Act 1, Scene 2 Summary

The next morning (Saturday), Beneatha and Mama have the dingy apartment torn apart, cleaning it from top to bottom, while Ruth visits the doctor. Travis begs permission to play outside with the other boys, while Beneatha sprinkles roach poison in the cracks. Walter fields a phone call from his friend Willie, and rushes out.

Ruth returns from the doctor's, confirming Mama's suspicions that she is pregnant, and reveals she is considering an (illegal) abortion. Beneatha objects that there is no room in the crowded apartment for a baby, but Mama claims to be thrilled at the prospect of a granddaughter.

Beneatha looks out the window and spies Travis and the boys playing with a rat "as big as a cat." They make a sport of chasing the rat into a corner and beating it with sticks. Travis is reluctant to leave...