What are the implications of the interactions between Walter and Beneatha, and what does their relationship contribute to the play?

Walter and Beneatha's relationship is one between siblings. The relationship between siblings can be simultaneously loving and contentious. There are moments in the play that reflect this. The two can be very playful with one another, as when they mimic their presumed African ancestors, and they can be resentful of one another.

Walter is about a generation older than his younger sister. He envies her opportunity to become a doctor—a feeling that he demonstrates with...

Walter and Beneatha's relationship is one between siblings. The relationship between siblings can be simultaneously loving and contentious. There are moments in the play that reflect this. The two can be very playful with one another, as when they mimic their presumed African ancestors, and they can be resentful of one another.

Walter is about a generation older than his younger sister. He envies her opportunity to become a doctor—a feeling that he demonstrates with scorn. The play never makes it explicitly clear why Walter envies Beneatha and her collegiate friends. We do not know if he never excelled in school, if he met Ruth very young, or if there was an expectation that he go to work soon after his father's death (as he was the only remaining male in the family). However, there is the sense that Walter came along a little too soon, a little too old to engage in the race consciousness and Civil Rights movements. It is a state that leaves him feeling stuck: he has his sister's aspirations but his mother's fears.

The siblings' interactions are also impacted by gender. Often, Beneatha is discussed as a foil for her mother, Lena, who is older, religious, and patient in the face of oppression. However, it is also helpful to see her as a foil for Ruth. Beneatha is active, whereas Ruth is passive. Beneatha confronts and challenges her brother, while Ruth never does this.