NON-AFRICAN PROSE
RICHARD WRIGHT: Native Son
Consider the view that it is the society that makes Bigger a murderer in the novel.
Explanation
Consider the view that it's the society that makes Bigger a murderer in the novel. The situation in which Bigger finds himself is the general predicament of the coloured person in the world of novel. Living amidst opportunities and with aspirations for doing well, Bigger feels hemmed in by the society's attitude towards his race. Whites and blacks are segregated. Each must know his or her place. Even in prison, as Bigger experiences, whites and blacks are segregated.
There is stereotyping that gives the black man very little chance to stand or speak for himself. According to the Jackson Daily Star. the Thomas family is "of a shiftless and immoral variety", But for "his extreme youth", Bigger would have been the spotlight on the black youth without their being able to escape. In Dixie, the blacks are "depraved types of Negroes' on whom punishment has no effect. Outlandish suppositions and presumptions made about non-whites place them in the class of scum and criminality. Bigger is said to be of "jet-black complexion", but "may have a minor portion of white blood in his veins'.
Such a mixture, it is supposed, makes a potential criminal of an individual. Though it is claimed that "here in Dixie we keep Negroes firmly in their place", that is the approved attitude of whites towards blacks in America. Male blacks must not make white female friends. In having Bigger make Mary Daltonm's fatal acquaintance, Jan is breaching a fundamental code of segregation.
The likes of Bigger do not have a normal progression in life. He is unable to become anything he has wished to be. For example, he cannot become a pilot because society will not allow him to do so. This thwartind of his ambition is in contrast with the general belief that hard work leads to success. For Bigger that is most bewildering. Bigger's whole race is considered inferior to the whites. He dares not aspire. Yet he assists corrupt white political aspirants by selling his vote to them for five dollars. This is the general situation of the black youth and they resent it. Resentment has led to mutual hatred, distrust and fear.
This mutuality shows in the arena of crime. Upon suspicion of being responsible for a crime, the cry for the blood of the suspect is louder and more insistent when the suspect Is black than when it is a white man. The "shouts of 'Lynch 'im!' that greet Bigger at the inquest are typical. Given this situation of white intolerance of blacks, a growing black child learns to be, and does become aggressive, bitter and self-defensive. This nurturing of mutual hatred has fatal consequences as results in the case of Bigger Thomas.
All these promotes in Bigger bitterness and fear, which explains why he rebelliously wishes to drop a bomb onwhite people if he has the means. It is also the fear that society instils in Bigger that makes him shove Mary's corpse into the furnace to avoid detection, and brutally murder Bessie to escape justice.
Points to note
(a) Segregation/social discrimination
(b) Deprivation
(c) Fear
(d) Bigger's inherent tendencies