Lena Younger
Lena is the matriarch of the Younger family and is the pivotal character as her decisions about how the money she received is distributed affect the lives of her close family members. She is a loving and fair woman who wants only the best for her children; unfortunately what she thinks is best for her son and what he thinks is best for him are greatly different. As usual, mama knows best and her doubt about the wisdom of investing in a liquor store turns out to be entirely justified. Lena wants to move onwards and upwards and to cement her family's future in the best environment she can afford. Her desire to move into the new neighborhood is primarily for the benefit of her grandson so that he can have his own bedroom and grow up in a safe area. She is a passive aggressive person, and is determined to move into the white neighborhood despite being offered a financial incentive not to do so. She wants what she wants and is determined to get it.
Walter Younger
Walter is an angry young man. He is angry with everyone and feels like the entire world is in cahoots against him. He is extremely self-centered and whereas a lot of oldest sons would be concerned with making sure their recently-widowed mother was adequately taken care of, he is only concerned with getting the money for his liquor store. His ambition outpaces his opportunities but also his skills. He is prepared to work hard but not to work from the ground up. He has a drinking problem but doesn't connect the dots to see why he is not a good candidate to own a liquor store.
Ruth Younger
Walter's wife, and the mother of his child, Ruth is a hard working woman who takes on part-time jobs in order to bridge the gap between what they need and what Walter brings in. She is a good mother but has difficulty supporting her son on what they have; to her credit she does not pressurize her mother in law for a share of the inheritance even though she needs it for the family. She is a loyal, but put-upon, wife.
Beneatha Younger
Beneatha is not going to let race or lack of money hold her back and nothing is going to dictate her place in the world other than her. She has ambition and intelligence in equal measure and we have no doubt as outsiders looking in that she is more than capable and likely to achieve her goal of becoming a doctor. Her goals are more suitable for her than Walter's are for himself, in their mother's eyes, which means that often it appears to Walter that she is their mother's favorite. Beneatha is so busy going places that she is starting to lose sight of where she came from, afraid that her less well educated mother will show her up by saying something inane to her erudite new friend, and ultimately losing sight of her cultural identity and losing her way in that area of her life.
Willie
Willie is a con-man who is street smart and who has a talent for identifying desperation and exploiting it. He takes Walter's investment money and absconds with it. This makes him an important character in the film, although not in on-screen time but in terms of the impact of his actions.
