Character Analysis
Big Walter
Big Walter is another character whom we never meet and only learn about through the dialogue of others. When Mama reminisces about her life with Big Walter, she speaks of him with admiration, although the audience might question Mama's tolerance of some of his past behavior. Mama says, with a little laugh, that Big Walter was a womanizer, implying that, perhaps, at some point as a young wife, she might have been deeply hurt over Big Walter's antics. We get the impression that he was a very old-fashioned man who dominated his household by his imposing presence. We do learn that Big Walter valued his family over all other priorities. Thus, even if Big Walter did "run around," as Mama laughingly puts it, the implication is that Big Walter would never have left his family — not for any woman.