What is the name of Mama's husband who died?

• A. Big Walter
• B. Travis
• C. George Murchison
• D. Walter Lee

Answer: (A)

This question tests your understanding of the family’s backstory in A Raisin in the Sun. Mama’s husband who has died is Big Walter. He is Lena Younger’s husband and the father of Walter Lee and Beneatha. His death matters because the life insurance money from his death becomes the family’s financial foundation, driving their dream of buying a house. The other names are people in the family or close to them—Walter Lee is Mama’s son, George Murchison is Beneatha’s suitor, and Travis is the Younger family’s younger child—so they aren’t the husband who died. Big Walter is the name that fits.