Native Son: Bigger Essay, Research Paper

Native Son: Bigger

Who can forget the fires blazing over local buildings during the Los

Angeles Riots? Unfortunately the whole event does not seem as if it was too far

off in the past. Although today we live in a nation, which has abolished

slavery, the gap between the whites and the blacks during the early stages of

America’s development has plainly carried into the present. In Native Son,

author Richard Wright illustrates this racial gap, in addition to demonstrating

how white oppression upon blacks is capable of producing revengeful individuals,

not to mention being an immoral act in itself. Bigger Thomas is one of those

individuals, who discovers his capacity to rebel through acts of murder against

the white society, which has for long oppressed his family, friends, and himself.

By tracing Bigger’s psyche from before the murder of Mary Dalton, into the

third book of the novel, and into the subconscious depths of the final scene,

the development of Bigger’s self realization becomes evident.

An entire period of Bigger’s life, up until the murder of Mary Dalton,

portrays him under a form of slavery, where the white society governs his state

of being. While he worked for the Daltons, “his courage to live depended upon

how successfully his fear was hidden from his consciousness”(44), and hate also

builds on top of this fear. Once he is in contact with Mary, his fears and hate

pour out in a rebellious act of murder, because to Bigger Mary symbolizes the

white oppression. In addition, he committed the act, “because it had made him

feel free for the first time in his life”(255). At last he feels he is in

control of his actions and mentality. He rebels against the burden of the white

man’s torment. He had “been scared and mad all . . . [his] life”(328), until he

killed Mary. After this, he was not scared of anyone, anymore. Thus, the

murder of Mary Dalton serves as a turning point in Bigger’s life, for it breaks

him free of subservience to anyone other than himself, and it is the initial

stage in creating an identity for himself.

Book three of the novel offers an emotional confusion within the mind of

Bigger, which soon leads him to contrive a self-realization. Immediately one

observes that “toward no one in the world did he (Bigger) feel any fear

now”(254). This is a recent change in Bigger’s mind set. He knows that he has

pushed himself to the limits, and he is in control of what he says and does. He

tries firmly to “stifle all feeling in him[self]“(262) when talking to his

visitors in the jail, because he feared that they “would make him feel

remorseful”(262). In this manner, he is able to not confuse his thoughts with

any feelings, so he can sort out his ideas. This is the self-isolating process,

which occurs mentally, and this enables Bigger to formulate a justification for

his sins. “Men do not like to feel that they are guilty of wrong, and if you

make them feel guilt, they will try desperately to justify it on any

grounds”(360), which is precisely what Bigger is attempting through mental

detachment. Bigger “didn’t know I (he) was really alive in this world

until”(392) he killed Mary Dalton. Bigger realizes that he committed the

murders in order to establish his existence in this world. Wright utilizes this

perception to elevate Bigger to the stature of a tragic hero. In addition, he

also uses the argument that Bigger is a victim of his environment to achieve

the same status. Therefore, a mass of confusion leads Bigger to realize that he

only wanted to be a somebody in this world.

Furthermore, the final scene, in which Max and Bigger converse, Wright

elaborates upon Bigger’s final attempt to explain his reasons for committing the

murders. Because Max asks Bigger befitting questions, Bigger feels as if Max

truly is the one who understands him. Unfortunately, “Max’ eyes were full of

terror”(392) at hearing of Bigger’s final reasons for killing Mary and Bessie.

Max’ reaction obviously indicates that even he cannot truly understand Bigger’s

actions, nor Bugger himself. In the end, Bigger remains alone, like he always

has been. Also, as Max walks away, Bigger “smiled a faint, wry, bitter

smile”(392). This distorted smile implies that Bigger has not fully come to

understanding himself, and his only just beginning to comprehend certain aspects

of himself. As a result, it infers that Bigger knows that no one will ever

understand him, as he would like.

Hence, Bigger develops his self-realization from the murders of Mary

Dalton, the prison environment in the third book, and the symbolic final scene

between Bigger and Max. Consequently, from this study of Bigger’s psyche, it is

evident that the “Bigger That Might Have Been” is basically: ‘a decent man’;

such a result to become of Bigger, however, may only occur if Bigger’s father

was present, his family was not so impoverished, or even if he had maintained

his job working honestly for the Daltons. To produce the “Bigger That Might

Have Been,” slavery should never have occurred!