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?
1. There are five biggers that are encountered in the book however I think that the biggers are just a symbol for experiences in the author's life and things that he had to endure. What all the biggers have in common are that they all caused pain for the protagonist.
ReplyDelete2. The bigger that he met has many different ways to look at him so he may not be a communist or a fascist but he may be perceived as that just by the way he is protrayed in the book. The boy is made to seem like he has the qualities of a communist and fascist however he isn't one forsure. It's up to the readers interpretations of the bigger's actions. How the author is trying to portray they boy is a kid who needs to get out of a very broken and currupt society. He has what he needs when others don't yet he still wants to find a way out of this way of life because he just wants and even better life.
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ReplyDeleteAllegra Post 1
ReplyDelete1. Wright writes "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." These Bigger Thomases were rebels in the sense that they did not sit back and let themselves be dehumanized for the color of their skin. They took action, and even though they as a person were ultimately defeated, their spirits weren't. They were radicals and their downfalls reveal the evils of racism. Wright says that he "had better indicate more precisely the nature of the environment that produced these men, or the reader will be left with the impression that they were essentially and organically bad." When he says this, he is assuring the reader that it was reality and society that made them to be considered evil, not themselves as a person. Their actions aren't actually evil or wrong; it is the society of that time that declares them to be. The Bigger Thomases are symbols of the oppression of African Americans of that time.
2.The things that were happening to African Americans at this time were simply unimaginable. When Wright says “he is a product of a dislocated society”, he is saying that it is everything that society brought upon African Americans make them a different person: a person fighting for their lives, respect, and equality. Any person in his situation would look for a way out.
Grigg-
ReplyDelete1. Richard Wright’s numerous Biggers’ have many similarities. One similarity is that each one seems to be a tough and mean character. They all seem to have a steely outer shell. While explaining Bigger No. 1 Wright says, “There was a boy who terrorized me and all of the boys I played with.” This shows how Wright’s main character was meant to evoke a feeling of emotion from the audience, not necessarily portray African Americans as perfect people. He portrayed his race this way because he wanted to prove a point, a point that racism and segregation was bad no matter the person. When explaining Bigger No. 2 Wright expresses, “He bought clothes and food on credit and would not pay for them. He lived in the dingy shacks of the white landlords and refused to pay rent.” This shows how Wright’s Biggers were men that lived hard lives and were rough and tough because of it. Another similarity between the Biggers was that they were all victims of the Jim Crow laws. All Biggers experienced firsthand racism and unfairness toward their race. Wright states: “I once worked as a ticket-taker in a Negro movie house (all movie houses in Dixie were Jim Crow; there are movies for whites and movies for blacks), and many times Bigger No. 3 came to the door and gave my arm a hard pinch and walked into the theater.” This Bigger, like all the others, had watch movies in a segregated theater. Bigger No. 5 is expressed with: “‘Come on, Nigger. Move over where you belong. Can’t you read?’ Bigger answered ‘Naw, I can’t read’ the conductor flared up: ‘Get out of that seat!’ Bigger took out his knife, opened it, held it nonchalantly in his hand, and replied: ‘make me.’” This shows how the Biggers have extreme anger and little patience for stupid things like Jim Crow laws restricting where they sit.
2. Bigger carries with him the turmoil felt from the government at the time period. The racism towards African Americans was unbelievable and “he is a product of a dislocated society.” This shows how the anger Bigger feels is all in direct relation to the society in which he lives. The society is terrible and unfair to him and his people and this is why Bigger is so angry at them. When it says, “he lives amid the greatest possible plenty on earth,” I think it is stating how he lives in the great land with tons of possibilities but everything is restricted because of the color of his skin so: “he is looking and feeling for a way out.”
3. I think at the heart of Bigger’s fears isn’t getting caught so much as not meaning something. When he is planning to rob Blum’s shop he is scared of getting caught but he still follows through so I think he wants to send a message to the whites that what they are doing isn’t fair. I think he is scared that his message won’t be heard. He wants to change how they treat his people and he wants to have the opportunities to do everything they do. He says: “God, I’d like to fly up there in that sky” and this shows how the whites have so many more opportunities than his race does and he is itching for change.
Grigg- additional analysis
ReplyDelete1.The Biggers all also are not the quintessential African Americans and Wright says: “He had become estranged from the religion and the folk culture of his race.” The Biggers rebelled against the typical African American and was not engrossed in the folk culture and religion. Also Wright says: “He was trying to react to and answer the call of the dominant civilization whose glitter came to him through newspapers, magazines, radios, movies, and the mere imposing sight and sound of daily American life.” This shows how the Biggers were engrossed in the unfairness the whites imposed upon blacks. The see all these media objects and don’t understand why they are only for whites. They all challenged the “dominant civilization.”
2.I think that Bigger carries with him the “Potentialities of either Communism or Fascism” because he wants everyone to be equal. He shows a communist side because he notices that mostly blacks are the poor of the community and this is unfair. He knows that blacks have a lesser chance of finding a good job and making a living for themselves. He feels that the government should spread out the money to make up for the fact that his people were treated unfair and suffering because of it.
3.I think that at the heart of his fears is his anger towards white population of the country. Like all the Bigger’s described in Wright’s introduction, he has an intense dislike for the oppression the white population enforces on his race. He is in the select group of people that rebel against conformity and struggles to motivate his people to change as well.
Allegra Post 2
ReplyDelete3. I think the heart of Bigger's fears is that he will not make an impact. Society has made him feel worthless and inhuman, and Bigger won't stand for that. However, every Bigger that Wright discussed came to an ultimate defeat. In this case, the oppression had won. Oppression had caused them to feel worthless and have hatred towards society. Bigger's goal was to motivate others to rebel and not stand for the racism that was occuring.
Allegra Post 3
ReplyDelete2. Every Bigger in the world shares the same emotional response to oppression. In this book, every Bigger is a native, yet they are denied the same rights as the other natives because of their race. Everybody else has access to the great plenty of America, but it is denied to them. When Wright says “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.” In a communist society, one dictator gets to decide what and what not the people get. The people of that country are oppressed, creating many Biggers who seek equality and show that by rebelling. Often times the rebellious are killed, making an impact. In the society during Native Son, the same thing is happening. For a ludicrous reason African Americans are denied rights. They find themselves trying to get out of a place where they are native to.
Grigg- 3rd analysis
ReplyDelete1. The first Bigger was a typical household bully that all the kids on the playground were afraid of. Bigger No. 2 was “tougher” than the first one and directed his hardness not towards the blacks but towards the whites. Bigger No. 3 who “carried life in his hands” would not follow laws like Jim Crow that limited which theaters he could go to and what movies he could watch. Bigger No. 4, “whose only law was death,” also denied the Jim Crow laws. It says that Bigger No. 4 was “Never happier when he had outwitted some foolish custom” which I think states how he enjoyed breaking the law and not getting caught. He pushed the limits of the law. He ended up in an insane asylum. Bigger No. 5 openly broke Jim Crow laws and didn’t care what would happen to him. He was rebellious, restless, and wild.
2. Bigger cannot be fascist because the whites were the fascists in the society. Wright is providing a contrast to the white’s society, oppressing the Blacks. He sees the Biggers reacting against the oppression. The problem with communism is that the community distorts the idea so that everything is essentially still unfair. He carries with him traits that allow him to rebel against these government forms. There would be no Biggers if communism and fascism was done the right way.
3. I agree with Allegra and that at the heart of his fears is that he will not make an impact. He fears that the oppression will never change. He acts the way he does in hopes of a better tomorrow.
Arianna Amini
ReplyDeletePost #1
1.Richard’s Wright’s main character in The Native Sun is named Bigger Thomas. Bigger Thomas is a character made up of five different men who made a huge impact on Richard’s life. The first Bigger was known for his swagger and also bullied Wright all through his childhood. “His swaggering personality is swallowed up somewhere in the amnesia of my childhood.”(435) Wright adds that his death was violent. The next Bigger known as “Bigger #2””was one of the bravest men Wright had ever met. “ (435)“He would tell that we were fools not to get what we wanted while we were alive in this world” He never paid rent and never let a white man get in the way of his life. Last time Wright had heard of him he had ended up in jail. Bigger No. 3 was also a very brave men and Wright even recalled one time he went into a white theater with out paying. Bigger No. 3 was killed during the days of Prohibition. Bigger #4 had one law and that was death and “he knew someday he’d have to pay for his death”(436). Later on in his life he was sent to the asylum for the insane. The last bigger known as Bigger #5 rode the bus whenever he pleased and he sat whenever he pleased. He did not care what people said to him and he asserted his rights to everyone and anyone. Of all the qualities shown by all 5 Bigger’s I believe the one thing they all have in common is their bravery. Their bravery not to follow rules they believe are unfair and stand up for what they believe in and not what they are told. Even though in the end there bravery brings all the Biggers to their demise, their bravery was something many people including Wright carried with them through their lives.
2. In this quote Wright is elaborating on how Bigger felt about the poltical system in which he had to follow. To most white citizens living in America at this time the American government was one of the best in the world, but coming from an African American there is little positive feedback. In this quote Wright says, “But he is the product of a dislocated society, he is a dispossessed or disinherited man; he is all of this, and he lived amid in the greatest possible plenty on earth and he is looking and feeling for a way out.” This quote is so important because it emphasizes the fact that his society had the potential to be one everyone would love to be in, but instead Bigger finds himself searching for a way out because of how corrupt his society really is. When Wright says, “But granting the emotional state, tensity, the fear, the hate, the impatience, the sense of exclusion, the ache or violent action, the emotional and cultural hunger, Bigger Thomas, conditioned as his organism is, will not become an ardent or even a lukewarm, supporter of the status quo”(447). No matter how emotional his society makes him feel Bigger is someone who will not give into the “status quo” meaning he will not follow the rules like many other African Americans. He will continue to stand his ground until he is given the opportunity to be free from society.
3. I believe that Bigger’s number one fear is is society not changing. He fears that no matter what he does and all the sacrifices he makes his society will never accept him. Bigger spends his life fighting the power that he believes is wrong and he still feels like nothing will ever change. He will never be accepted in society and that all of the generations to come will undergo the same pain and isolation as he feels.
Arianna Amini Post #2
ReplyDelete1. In the end the greatest quality I believe all the biggers have in common is there wanting to change the world. They are not going to sit down and let racism rule their lives. They are not going to play by the rules they think are unfair therefore they are all rebelling against the government. For example when Bigger #5 refuses to sit where they tell him too on the bus is an example of how Bigger does not follow rules he thinks are unfair. Bigger #1 was a bully, but I believe he ewas a bully because he was taking his anger and hate on society out on the other kids. Since he feels that the white suppressor is putting him down, he must put down others. All these Biggers also have something to do with the Jim Crow Laws. Since they do not believe in these laws and therefore will not stand them, we find all these Biggers breaking these Jim Crow Laws which leads to their ultimate demise.
2. The author says that she does not think Bigger is a Communist or Facist, but almost has the qualities of both. As I have not read about Bigger in the story I feel that as he is described he could have qualities of both. He could believe in Communism because he feels that everyone should be equal and understands that Communism could help equal the blacks and the whites. I don’t think it really matters if he is a Communist, but what does matter is the fact that Bigger is upset with his government and wants to make a change.
3. Adding to the fact that Bigger is scared the world will not change, Bigger feels he will not change the world. He wants to do something that will get him noticed, but he fears that since he is African American that will never happen. I want to add how the title of Native Sun is so ironic. It was saying that Bigger is a native to this land and should belong. He should be able to feel free and alive in his society, but instead he feels alone and isolated.
Arianna Amini Post #3
ReplyDelete1. Kuhen, I agree with your first post. I feel that the Biggers are all symbols of people in the authors lifes. Grigg, I agree with your second post when you say "The Biggers rebelled against the typical African American and was not engrossed in the folk culture and religion." I feel that all the Biggers are nothing like the common African American. They are not caught up in the fact that since they are isolated in society they should embrace it by having cultural activities for only African Americans. Instead Bigger feels that they should combine there cultures with those of the whites and all live together in peace. Allegra, I agree with your first post when you talk about their ultimate demise. I agree with the fact that because all these Biggers rebelled the ended up either locked up or dead. They were punished for being different and sticking up for their rights.
2. Kuhen, I love how you say it is up to the interpretation of the reader to figure out if Bigger is Communist or Facist. I agree and I feel it was the right idea for the beliefs of Bigger to be left to the reader's interpretations. Grigg, I dont agree when you saw that Bigger could not be Communist. I believe that his love for people and equality are some of his qualities that are Communist. Allegra, I love what you say about African Americans being native to their land. "For a ludicrous reason African Americans are denied rights. They find themselves trying to get out of a place where they are native to." I agree with this 100% percent and for them to be denied rights somewhere where they are native is just plain crazy.
3. Allegra, I agree with what you said about his heart of fear. He tries to set an example for how people should act towards their community. He feels that he is scared that no one will have the guts to do what he is trying to do and the whites will forever be in power. His bigger fear is nothing changing and he can only wish that people will try to make a change to all the racism he must face.