The Great Generational Gap

In Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, the views of Mama on many issues vary greatly from the views of her children, the new generation.  Mama seems to be content with where she is, never asking for too much of anything.  She would definitely take advantage of an opportunity when it presented itself, like buying the nicer house, but not willing to go out and try to make her own luck.  Her children are an entirely different case, especially Walter.  Walter, and to a certain degree Beneatha too,see happiness as lots of money and a high social status.  Walter eventually becomes consumed with a deal that seemed too good to be true, and as it turns out, he lost all the money in the investment.  But in the interim when he feels he has found his fortune, he becomes a new man, filled with happiness and friskiness.  Beneatha dreams of being a doctor, which pays considerably well and is an extremely prestigious job, especially for an African American woman.  Mama speaks out against these delusions about happiness multiple times throughout the story, saying, "So now it's life.  Money is life.  Once upon a time freedom used to be life- now it's money.  I guess the world really do change..." (Hansberry, 74).  This statement reveals that Mama's view of the problems and worries of her children is that they are nominal.  At the age Mama was fighting for freedom and decent social standing, her children fight for money that will not ultimately bring them happiness.