1. In the introduction, written by the author Richard Wright, Wright discusses at length the making of his protagonist, Bigger Thomas; he reflects on his childhood all the way up to his adulthood, and outlines specific examples of when he met a Bigger and the informing aspect of each incident. Please discuss the many Biggers that Wright experienced in the course of his life, and what did they ALL have in common. Please use concrete details to support your analysis.
2. Analyze the following quote from the introduction to Native Son, written by Richard Wright:
From these items I drew my first political conclusions about Bigger: I felt that Bigger, an American product, a native son of this land, carried within him the potentialities of either Communism or Fascism. I don’t mean to say that the Negro boy I depicted in Native Son is either a Communist or a Fascist. He is not either. But he is product of a dislocated society; he is a dispossessed or disinherited man; he is all of this, and he lives amid the greatest possible plenty on earth and he is looking and feeling for a way out.
3. What is at the heart of Bigger’s fears?
2. Wright describes Bigger as being bigger than what he is. His character represents and reflects the society in which he is in and what he was made out of. Bigger is political, representing Communistic and Fascistic ideas without being a Communist or Fascist at all. Bigger is looking for a better way to live, despite of who he actually is inside. Bigger is a "native son of this land", meaning he is not just someone from the land, but a "son" of the land. he was made out of the society.
ReplyDeleteLauren Steiner
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ReplyDeleteROY-
ReplyDeleteThe character, Bigger Thomas, was not a single person but more of a personification and complex derivative of a multitude of people and characters present in the author, Richard Wright’s life, at the time. Richard Wright encountered Biggers in many aspects of his life, but derived the character for the novel in five main Biggers. The first Bigger was your household bully, and fed upon the fear and intimidation that he caused other people. The second Bigger did not channel his energy towards the oppression of other blacks but more over towards the rebellion against White America. He believed that you should get as much as you want, and as you can, while you are still alive. He would often be seen buying goods on credit without ever paying it back. The third Bigger was yet another law-defying citizen that refused to pay for movie tickets. The fourth Bigger was somewhat of a homeless man always seeking to evade oppression from White America. He woud refuse demeaning, “Slave-like” occupations and live on his own. He would rather die than be treated as anything less than a human being. The fifth and final Bigger was a Bigger that look life in his own hands, literally, and would actively rebel against helpless whites, less powerful than he himself.
What the author is attempting to explain to his readers is that Bigger is neither Fascist, Communist, or any other type of political connotation. He is simply the product of a dismembered society. He lives, works, and exists among Whites who have plenty, yet he goes home to, every night, a family with barely enough to live on. He lives a life of such sudden contrast that at times he loses himself in his flurry of emotion. He is simply looking for a way out, and in that way out. He tries to achieve this through outside influences such as alcohol, drugs, and gangs, but this ultimately doesn’t work. It keeps him back, and hinders him from discovering his true potential.
Bigger’s fears have a lot to do with life and death, but most of all, the feeling of seclusion. He is intimidated by White People, or let me re-phrase that, people different than he is. He is not alone in this matter at all. Everyone, to a certain extent, is fearful of not being included in a larger community of people. Everyone is afraid of being secluded, becoming an outcast; being different. This is ultimately one of Bigger’s biggest fears: Isolation. He seeks to live a life of relative confort and inclusion. He wants to live in a world where he can feel at home, which is with his own, “People” or race.
CARTER
ReplyDelete1) He met 5 main Biggers in his life. Bigger No1 was a bully who would "saunter up and snatch from us our balls, bats, spinning tops, and marbles," (Wright 434). This created Bigger's outer shell of a tough, emotionless person. Bigger No2 was a miscreant who would take from white society and not pay. His "hardness...was not directed at me or the other Negroes, but toward the whites..." (Wright 435), like Bigger. Bigger No3 was also a taker, as he would pinch Wright and sneak into the theater. He was later "shot through the back by a white cop," (Wright 436). Bigger No4 was a rebel, who broke the Jim Crow laws, mocking the white people. He would meditate on "the impossibility of his ever being free," (Wright 436). Bigger No5 was also a rebel, always riding the white streetcar, and smartly remarking when someone made him move. He made others have "an intense flash of pride" (Wright 437). All of the Biggers break the rules of white society, beating down the oppressors in guerrilla-like skirmishes.
2) Wright is saying that because of the society Bigger grew up in, his wishes were similar to Communists and Fascists, but were not them entirely. Wright says that Bigger is mistreated, downtrodden, and forgotten, and is trying to break free of that which both helps and hurts him.
3) The heart of Bigger's fears is that he will not live up to his innate want for "a better name, a reflux urge towards ecstasy, complete submission, and trust," (Wright 452). This fear the he will forever be in a life of poverty and subjection to white society, and that there is no way out drives him to his crimes.
1. "Bigger's mentality were historically in place in America, stocked by the criminal racial situation that was America." (Wright xv). Bigger is not just a character but a symbol of the racial conflicts of America. There were five "Bigger's" in Wright's life. the first one was a brutish bully who was "impervious to notions of justice or fairplay". the other Bigger's were all common in the way that their antisocial behavior was because of their white person hatred. this is also what distinguished the others. all of the biggers were numb to the law or threats of violence. commonly, all of the biggers were unique compared to the rest of the black society because htey would revolt against the white man and the Jim Crow laws.
ReplyDeleteLauren Steiner
CARTER
ReplyDeleteTo Roy:
I thought you had some good point in your argument. However, I think that the "outside influences" aren't hindering his true potential to him, but because of his society, is are his potential. Also, not much in the book (as far as I have read) points to a fear of death, just of isolation and failure.
1. All of the Biggers had things in common. Bigger 1 was never "happier than when he had someone cornered and at his mercy; it seemed that the deepest meaning of his squalid life was in him at such times." (435). Bigger 2 "was not directed toward me or the other Negroes, but toward the whites who ruled the South." (435). Bigger 3 was called by the white people a "bad n*". Both Bigger 3, Bigger 4, and Bigger 5 were averse to the Jim Crow Laws. Bigger 4 was particularly rebellious and " as he laughed and broke them [Jim Crow laws], he knew that some day he'd have to pay for hsi freedom." (436). Bigger 5 "always rode the Jim Crow streetcars without paying and sat wherever he pleased." (436). Wright summed up everything the Bigger's had in common saying: "The Bigger Thomases were the only Negroes i know of who consistently violated the Jim Crow laws of the South and got away with it, at least for a sweet brief spell. Eventually, the whites who restricted their lives made them pay a terrible price. They were shot, hanged, maimed, lynched, and generally hounded until they were either dead or their spirits broken." (437). In result of their unique behavior from the other black people they ultimatley payed a terrible price. No black person back then was ever rebellious or "leaders" except the Bigger Thomases. Biggers revolted because "he had become estranged from the religion and the folk culture of his race." and also because " he was trying to react to and answer the call of the dominant civilization. Later Wright discovered "that Bigger Thomas was not black all the times; he was white, too, and there were literally millions of him, everywhere."(441). universally, "All Bigger Thomases, white and black, felt tense, afraid, bervous, hysterical, and restless." (446). Combining all of the similar Biggers creates a distinct character who creates the story.
ReplyDeleteLauren Steiner
Amelia
ReplyDeleteNative Son Bloggity
1. There were five key Biggers that Wright met. Each had a sense of rebellion, to stand up against oppression, but each showed it a little differently. Bigger No. 1’s life was a “continuous challenge to others” (Wright 435). He took his stand by having power over others, and tried to ignore the fact that others had the power over him. Bigger No. 2 “refused to pay rent” (Wright 435), or for anything else. It was his way of standing up for himself. He said that “the white folks had everything” (Wright 435). He felt if they had so much, he should have some too. Bigger No. 3 would also refuse to pay, and he did not care about the consequences. “He carried his life in his hands in a literal fashion” says Wright (435). He did not care for his own life, just for the strife for equality. Bigger No. 4 ignored all the Jim Crow laws, for his “only law was death” (Wright 436). He took his stand against oppression with a “rebellious spirit”. He too felt the fight against oppression was more important than his own life. Finally, Bigger No 5 disregarded the Jim Crow laws whenever possible. “Others felt “an intense flash of pride” (Wright 437) when he stood up against their oppressors, but he too face the fate of others like him, tortured, tormented, or even killed.
Amelia
ReplyDelete2. The sense of not belonging has to be overwhelming. The sheer idea that he was born in America, that he should belong, that he deserves to belong, but doesn’t, is upsetting, and a hard fact to handle. Every day of Bigger Thomas’s life, he must live among everything he cannot have, and for what reason? The color of his skin. Yet while he cast out of White society, he doesn’t belong to the African American society either. The average victim hates, but accepts his oppression. But not the character of Bigger; for him, dignity is valued more than life. And for this reason, the idea that Bigger would look at Communism with hope instead of disgust is plausible. Communism would look like an even playing field, a new chance.
3. Wright, like Bigger, "felt a mental censor--product of the fears which a Negro feels from living in America" (448). Bigger is "resentful towards whites, sullen, angry, ignorant, emotionally unstabe, depressed nd unaccountably elated at times, and unable even, because of his lack of inner organization which American oppression has fostered in him, to unite with the members of his own race." (448). the largest thing Wright saw in bigger, were bigger's reactions, and liek bigger wright did not want to act out in fear if he let what thites would say about it get to him. The heart of Bigger's and Wright's fears are what they had in common.
ReplyDeletelauren steiner
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ReplyDelete3. "There seems to hover somewhere in that dark part of all our lives, in some more than in others, an objectless, timeless, spaceless element of primal fear and dread, stemming perhaps, from out birth, a fear and dread which exercises an impelling influence upon our lives all out of proportion to its obscurity." (452). Wright goes deep into people to bring out the heart of Bigger's fears. he calls this the "first fear". he continues on to explain, "And in a boy like Bigger, young, unschooled, whose subjective life was clothed in the tattered rags of American "culture", this primitive fear and ecstasy were naked, exposed, unprotected by religion or a framework of government or a scheme of scoiety whose final faiths would gain his love and trust; unprotected by trade or profession, faith or belief; opened to every trvial blast of daily or hourly circumstance." (452). the heart of biggers fears was that the were unprotected, fragile, and sensitive because he did not have any kind of structure to his life, from religion, government, or society.
ReplyDeleteLauren stiener
CARTER
ReplyDelete1) I think that the Bigger of the novel took from each of the 5 main Biggers in Wright's life. From the Biggers, he became a fighter against the white oppression, and like No4, ends up as some sort of martyr.
2) Wright is trying to say that Bigger is fighting oppression, like in Communist and Fascist regimes. He is a rebel, a threat to those who try to oppress him.
3) Bigger fears that the white mass will consume him, force him into the poor black role. He wants to escape this, and tries to stand out.
ROY-
ReplyDeleteHere are some quotes to back up my answers:
1)
"The birth of Bigger Thomas goes back to my childhood, and there was not just one Bigger, but many of them, more than I could count and more than suspect..."
"The Bigger Thomases were the only Negroes I know of who consistently violated the Jim Crow laws of the South and got away with it, at least for a sweet brief spell. Eventually, the whites who restricted their lives made them pay a terrible price. They were shot, hanged, maimed, lynched and generally hounded until they were either dead or their spirits were broken."
2)
"Of this dual aspect of Bigger's social consciousness, I placed the nationalistic side first, not because I agreed with Bigger's wild and intense hatred of white people, but because his hate had placed him, like a wild animal at bay, in a position where he was most symbolic and explainable. In other words, his nationalist complex was for me a concept through which I could grasp more of the total meaning of his life than I could in any other way."
Amelia
ReplyDelete3. “All Bigger Thomases, white and black, felt tense, afraid, nervous, hysterical, and restless.” (Wright 446). They are all restless, knowing that they are suspended between two drastically different groups, with nowhere to belong. They both fear and abhor the oppression they live with every day.
Amelia
ReplyDelete1) “During the years in which I met all of those Bigger Thomases… I had not consciously gathered material to write of them…Their actions had simply made impressions upon my sensibilities” said Wright. The Bigger Thomases have many things in common, but it’s not the color of their skin or their hometown. It is their situation; their downtrodden, despicable situations, and how they are the few that felt fighting it was more important than staying safe.
2) I am a bit confused about this quote. At first I took it to mean that Bigger would have looked at Communism as a good possibility, but now I’m thinking a bit differently. It could be saying that the dictators of Fascist or Communist governments are much like the oppression that Bigger fights every day.
3) Bigger, above all else, wants to fight his oppressors. Unlike others in his situation, who are willing to stay quiet and meek, Bigger’s fear is that he will be quieted, silenced, and forced into submission.
1. The Biggers in Wright's life were not actually biggers, but influencing characters in the author's life. the five of them all represent different people at different parts of his life. they are Bigger's because they all are african american revolutionists, especially in disobeying the Jim Crow Laws.
ReplyDelete2. it is also possible for Bigger to be a political figure. he could be communisitic in the way that he wants to be equal with everyone else; the white people=the black people. he belieives that the jim crow laws shouldnt apply to him because he is equal with everyone else, just like communists believe in equality too. Fascism is present in Bigger's life because an ethnic group, the white supremacy, is in control and they must be obedient to them, the rulers aka white people, or else. But in general Bigger is not a Communist nor a Fascist.
3. Even though Bigger acts so tough all the time he is very fearful at the same time. he wants to fight for what he thinks his right and against his oppressors, but he is afraid he will have to become like the other african americans and submit to the hate. he wants to escape the conflicts and the control the white people have on his life.
lauren steiner
CARTER
ReplyDelete1) All of the Biggers have hatred towards a group of people. Most of the Biggers hate white society and the oppression from it, like Bigger does. They are trying to fight for freedom, but like Bigger, fail and are punished by that society.
2) Wright wants to portray Bigger as a product of oppression, like the fascists and communists. However, he does not want Bigger to be those things, rather a creation of American society, urban life.
3) Bigger also has a fear that his life will end just as white society expects. He has a premonition that he will become the symbol of their fear of rape and murder, and die by execution.
ROY-
ReplyDelete1) I also believe that the Biggers all have one main thing in common: they seek to create their OWN identity and seek to control of their own destiny. With this, this is their ultimate goal. This is what they seek, this is what drives them through life.
2) Bigger is not of either party, either communist, or capitalist, although the author clearly is. Bigger is just a simple home-down african american adolescent. He seeks to escape to a world of equality., and his new destiny. He wants to create his own identity and not succumb to already pre-made identities.