Bigger Thomas' Impact on the Reader

  Bigger Thomas is arguably one of the most controversial characters in literary history, and rightfully so.

    The way that Richard Wright writes Bigger Thomas contradicts the depiction of protagonists in most novels I have read. Typically as a reader, your feelings towards the protagonist may slightly change as the book and character progress, but ultimately, your opinion of the protagonists of the novel usually improves or stays at the same level as when you started the book. However, in this novel, my opinions of Bigger fluctuated throughout the entire novel on a frequent basis. At times I was upset with Bigger, felt disgust and disdain towards him, and was overall disappointed in him. Other times, I pitied him, rooted for him, and felt some sense of relatability with him.

    In the beginning of the novel and our discussions of it, I honestly didn’t think that Bigger was that unlikeable of a character. Every action, thought, and feeling of Bigger in Book One: Fear was either a projection of his own fear and emotions or a reaction to the environment around him. I don’t look at the interactions between Bigger and his siblings to be out of spite or malice, but rather typical sibling relationships. I think that when reviewing Bigger’s relationship with his family, a lot of people neglect the important fact that Bigger is expected to be the “man of the house” since his father’s passing, which is an extreme amount of pressure to put on a young man. In Bigger’s interactions with Jan and Mary, he never gets a choice, he’s always pressured by them or reacting to the environment around him. Mary’s murder was accidental, and Bigger is conscious of the system that is built by white people and designed for white people that surrounds him and its consequences. Bigger ultimately gets no choice or free will in the beginning of the novel, as anything he fails to do will result in a catastrophic chain of events that will bring down himself and those around him.

    While most of Bigger’s actions in this novel can be justified, one that unequivocally is unjustifiable is the rape of Bessie. Can the murder of Bessie be justified? Yes and no. It is understandable that Bigger believes that Bessie is a liability and can aid the police in convicting him. Granted, there were other ways that Bessie could have been kept quiet other than murder, but there is still some substantial reasoning behind her murder. Can the rape of Bessie be justified? No. This action was ultimately what put a sour taste in my mouth towards Bigger. There was no reason for that act to be committed, nor did it aid Bigger in fleeing from the police. Rape, sexual assault, and sexual harrassment can never be justified in any manner. Bigger doesn’t regret the rape of Bessie, but rather relishes in the pure ecstasy that he gains from it.

    I feel that had Wright omitted this event (Bessie’s rape) from the story, there would be a stronger support of Bigger from the reader throughout the rest of the book. While the use of Bessie as a pawn to pretty much everyone in the story is incredibly frustrating and disheartening, there still is reasonable backing behind the need for her murder. Why Wright includes this, though, in the depiction of Bigger’s narrative perplexes me. On one hand, I believe that this helps eliminate the unattainable standard and pedestal that black men are held to and put on. But on the other hand, I feel that Wright only perpetuates the stereotype of black men in America and fuels the fire towards this horrible narrative.

    But, I feel that in the grand scheme of things, the issue does not lie with the way that Bigger is written or in any of the writing in this story, but rather the way that the literary world (and other forms of the entertainment industry and world) holds black writers and writers of color and their characters to a different standard than white writers and their characters. A white character such as Jack Torrance in The Shining is humanized by readers and given a way out of his inexcusable actions. However, when we look at Bigger in Native Son he is dehumanized and held responsible for every choice and word that he says or makes. White men who are rapists and murders are “troubled” and “misunderstood”, but black men who do the same are labeled as “thugs” and “inhumane”. Regardless of how Bigger was written, he and Wright would be picked apart in literary criticism because of the color of their skin.