Roe v Wade Case Study

1) Owning a home is Mama’s dream, but how might it benefit other members of the family?  Why does Mama decide to put a down payment on the house, and why does she choose Clybourne as the neighborhood they will move to?

2) Why does Ruth consider having an abortion when she learns she is pregnant?  What does this tell us about the status of her relationship with her husband? (Note: during the time the play is set, abortion was still illegal in the US and could be quite a dangerous procedure for a woman to undergo – it was not until 1973, with the famous Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, that abortion was legalized and better safety measures for abortions began to be implemented).

3) Is Walter selfish, is he trying to act in his family’s best interest, or is it a little bit of both?  You might consider, in particular, the speech Walter gives to Travis on pages 108-109 (the final pages of Act II Scene II).

4) Beneatha seems to be searching for her identity in this play. What are some of the ways in which she tries to explore her identity and what is she learning about herself in the process?