Mama’s feeble plant represents her family’s deferred dreams for a better future, which have struggled to survive under the strain of life in Chicago’s South Side. Mama’s unending devotion to her small houseplant signifies her constant care for her family and her attention to its dreams. “Growing doggedly” in a small pot by the apartment’s kitchen window, Mama’s plant has “spirit,” despite the fact that “this little old plant . . . ain’t never had enough sunshine or nothing.” Like the plant, the Youngers have struggled to overcome the circ*mstances, such as racial prejudice, that curb their growth and social mobility. Mama dreams of owning a house with a small garden, and until the play’s conclusion her plant is as “close as I ever got” to achieving that dream. In the final moments of the play, Mama picks up her plant and leaves the South Side apartment for the last time, showing that this symbol of perseverance will accompany the family as it faces new challenges in Clybourne Park.
