Our class discussion on Native Son is coming to an end, and I have yet to blog about the book. Better late than never?
When I first began this post, I attempted to write about the entire book to make up for my lack of posting. I quickly realized that I just have too many things I want to say, and it would take forever if I tried to write about every aspect of Native Son. However, this book has left a lasting impression on me and I feel like I need to put at least some of my thoughts out there. I'm not entirely sure of where I'm going with this, but here we go.
Something that was mentioned a lot and that really stuck with me from class discussion is Richard Wright's characterization of Bigger Thomas as a product of his environment, and it's something that I've kept in my mind throughout the discussion of the book. I think Wright really tried to push this idea through the entire book, and it helped me to think about the character of Bigger and to decide if I feel sympathetic towards him.
Bigger grew up impoverished and confined, unable to do what he desires because of racial barriers. He wants more for himself but he can't have it. He has to watch his family struggle, and he really can't do much to ease their suffering. He likes to have control of his own life, but in many cases he can't have. This is the environment he came out of, that has shaped him, and for that, I feel sympathy for him.
It's not that I pity Bigger because of the rough life he has had, but more that I can see how this affects his reasoning and personality. His strong opposition to this way of life greatly contrasts with that of his family, who accepts this lifestyle more than he does. For his entire life, Bigger has been trapped. Not only is he physically confined, but he's also emotionally confined, as he can't express his ideas to those around him because they don't really get it like he does, causing him to often times be misunderstood. He is walking around in a world with social norms that aren't just, but have to be accepted, and it worries, maybe even frightens, him. He has to hide behind his tough exterior because it's the only way he knows how to deal with this oppression.
Knowing this about Bigger makes me sympathetic towards him. I wouldn't go so far as saying that this excuses his actions, but I think that Wright telling us things about Bigger that even Bigger doesn't know (or maybe knows and refuses to acknowledge), and this idea of being a product of his environment provides us with more reasoning for Bigger's actions and emotions.
~~~
I very much agree with what you say in the last paragraph. I am of the opinion that something about Bigger does not let him acknowledge the consequences of his actions, and he does not enable himself from taking responsibility for his actions. While writing this, I am in particular thinking back to the very beginning of the book, when the narrator mentions that Bigger does not let himself see the squalor he lives in, or accept how bad his life is, because if he did so he would be to overcome with emotion and distressed by how his family lives. So he does not accept that he could get a job and help them in some what get a better life. I think that Bigger's refusal to take responsibility for his situations is a big part of why he can't get out of them. He is taking the power to change things away from himself so that he can avoid feeling responsible. The irony of this is, the one act for which he claims total responsibility (the death of Mary Dalton) is something that he did by accident.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what you have to say in this post. I really liked thinking about the naturalist view while discussing Native Son, but that’s where the difficult question comes in—can you put aside all blame for actions based on someone’s past? I guess I’ve thought a lot about that with respect to Bigger, and I’ve decided no. I definitely do agree that I feel sympathetic for him, and I like how you talked about the way Wright depicts his background for us to better understand his actions and emotions. The reason I don’t think I can put aside all blame for Bigger though, is because of him murdering Bessie. If the only “murder” in the book was of Mary (which is hard to call a murder since it was accidental), then I think I would sympathize with Bigger much more. Since Bessie was someone Bigger did supposedly care about (at least to an extent), I don’t really see any excuses for him to have killed her, even if he felt that it was his only option—after all he was the one who got himself tied up in the big lying mess. Overall I really liked your post!
ReplyDelete