Characterization: Identify / Label each of the 4 Central Characters (Walter, Mama, Beneatha and Ruth) as either Dynamic-Round or Dynamic-Flat or Static-Round or Static-Flat and you MUST support your choices with CITED examples from the play (Hansberry #). EXAMPLE (since Travis is NOT one of the main characters): Travis is Static-Flat because he does not change much during the play and we know little about him, other than he is there to show the overcrowding of the family’s living conditions. “This is my son, and he makes the sixth generation our family in this country” (Hansberry 129).
Answer:
1. Walter is a Dynamic-Round character. He undergoes a significant transformation, starting as a discontented limousine driver who dreams of owning a liquor store, to finally becoming a responsible man who stands up for his family’s dignity. “Mama: Son – I come from five generations of people who was slaves and sharecroppers – but ain’t nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth. We ain’t never been that poor. (Raising her eyes and looking at him) We ain’t never been that – dead inside.” (Hansberry 143).
2. Mama is a Static-Round character. She is the