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Joshua Mruk

Honors English 1

Ms. Price

28 May 2019

Walter Lee Not as Big a Family Man as he Seems

Walter Lee Younger would do anything for his family, however, Walter loves something

much more than his family, and that is alcohol. Alcoholism is the addiction to the substance

alcohol and feeling you need it to function and can not stop using it without draw back. Around

15 million people are affected by an alcohol addiction disorder in just the US alone in the year

2018. Walter Lee Younger from the book ​A Raisin in the Sun ​is addicted to alcohol because he

shows many symptoms such as drinking to deal with his problems, spending more and more time

and energy getting the substance and being violent and not listening to those close to him trying

to help him.

Walter can be proved an alcoholic in many ways, one of which, is that he uses the

drinking to deal with his problems over and over again. As stated in one of Adam Felman's

articles, “A person with addiction commonly feels the need to take the drug or carry out the

behavior to deal with their problems,” which Walter often does not dealing with the problems

with family showing he cares more about drinking. This is often what Walter would do when

anything bad would happen as shown by mama when she says, “Seem like you getting to a place

where you always tied up in some kind of knot about something. But if anybody ask you ’bout it

you just yell at ’em and bust out the house and go out and drink somewheres,” (Hansberry). This

shows that he does in fact go out to drink to deal with his problems and it has gotten so far that
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others in his family have started to take notice. This, you can see in the said symptom, that he

feels the need to drink which is shown by him getting up and leaving which shows he feels that it

is the only way instead of a more healthy way to deal with the problem. This is only one example

from ​A Raisin in the Sun,​ but there are many other times showing him leaving because he has

encountered a problem furthering the point that this is his main way to deal with problems. This

is only one of the ways Walter can be proved addicted to alcohol, and there is many more.

Another way that Walter can be proved an alcoholic is when he is seen going to the bar

more and more and finding new ways to be able to go without others noticing. As stated in Adam

Felman’s same article, “A person may become obsessed with a substance, spending more and

more time and energy finding ways of getting their substance, and in some cases how they can

use it.” This is becomes evident as the story develops Walter is seen leaving to drink or coming

home after drinking. A great example of this symptom would be when Walter’s true colors show

and he states, “Then I drove back and I went to the Green Hat. (Pause)And Thursday—Thursday

I borrowed the car again and I got in it and I pointed it the other way and I drove the other

way—for hours—way, way up to Wisconsin, and I looked at the farms. I just drove and looked

at the farms. Then I drove back and I went to the Green Hat. (Pause) And today—today I didn’t

get the car. Today I just walked. All over the Southside. And I looked at the Negroes and they

looked at me and finally I just sat down on the curb at Thirty-ninth and South Parkway and I just

sat there and watched the Negroes go by. And then I went to the Green Hat,” (Hansberry). This

evidence furthers the claim of Walter be an alcoholic because he was skipping work to drive

around then go drink. He was finding new ways to be able to get to the bar without his family

realizing. Not only that but this also proves the last point because he was finding ways to get
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there to deal with a problem. This time he was dealing with the biggest problem which was Ruth

thinking about getting rid of the baby and so he runs out to drink. Walter has been proved and

alcoholic but there is still more evidence why he truly is an alcoholic.

Despite the evidence against Walter being an alcoholic, many people believe Walter is a

family man and not addicted to alcohol, but they fail to see that Walter is putting himself and his

family at risk from drinking. Those who believe Walter cares more about his family and is not

addicted to alcohol think he does not drink to deal with his problems and he would never hurt or

scare his family. Although aspects of this argument are enticing, it ultimately fails to be a

stronger argument because Walter drinks for almost all his problems and has gotten his family

involved before. Walter can be shown with some of the outcomes of drinking such as, “When a

partner is under the influence, the risks of abuse on all levels - physical, verbal, emotional, digital

and sexual - are all amplified, leading to a deeply troubling situation,” (The Impact of Substance

Abuse on Unhealthy Relationships). Walter can be seen showing this when, “WALTER comes

in during this performance; he has obviously been drinking. He leans against the door heavily

and watches his sister, at first with distaste. Then his eyes look off—“back to the past”—as he

lifts both his fists to the roof, screaming,” (Hansberry). This proves my point because he is

looking at his sister in distaste like he is mad at her which can be emotional abuse and then he

just screams and he could be scaring his family or be doing something about his anger at his

sister. As shown, claims of Walter not being an alcoholic can be proven incorrect and be further

shown to be wrong.

Many symptoms of addiction especially to alcohol are shown by Walter in the book ​A

Raisin in the Sun​, such as, drinking to deal with his problems, spending more and more time and
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energy getting the substance and being violent and not listening to those close to him trying to

help him. As proven Walter Lee Younger is an alcoholic and needs to take serious actions to fix

this problem because with a family as large as his and one more on the way his addiction can

lead to serious problems. Walter has been proven an alcoholic and action needs to be taken to

stop this man from putting his family in more and more danger.
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Works Cited

Felman, Adam. “Addiction: Symptoms, Effects, and What to Look For.” ​Medical News Today,​

MediLexicon International, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323459.php.

“The Impact of Substance Abuse on Unhealthy Relationships.” ​Break the Cycle​, 11 Aug. 2014,

www.breakthecyle.org/substance-abuse-unhealthy-relationships.