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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... We ain't never been that-dead inside.
Beneatha: Well-we are dead now. All the talk about dreams and sunlight that goes
on in this house. It's all dead now.
Walter: What's the matter with you all! I didn't make this world! It was given to me
this way! Hell, yes, I want me some yachts someday! Yes, I want to hang some real
pearls 'round my wife's neck. Ain't she supposed to wear no pearls? Somebody tell
me-tell me, who decides which women is suppose to wear pearls in this world. I tell
you I am a man-and I think my wife should wear some pearls in this world!
Explain the significance of this exchange:

User Suen
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2 Answers

6 votes

Answer:

Mama represents a generation that values pride and dignity, even in the face of poverty and oppression. She believes that accepting charity or handouts is a form of surrender and an admission of worthlessness.

Beneatha, on the other hand, feels disillusioned with the family's focus on dreams and aspirations, which she sees as unrealistic given their circumstances. She feels that their efforts to attain these dreams are futile and that they are, in a sense, already "dead" because they are unable to achieve them.

Walter, the main character, wants to escape the poverty and hopelessness of his current situation and dreams of wealth and success. He feels that he is a man who deserves to have the things he wants, including a yacht and pearls for his wife. He questions who decides what is deemed appropriate for someone in his position, and wants the right to make these decisions for himself.

Step-by-step explanation:

This exchange represents the tension between different values, aspirations, and perspectives, and the struggle for identity and agency in a world that can be hostile and oppressive.

User Vlad Sankin
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6 votes

Answer: The significance is to show fading hope.

Explanation: As the wife speaks to her son thus the hope fading the husbands speaks up to restore it.

User Jeremy Woodland
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