Biggers Self Realization in Native Son Essay -- Native Son Essays

Biggers Self Realization in Native Son Although today we live in a nation, which has abolished slaveholding, the gap between the whites and the blacks during the early stages of Americas 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 unforgiving 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 massive oppressed his family, friends, and himself. By tracing Biggers 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 Biggers self realization becomes evident. An sinless period of Biggers life, up until the murder of Mary Dalton, portrays him under a form of slavery, wh ere 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 mans torment. He had been scared and mad all . . . his life... ... between Bigger and Max. Consequently, from this study of Biggers 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 do if Biggers father was present, his family was not so impoverished, or even if he had maintained his job working honestly for t he Daltons. To produce the Bigger That Might Have Been, slavery should never have occurred Sources Cited and Consulted Collier-Thomas, John et al. Chronology of the Civil Rights Movement. Chicago, IL Henry Holt & Company, Inc., January 2000. Neskahi, Arlie. Anger Cycle Model. February 2003, 1998. http//www.rainbowwalker.com/anger/cycle.html Wright, Richard. Native Son. 1940. New York, NY First Perennial Classics, a partition of HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.