The story of Bigger Thomas, by Richard Wright, was an evidence of a social and economic disconnects which was prevailing between the Negro and the white Americans. The setting of the book was in the South, and the closeness between the black and the white brought about hostility and hatred among the two races. Bigger who was living in the Southern part of Chicago is portrayed as a black who had both hatred and fear towards he white. In his every action throughout the book, Bigger portrays an obsessive fear that existed between the black and the white in the early 20th century. There was no real security for bigger, he felt that he could meet his death anytime from the white man at any time. With this kind of fear and a feeling of minority complex, Bigger developed a strong hate towards the black (Margolies 51). He believed that his fate has been ruined by the white, and that he must do something to get power, money, social status and recognition that the white men had. Wright meticulously portrays the social disconnect and the race relationship between the white Americans and the black Americans.
Bigger Thomas, a young black man of 19 years old was born in south by peasant back parents. Y observing the economical and the social difference between the white and his fellow black counterparts, he started to develop a sheer hatred towards the black. Due to his contempt and hatred, Bigger felt the urge to rob from the whites. He believed that by doing so, he will be in one way or the other bridging the gap between the black and the white. He also felt that, by so doing he will be able to be as rich as some whites. Bigger therefore approached his friend Gus. He admitted to Gus that by the mere thought of the white, he feels that something terrible is going to happen to him. Bigger and Gus and other friends G.H and Jack planned a robbery upon the white wealth. Both of them were afraid of the robbery and the imminent consequences but none was ready to admit the fact. After watching the cinema which a world or wealthy white men and the poor primitive black men, Bigger became furious, he attacks his friend Gus and forced him to lick his blade, a sign that he was not a coward. The issue here was that by watching the cinema, the reality of the black status become even more vivid for Bigger. He believes that he could not equalize this status by robbing from the white. The right thing to for Bigger was to find a way of empowering her own self. He wanted to go to school, to collage and to become a pilot, so that one day he can have the absolute powers the whites enjoy.
The first step in Bigger’s endeavor to achieve his goal was to acquire some financial stability. With little education and by the fact that his parents were poor, the only way to start up was by working for the white. Bigger therefore acquired a job as a chauffeur for one rich white called Mr. Dalton. Mary was Mr. Dalton’s daughter; she believed that her parents were capitalist, she wasn’t okay with it. Mary had joined a group of communist and had a boyfriend Jan Erlone who was a communist. One day Bigger drove Mary to meet her boyfriend Jan. They drunk, had sex in the car then Bigger took the drunken Merry back home. She was not able to walk so he carried her into her room. Mrs. Dalton heard the commotion in Mary’s so she came to know what was happening. Mrs. Dalton was blind, so Bigger realized that she could not see him in her room. He blocked Mary’s mouth so that she could not make a statement that can draw attention of her mother. When Mrs. Dalton left, Bigger realized that he had suffocated Mary. He disposed of her body by burning it in the furnace. Due to his hate for the white and the plot to cast suspicion to Mary’s communist boyfriend, Bigger tried to frame Jan by saying that he had kidnapped Mary. He used the help of his black girlfriend, but upon realizing that she might give him away, Bigger killed her too. This could see how much Biggie was able to give for his selfish urge of becoming successful. His plot did not work well, with the use of detective Britten; he was hunted, apprehended and condemned to death.
Bigger was subjected to brutality and contempt throughout his life among the whiles. As a result he developed fear towards dealing with the white oppressors. The first instance where his fear was portrayed was when he stopped the robbery they were supposed to carry by starting a hysterical fight. This was a step to cover up his cowardice and fear towards the white. Bigger was also brought up in a society where the whites where the dominant race. During his upbringing, he was taught to fear the whites or risk the consequences. He therefore stopped the robbery to prevent him and his friends from the consequences of the robbery.
"They had the feeling that the robbing of Blum's would be a violation of ultimate taboo”. (Wright 6)
Bigger had a big tragedy because he lived in a society where the white men of his age could get whatever they wanted. If they wanted to go for a movie or any trip to enjoy them, they will easily do it. Bigger on the other hand was confined by the grip of poverty and oppression, this shown how the American society was segregated and the racial lines. Bigger was jobless, all he lived on was relief food. He therefore did not see white people as persons but an embodiment of obstruction to power.
"We live here and they live there, we Black and they whites. They got things and we ain't. They do things and we can't. It just like living in jail.”(Wright 17)
Bigger tried by all means necessary to get the right education which can enable him get a decent job and power like the white. He pleaded with Mr. Dalton to help him enrol into a night school to further his studies but Dalton declined. Mrs. Dalton’s blindness is a symbolism that was used by Wright to portray the situation which was between the whites and the black. Mrs. Dalton was standing in the same room as Bigger and Mary, but she was blind. This gave Bigger the chance to conceal his murder of Mary and make it appear as if he was not in Mary’s house. This is a metaphoric style used to symbolise the relationship between the whites and the blacks. The black were living amongst the white and the whites were too blind to notice their plight for equality and consideration. By being blind on their suffering and discriminations, the black developed a sense of fear and hatred towards the black. Bigger, being one of them was ready to frame another white so that he can conceal his murder.
Bigger’s attitude towards the white was not just the powerful fear that he was raised to believe in, he also have a burning anger towards them. To Bigger, all the whites were the same. He could not notice any distinguishing feature between individual whites. To him, whites were embodiment of oppression and absolute dominance. Just the same way the whites failed to conceive Bigger as a human being, Bigger also conceived them as animals. As a result of accumulated hatred and fear, Bigger accidentally ends up killing Mary, the daughter of Dalton; and he didn’t even feel any guilt. As a matter of fact, Bigger felt very jubilant after killing Mary. For the first time he could feel his existence and power. From the killing, Bigger finally realized his own individuality.
“It must've been good! When a man kills, it's for something. I didn't know l was really alive in the world until l felt things hard enough to kill for'em.”(Wright 189)
Richard Wright employed symbolism and characterization to portray the oppression and quest for power and equality among the black society. Wright succeeded to create a human tragedy among the black who were oppressed and discriminated during the 1930s. He was able to portray how the black society struggled in vain to achieve self-independence (Margolies 59). At the end of everything, Bigger had only one option, death! This was because he was created by a society which did not care about him, a society that gave him nothing to call his. His countless endeavours to explore his full potential were met by the obstacles which were all created by his society. Bigger therefore had no choice but to turn to violence in the quest to express his identity.
Reference
Wright, Richard. "Native Son. 1940." New York: HarperPerennial (1998).
Margolies, Edward. "Native Sons: A Critical Study of Twentieth-Century Negro American Authors." (1968).
