Lena is continually watering and caring for her small plant, which does not get enough sunlight or water in their cramped apartment in the South Side. Lena tries her best to nurture the small plant and also takes it with her to the new home in Clybourne Park. Lena's plant symbolically represents her love for her family, her personal dreams, and hope for a better future. Lena taking care of her plant and paying special attention to it resembles her feelings towards her children. Lena is a completely selfless mother, who wants her children to succeed in life and genuinely cares about their well-being. She even entrusts Walter with the insurance money and instructs him to help pay for Beneatha's college tuition. Lena's plant also represents her dreams. Similar to Lena's dreams, the plant is small and struggles to flourish. Despite the adverse conditions, the plant continues to grow just like Lena's dream of owning a comfortable home, which becomes a reality. The plant also symbolically represents hope for a better future. Lena's dedication to caring for the plant and her belief that it will one day flourish symbolically represents her hope that her family will experience success and flourish in Clybourne Park.
Mama's plant, the only bit of green in the tenement space that she shares with her son, Walter Younger, his wife Ruth, their son Travis, and Mama's daughter, Beneatha, is symbolic of hope. The hope is that one day she will have her own garden. In this instance, the hope is fulfilled, for the family will be moving into a house in Clybourne Park, despite the resistance of its white residents.
Furthermore, Mama will now take her small plant, which she has been cultivating for years and will plant it in a space that was intended to exclude her. The symbolism here addresses the way in which white supremacy denied black people property rights or—particularly in the case of Chicago, where the play is set—denied black people fair access to housing.
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