the world really do change . . .

Walter: Noit was always money, Mama. We just didnt know about it.

Mama: No . . . something has changed. You something new, boy. In my time we was worried
about not being lynched . . . You aint satisfied or proud of nothing we done. I mean that you had
a home; that we kept you out of trouble till you was grown; that you dont have to ride to work on
the back of nobodys streetcarYou my childrenbut how different we done become.

2. not a man . . . but a toothless rat.

3. __________________

4. __________________

5. __________________

Elaine- Opening Statement (1 min):

It is obvious that Walter is the Antagonist of A Raisin in the Sun. He ruins the families dreams by
putting his desire and obsession with money before the dreams of everyone else. All throughout
the story he is obsessed with money and makes impulsive and reckless decisions that end up
costing the family their future. By the end of the play Walter is the most hated member of the
family and during the play Walter's own sister (Beneatha) called him a toothless rat and later
says that Walter is no brother of hers.

Kristen- Argument (2 min):

Throughout the play, Walter has caused a lot of drama that has led to tension in the family.
Walter is very defiant with mama and hes always bringing up money in the conversation. He
emphasizes the importance of money and he later says money is life in the quote
Mama:Son how come you talk so much *bout money?
Walter: (With immense passion) Because it is life
This shows that Walter depends on money and it consumes his time which brings me to the
point that Walter would rather use the money from the life insurance check of his dad, and
invest in a liquor store with Willy. Walter is the antagonist because his family had trusted him
with the leftover money to invest in something important. However, Walter ends up losing the
money ($6,500 to be exact) by handing it over to Willy for the liquor store.

Elaine- Crossfire (2 min):

Walter did not positively contribute to the family in any way. When he did not sell the house to
Mr. Linder that was not a personal contribution from Walter. The whole family was begging him
to not sell out the house and to do good and follow the family's dream. Just because he did not
go through with something bad that he had planned does not mean that he did something good.
That's like saying if someone was planning to do something awful like kill someone they would
be praised as a hero as your saying if at the last minute they end up deciding not to follow
through with the plan. It just does not make sense. Walter did not

Joylayna- Rebuttal (2 min): Walter isnt a hero because he chooses to go against any argument
other than to support it. For example when Beneatha needed help choosing if she should marry
George he immediately disagreed, and as her older brother he expected her to follow this
decision. Another example is when Mama bought the house, he strongly disagreed with it and
claimed she wanted to run their lives. Instead he could've agreed with her on how it would help
their family.
Mama: She went out and bought you a house! You glad about the house? Its going to be yours
when you get to be a man.
Travis: Yeah- I always wanted to live in a house.
Walter: So thats the peace and comfort you went out and bought for us today!
Mama: Son-you-you understand what I done, dont you? I-I just saw my family falling apart
today falling to pieces in front of my eyes When it gets like that in life-you just gotta do
something different, push on out and do something bigger
Walter: What you need me to say you done right for? You the head of this family. You run our
lives like you want to.

Kristen- Closing Statement:

Given the facts and circumstance provided in this debate, the answer is obvious, walter is the
antagonist of a raisin in the sun. Walter has caused so much tension in the play and took his
family's trust for granted. He could have saved the money in a bank or put it towards the new
house, but instead he chose to invest it in a liquor store. And for these reasons, we can only see
Walter being the antagonist.