The Destructive Effects Of Racism On Bigger

Thomas Essay, Research Paper

THE DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF RACISM ON BIGGER THOMAS

THESIS: Bigger Thomas represents the black man’s condition and his revolt against the injustices of the white caste society.

I. A social symbol for Americans

A. Victim of oppression

B. Product of western culture

II. A fearing and hating individual

A. Fear

B. Hate

1. Hates whites for oppressing him

2. Hates Jan and Mary for making him uncomfortable

III. An unlovable character through behaviors

A. Submits himself to destructive behavior

B. Shows cowardly behavior

IV. A human search for freedom

A. Bound by the stereotype “nigger”

B. Freed through murder

THE DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF RACISM ON BIGGER THOMAS

When one looks at the contribution of blacks in the world of American literature, Richard Wright is considered one of the great contributors. Truly one of his books which highlights the black’s view of American society has to be Native Son. In Native Son, Richard Wright creates the characterization of “native sons” who are products of American civilization. From his own life experience, he portrays in Bigger Thomas a combination of character traits that illustrate persons who have lost meaning in their lives. Bigger Thomas represents the black man’s condition and his revolt against the injustices of the white caste society.

Richard Wright creates Bigger Thomas into a social symbol for Americans by making him a victim of oppression. Bigger, as well as all other African Americans, is forced to live in poverty. He lives in a crowded, dirty apartment with his mother, brother, and sister. His only way of seeing the white world is through the lives of the Dalton family, his rich employers (Smith 392).

An important factor in Wright’s development of Bigger is the struggle to keep power from the Black society. White men wants the Negro to be restricted from as much control as possible, “for had he had a chance to vote, he would have automatically controlled the richest lands of the South and with them the social, political, and economic destiny of a third of the Republic” (Wright Bigger X1).

Bigger is an ideal portrait of a product of Western culture. Bigger has little control over his life. “Wright builds up rather extensive documentation to prove that Bigger’s

actions, behavior, values, attitudes, and fate have already been determined by his status and place in American life” (Margolies Art 1). Bigger is alienated from any kind of

relationship. “[Wright] claimed he valued the ‘state of abandonment, aloneness.’ In this he was, finally, a true product of Western culture” (Discovering 5).

Western culture places Bigger, as well as other African Americans, in a position where they are expected to be submissive to whites. Bigger sees violence as the only alternative to “dumb submission to a dehumanizing lot” (Margolies Study 65-66). In Native Son, Bigger claims that the murder of Mary Dalton, his employer’s daughter, is not intentional. “But really I never wanted to hurt nobody. That’s the truth…I hurt folks ‘cause I felt I had to; that’s all. They were crowding me too close; they wouldn’t let me…Mr. Max, I didn’t mean to do what I did. I was trying to do something else” [sic] (Smith 393).

In Native Son, fear and hate are determining factors in Bigger’s life. The root of all of Bigger’s fears is realization of what he, as a black man, has to endure and will become (Margolies Art 2). Bigger attacks his friends because he thinks that they can see his fear. By attacking them, he gives himself a false sense of courage (Margolies Study 76). He accidentally kills Mary Dalton because he is afraid that her mother will accuse him of sexually assaulting Mary. He also shows fear by burning her body so that no one will find it (Smith 392).

Bigger hates the fact that his black skin keeps him from having the opportunities and luxuries of the white world. “I could fly a plane if I had a chance, ‘Bigger said. ‘If you wasn’t black and if you had some money and if they’d let you go to aviation school, you could fly a plane,’ Gus said” [sic] (Wright Native 20). He hates to be reminded of this condition and hates those who do remind him. White people constantly remind Bigger that he cannot succeed (Discovering 5). “I feel like somebody’s poking a red-hot iron down my throat. Goddammit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we don’t. They do things and we can’t. It’s just like living in jail. Half the time I feel like I’m on the outside of the world peeping in through a knot-hole in the fence…”[sic] (Wright Native 22).

Even though Mary Dalton and her communist boyfriend, Jan, try to treat Bigger as an equal, they cannot escape his hatred. Mary and Jan frighten Bigger by their strange actions. Their actions are “something he can only interpret as mockery” (Discovering 3). “Was she laughing at him. Were they making fun of him. Why couldn’t they leave him alone. He wasn’t bothering them” (Wright Native 61).

Bigger’s hatred toward Mary, Jan, and other white people comes from more than the fact that he is oppressed or feels as he is being mocked. Bigger wants’ people to look past his black skin and see who he really is. He wants to be g

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