1. Describe some of the many ways in which Bessie Mears, Bigger's girlfriend, is trapped in a life that is not of her own choosing (use concrete details).
2. Describe the way Bigger is hunted down after he has fled the Dalton home. How would this manhunt have been different if Bigger were white?
3. Mr. Dalton's private investigator, Mr. Britten, alternately expresses his hatred of African Americans and of Communists. After he interrogates Bigger, Bigger thinks to himself that "Mr. Britten was familiar to him; he had met a thousand Brittens in his life." What is it about Mr. Britten's thinking that makes him so easy for Bigger to understand, and how does Bigger intend to use Mr. Britten's prejudices to his own advantage?
Grigg- 1st analysis
ReplyDelete1. Well the obvious way that Bessie is trapped in a life that is not her own choosing is because Bigger forces her into helping him. She says: “‘Bigger, please! Don’t do this to me! Please! All I do is work, work like a dog! From morning till night. I ain’t got no happiness. I ain’t never had none. I ain’t got nothing and you do this to me. After how good I been to you. Now you just spoil my whole life. I’ve done everything for you I know how and you do this to me. Please bigger….’” She might have wanted to know the reason for Bigger’s strange behavior but she regrets learning of his deed. She is dragged into a life she doesn’t want to live. Her life is now at risk. As an African American in this time period she, like Bigger, is oppressed by the white population. Racism trapped all of the blacks in a life that is not their own choosing. African Americans weren’t allowed to do nearly all of the things that they watched their white counterparts do. She didn’t choose this life it was thrust upon her.
2. When Bigger flees the Dalton home it is obvious that he is guilty of the murder. The first place that the searchers go is the Southside, the African American part of town. This was obviously the expected place for Bigger to be because he was black. This was one thing that would have been different if he was white. Another thing is the intensity of the search. The whites primarily care about the black murder or rape of a white girl and not so much a white murder and rape of a white. They don’t care at all about black murders of another black, but in fact look at it as one less they have to keep controlled. One of the newspaper articles in the manhunt was, “HUNT BLACK IN GIRL’S DEATH” (page 241). Nowadays it is ridiculous to put the person’s race of which they are after because people are blinded by color. There probably would be no article if Bigger wasn’t black; no one would care. The people truly are blinded by skin color, as Bigger often states. As Bigger is taking his last breaths of freedom upon his capture he see who is after him: “Deep down below was a sea of white faces and he saw himself falling, spinning straight down into that ocean of boiling hate” (page 265). If Bigger was white then these people would not be crowded around, awaiting his capture. He describes them as “an ocean of boiling hate” and it is evident that he has nowhere to turn. If Bigger were white then the hunt would have been much lower key and there probably would have been very little in the newspaper. The most press would have come from the fact that Mary was the daughter of a rich family not that an African American had committed the murder.
Grigg- 1st analysis
ReplyDelete3. Britten is very racist and a white supremacist. He is just like nearly all other whites during the time in that he though African Americans were bad and put his own beliefs above everyone else’s. He is very greedy and this causes him to not like communists. Bigger might have met a very nice family the first time he came into close contact with whites, but when he meets Britten he is brought back to the realization that whites are the enemy. He realizes that Britten is just like everyone else because he hates blacks. At first Bigger thinks: “He knew that Britten was trying to find out if he were a Communist. It was something that he had not counted on, ever. He stood up, trembling. He had not thought that this thing could cut two ways” (Page 161). When Bigger realizes this he freaks out a little because he is unprepared. He gets the impression that Britten hates communists. After thought Bigger realizes that if he can disprove his communism then he could easily put the murder on the shoulders of Jan. Bigger’s mentality is: Jan is a red and Brittens hatred towards them will for sure make him suspect Jan. Bigger knows that Britten is blinded by hatred and oppression and he plans to use this blindness to his advantage. Britten has trouble looking passed the fact the blacks are stupid, so Britten will easily think Bigger was not capable of a murder at such a high degree. Britten knows that communists are smart so it is only natural he will suppose Jan. Bigger is planning on writing a ransom note and he states: “He’d give that Britten something to worry about, all right. Just wait” (Page 165). By creating a ransom note and signing it Red he leads the suspicions towards Jan and Britten’s blindness will have trouble swaying from convicting a communist. It is Britten’s hatred that Bigger plans to capitalize on.
Allegra Post 1
ReplyDelete1. Bessie and Bigger's relationship lacks depth. She is an insecure woman, and is used by Bigger a lot of times. She acts as Bigger's sidekick almost, helping him with every bad thing Bigger has done. I think she just wants to have someone love her and to love someone. Bessie is a tool and does whatever Bigger wants.
Allegra Post 2
ReplyDelete2. When they hunt for Bigger they act like there is a wild animal lose in the town. They divide the city into sections, and swarm each place like barbarians with no mercy. If Bigger was white, they would not have written exaggerations in the newspapers. Immediately, they portray Bigger as being a rapist, when there is no evidence of that. There isn't even evidence to prove he killed Mary, it's just the fact that he fled from the scene and is black that made him suspicious. I think if he was white they wouldn't have automatically assumed him to be guilty. They would have given him more rights and let him explain himself before they went hunting for him to be arrested. Bigger knew that since he was black, he wouldn't get the opportunity to explain himself like a white man would have during a situation like this. The quote "There was just the old feeling, the feeling that he had all his life: he was black and had done wrong; white men were looking at something with which they would soon accuse him" (Page 219) shows that Bigger is aware of his unfair inferiority to them as a black man.
Grigg- 2nd analysis
ReplyDelete1. Bessie is an African American and this is a big reason why she is trapped in a life not of her own choosing. The white society oppresses African Americans to the point where they have little to no freedoms compared to whites. Bessie always tells Bigger how she works all the time and struggles to make a living. She struggles with long hours and little pay working for the whites. Because she is working all the time she has no time left to do the things she would like to do, she has no time to dream. She goes to alcohol to take her mind off things. Bigger is another reason as to why Bessie is trapped living a life that is not her own choosing. Bessie says to Bigger, “‘Bigger, please! Don’t do this to me! Please! All I do is work, work like a dog! From morning till night. I ain’t got no happiness. I ain’t never had none. I ain’t got nothing and you do this to me. After how good I been to you. Now you just spoil my whole life. I’ve done everything for you I know how and you do this to me” (Page 180). This is significant because Bessie is pleading with Bigger to leave her alone. Bigger dragged her into this and now he won’t let her out. She is forced to obey him and she is scared of him. He is a murderer and she is scared for her life. She is forced to leave town with him and be on the run her whole life. Bessie talks about how he spoiled her life because she knows that as the girlfriend of a murderer she will never have peace again. Bigger has changed her life forever, and she can’t do anything about it.
2. Bigger is African American so he is segregated in the Southside. He can’t hide out in the white neighborhoods because of the oppression. The Southside is relatively small and it gives him a finite area in which he can escape. This is significant because if he was white the searchers would have the entire city to search and would have been practically impossible. Because he is Black the searchers have a much easier job to do. The oppression has segregated Blacks into such a tiny part of town so they are easier to manage and easier to hunt down if necessary, as it is in this case. It is ridiculous that the hunt would be that much larger and that much fiercer simply because Bigger is black. It was a very tough time for African Americans and Bigger experiences this first hand.
3. I still believe that Bigger plans to use Britten’s hatred towards communists for his own personal benefit. In the story it states, “Next time he would do better; he had let Britten trap him on that Communist business… Now that this thing was out in the open, he would know how to act. And Furthermore, Britten might want him as a witness against Jan” (page 165). This explicitly shows how Bigger plans to capitalize on Brittens hatred and Jan’s Communistic ways. He is going to led Britten into thinking the murder had to have been done by a communist (Britten already thinks the murder was too complex for the African American’s ignorance). Bigger gains confidence as he realizes that Brittens hatred goes beyond just racism but to communism as well. This levels the playing field for Jan and Bigger (both hated because of irrelevant things) and Bigger hopes to push Britten in Jan’s direction and hopefully get off free for his murder.
Grigg- 3rd Analysis
ReplyDelete1. When Bessie learns about Bigger’s murder she walks into a life she can never walk away from. Bigger would never leave her alone, for fear she would tell on him. She is trapped. Bessie has a high level of insight when she realizes Bigger has done something terrible. Without him ever stating his murder she says, “‘If you killed her you’ll kill me,’ she said. ‘I ain’t in this’” (Page 178). She knows that Bigger is capable of emotionally detaching himself. She foreshadows her own demise. She is caught in a cycle of domestic violence, abuse. She recognizes she shouldn’t be in this relationship but she doesn’t have the will power to leave. I think she is also attracted to the money. When she realizes that Bigger has money she immediately wants to stay with Bigger. The white oppression is to blame for her lack of money. They don’t pay African Americans equally and this cause Bessie to need money badly.
2. In the papers they refer to Bigger as “monster” and “Gorilla” just to express their own personal beliefs. They simple down this complex story to rally up all whites to go against Blacks. The media is in great blame for the white’s oppression: the people follow the papers. The fact that bigger is black has caused the town to go up into frenzy and this would not have happened if Bigger was white.
3. Britten is greedy and he doesn’t like communists. He naturally believes his race is superior. He is a capitalist and dislikes Jan’s belief. Bigger is essentially the smarter one and he plays Britten’s beliefs. It a good deal of intelligence to know how to revert the attention from his own murder. Mr. Dalton hires this racist detective and this is situational irony. It is strange that someone that is so anti-oppression would hire someone of Britten’s nature. I personally think that Mr. Dalton wants to see Jan convicted. He hires Britten in hopes that Jan will be convicted because Mr. Dalton does not like communists either. Deep down Mr. Dalton suspects Jan is the cause of Mary’s disappearance and death.
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ReplyDeleteAllegra Post 3
ReplyDelete3. Mr. Britten is essentially the opposite of Jan. He is a capitalist and racist towards Bigger and all African Americans. I find it ironic that Mr. Dalton would hire an investigator with such opposite beliefs of his own. Because of Mr. Dalton's bitterness towards Jan, I think that he wants him to be convicted. This is so hypocritical because Mr. Britten wants to convict Bigger in the same way. When Bigger thinks, "Mr. Britten was familiar to him; he had met a thousand Brittens in his life," it shows that he is prepared to take on a familiar prejudice. I think Bigger finds it easier to manipulate him. He uses the fact that he is African American and uneducated to his advantage. He keeps saying things like "they wont suspect him" because of his race. This is slightly ironic because Bigger is so against the oppression and the false views people have of African Americans, however since he is used to such oppression, he can use it to his advantage.
Allegra Post 4-Additional Analysis for question 1
ReplyDelete1. Describe some of the many ways in which Bessie Mears, Bigger's girlfriend, is trapped in a life that is not of her own choosing (use concrete details).
1. Bessie begs and pleads when she says, "All I do is work, work like a dog! From morning till night. I ain’t got no happiness. I ain’t never had none. I ain’t got nothing and you do this to me. After how good I been to you. Now you just spoil my whole life." Bigger is not the only reason that she is trapped in a life that is not her own, however she always gives in to Bigger's commands. It is not only Bigger that traps her, but society as well. Most African Americans at this time do not chose the life they have.
Post #1 Arianna Amini
ReplyDelete1. Bessie has basically been sucked into the same situation Bigger has because Bigger does not want to face this alone. He tells her that now he wants to write a ransom note and get money out of the family and that he’s going to give her money. We can see that this is not what Bessie wants to do because of her constant bickering and complaining. When she finally has had enough Bessie says, “And now I’m in this. They looking for me now and when they catch me they’ll kill me.’ She bent her head down to the floor.’ God only know why I ever let you treat me this way. I wish to God I never seen you.”(229). All her life Bessie has worked to be an independent women. She has her own job at a restaurant and even moved out from her parent’s home. Now she has been pulled into a murder by her boyfriend and does not know where to turn too. Now all she wishes for is to have never met Bigger because he changed her life for the worse. The pressure got to her and she finally snapped.
2. The hunt for Bigger Thomas was one unlike any other. Since Bigger was African American and had been locked over many times as a suspect, the search to find him was quite monumental. The first headline after discovering parts of Mary’s body stated, “ Reporters find Dalton girl’s bones in furnace. Negro chauffer disappears. Five thousand police surround black belt authorities hint sex crime. Communist leader proves alibi. Girl’s mother in collapse”(243). Usually when a murder has been committed, the family is assigned a couple detectives and no more than 100 police officers usually search the case. In Bigger’s case there are 5000 police officers surrounding his neighborhood and are questioning all people connected to Bigger and who resemble Bigger. I believe the search had become so big because Bigger was African American. There were very few cases where an African American had almost gotten away with murder of a young white girl especially one coming from such a wealthy family. I also believe that the wealth and fame the Dalton family had made this scandal bigger.
3. I think that Mr. Britten essentially represents the white suppressor. He is an average white citizen during this time period that hates all African Americans. Throughout his investigation we find him making racial comments towards Bigger. To Bigger Mr. Britten represents all the white people who have made him feel unequal and unimportant in the world. “He hated Britten so hard and hot, while standing there with sleepy eyes and parted lips, that he would gladly have grabbed the iron shovel from the corner and split his skull into to”(162). HE hated Mr. Britten because it reminded him that he will always be one step behind because he is black. He uses “blindness” and stupidity when he find out Mr. Britten is trying to blame him. He is trying to act like he is incapable of ever committing murder and had nothing to do with the case.
Arianna Amini Post #2
ReplyDelete1. I believe that Bessie and Bigger have a special relationship. I don’t believe that Bigger really loves Bessie because in the end he kills her, but I do believe they care about each other. “Every man had a girl, and Bessie was Bigger’s girl”(42). I think that Bigger kind of takes Bessie for granted and just uses her because she is kind of attached to Bigger. I think that since Bessie kind of had an attachment to Bigger she went along with the plan at first, but after she realized what was going on she wanted out. Bessie says, “If you killed her, you’ll kill me,’ she said. ‘I aint in this”(178). She feels that Bigger is capable of killing her because he killed Mary. Now that she is scared of Bigger because she knows the truth, Bessie wants out. As the story goes on you realize that Bigger really can let go of emotional attachments when he does kill Bigger.
2. I think that one of the main reason the manhunt is so large and vast is because it was potentially a black man who killed a white women. Since this was something that was never seen and Mary came from such a rich family they had a lot of people looking for him. Then when the police find out he has also killed Bessie, the search gets out of hand. The police make him seem like a rapist because he had raped Bessie, therefore Bigger became even more dangerous. The police called him names like, “sex offender”, “beast”, “gorilla”, and “monster” which are all very controversial and racist names. They also made it seem like he had rapped Mary. “Police expressed belief that Miss Dalton met her death at the hands of the Negro, perhaps in a sex crime, and that the white girl’s body s burned to destroy evidence”(243). The fact that he had raped and then murdered an heiress made the story and search even bigger.
3. In order to cover up the constant accusation made by Mr. Britten, Bigger uses stupidity to his advantage. He continuously acts stupid and blames Jan for everything in order to cover up his tracks. “This man was here to find out everything. This was an examination. He would have to tell his story. He would let each of the facts of his story fall slowly, as though he did not realize the significance of them. He would answer only what was asked”(157). Bigger was going to use the blindness of the Dalton’s and Mr. Britten to his advantage and play stupid. If he played stupid and acted dumb, no one would ever suspect what he had done.
Arianna Post #3
ReplyDelete1. Grigg, I agree with your first post about this. Bigger feels that he is trapped in a life he does not want and he has not accepted it. His mom on the other hand has accepted the fact that she cannot change her life and has gone on with it. Again Ms. Thomas has the experience to know that her life with never change. Bigger, on the other hand is still young and innocent and believes things can change.
2. Allegra, I agree with your 3rd post about this. They really do act like Bigger is a wild animal on the loose. They send in tons of people to search for him and the media covers the story like its the biggest deal ever.
3. I love the quote you use on your 3rd response for this question, Allegra!It is truly ironic how Bigger is against racial profiling and the white supressor while he is going around making false judgement and judging white people. I also like how you say they wont suspect a thing because he is black and he wont get caught. He profiles himself into the uneducated black young man even though he is so against racial profiling. Ironic.