Walter Lee Younger - The protagonist of the play. Walter is a dreamer. He wants to be rich and devises plans
to acquire wealth with his friends, particularly Willy Harris. When the play opens, he wants to invest his father’s
insurance money in a new liquor store venture. He spends the rest of the play endlessly preoccupied with
discovering a quick solution to his family’s various problems.
Beneatha Younger (“Bennie”) - Mama’s daughter and Walter’s sister. Beneatha is an intellectual. Twenty
years old, she attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family. Some of her personal
beliefs and views have distanced her from conservative Mama. She dreams of being a doctor and struggles to
determine her identity as a well-educated black woman.
Lena Younger (“Mama”) - Walter and Beneatha’s mother. The matriarch of the family, Mama is religious,
moral, and maternal. She wants to use her husband’s insurance money as a down payment on a house with a
backyard to fulfill her dream for her family to move up in the world.
Ruth Younger - Walter’s wife and Travis’s mother. Ruth takes care of the Youngers’ small apartment. Her
marriage to Walter has problems, but she hopes to rekindle their love. She is about thirty, but her weariness
makes her seem older. Constantly fighting poverty and domestic troubles, she continues to be an emotionally
strong woman. Her almost pessimistic pragmatism helps her to survive.
Travis Younger - Walter and Ruth’s sheltered young son. Travis earns some money by carrying grocery bags
and likes to play outside with other neighborhood children, but he has no bedroom and sleeps on the living-room
sofa.
Joseph Asagai - A Nigerian student in love with Beneatha. Asagai, as he is often called, is very proud of his
African heritage, and Beneatha hopes to learn about her African heritage from him. He eventually proposes
marriage to Beneatha and hopes she will return to Nigeria with him.
George Murchison - A wealthy, African-American man who courts Beneatha. The Youngers approve of
George, but Beneatha dislikes his willingness to submit to white culture and forget his African heritage. He
challenges the thoughts and feelings of other black people through his arrogance and flair for intellectual
competition.
Mr. Karl Lindner - The only white character in the play. Mr. Lindner arrives at the Youngers’ apartment from the
Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He offers the Youngers a deal to reconsider moving into his (all-white)
neighborhood.
Bobo - One of Walter’s partners in the liquor store plan. Bobo appears to be as mentally slow as his name
indicates.
Willy Harris - A friend of Walter and coordinator of the liquor store plan. Willy never appears onstage, which
helps keep the focus of the story on the dynamics of the Younger family.
Mrs. Johnson - The Youngers’ neighbor. Mrs. Johnson takes advantage of the Youngers’ hospitality and warns
them about moving into a predominately white neighborhood.
to acquire wealth with his friends, particularly Willy Harris. When the play opens, he wants to invest his father’s
insurance money in a new liquor store venture. He spends the rest of the play endlessly preoccupied with
discovering a quick solution to his family’s various problems.
Beneatha Younger (“Bennie”) - Mama’s daughter and Walter’s sister. Beneatha is an intellectual. Twenty
years old, she attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family. Some of her personal
beliefs and views have distanced her from conservative Mama. She dreams of being a doctor and struggles to
determine her identity as a well-educated black woman.
Lena Younger (“Mama”) - Walter and Beneatha’s mother. The matriarch of the family, Mama is religious,
moral, and maternal. She wants to use her husband’s insurance money as a down payment on a house with a
backyard to fulfill her dream for her family to move up in the world.
Ruth Younger - Walter’s wife and Travis’s mother. Ruth takes care of the Youngers’ small apartment. Her
marriage to Walter has problems, but she hopes to rekindle their love. She is about thirty, but her weariness
makes her seem older. Constantly fighting poverty and domestic troubles, she continues to be an emotionally
strong woman. Her almost pessimistic pragmatism helps her to survive.
Travis Younger - Walter and Ruth’s sheltered young son. Travis earns some money by carrying grocery bags
and likes to play outside with other neighborhood children, but he has no bedroom and sleeps on the living-room
sofa.
Joseph Asagai - A Nigerian student in love with Beneatha. Asagai, as he is often called, is very proud of his
African heritage, and Beneatha hopes to learn about her African heritage from him. He eventually proposes
marriage to Beneatha and hopes she will return to Nigeria with him.
George Murchison - A wealthy, African-American man who courts Beneatha. The Youngers approve of
George, but Beneatha dislikes his willingness to submit to white culture and forget his African heritage. He
challenges the thoughts and feelings of other black people through his arrogance and flair for intellectual
competition.
Mr. Karl Lindner - The only white character in the play. Mr. Lindner arrives at the Youngers’ apartment from the
Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He offers the Youngers a deal to reconsider moving into his (all-white)
neighborhood.
Bobo - One of Walter’s partners in the liquor store plan. Bobo appears to be as mentally slow as his name
indicates.
Willy Harris - A friend of Walter and coordinator of the liquor store plan. Willy never appears onstage, which
helps keep the focus of the story on the dynamics of the Younger family.
Mrs. Johnson - The Youngers’ neighbor. Mrs. Johnson takes advantage of the Youngers’ hospitality and warns
them about moving into a predominately white neighborhood.
