No Setting No Story

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is almost completely centered around the setting that is the small urban apartment shared by the five family members. The plot is driven by the problems that the close quarters cause for each individual member. Most profound, however, is the effect of the living conditions on our beloved happy couple Walter Lee and Ruth Younger.
"And I'll pull the car up on the driveway...just a plain black Chrysler....Rich people don't have to be flashy....And I'll come up the steps to the house and the gardener will be clipping away at the hedges and he'll say, 'Good evening, Mr. Younger....'" (Hansberry 108-109). Here, Walter's rant to Travis about the future he has envisioned once Mama allows him to use the extra money for his business transaction clearly shows how Walter see's life in the small apartment. He is a man who wishes to be respected by society and simply does not see this happening unless he resides in a respectable abode. Walter has more superficial motives for escaping the apartment in comparison to his wife Ruth.
"Oh Walter...a home...a home" (Hansberry 91-92). Here, we see Ruth's motives for escaping the setting; she desires to have a home in which to properly raise her family. She wants a place to call her own, where she can establish a life for Walter, Travis, and the baby to come. Thus far, she has been dependent on Mama, living in the same apartment in which Walter was raised. Therefore, a change in setting would be a new chapter in life, a long-awaited beginning.