Deja Moss Draft

Richard Wright introduces the main character in his novel, “Native Sun”, as a poor black man, named Bigger Thomas, living in the ghetto. In book 1 “fear”, I analyzed how Bigger lived and learned who his true character was. I also learned how he felt towards himself, family, and his friends. Bigger Thomas’ character is a very angry and violent person towards anyone who makes him feel afraid or out of place. Richard Wright uses imagery, sentence syntax, and symbolism to express how Bigger Thomas truly thinks.

Bigger Thomas’s way of thinking is unlike anybody else’s. He thinks the only way to let go of anger is through harming others. “He stooped again and placed the knife at Gus’s throat. Gus did not move and his large black eyes looking pleadingly. Bigger was not satisfied ;”(pg. 38) When he is afraid of something he puts himself in a position where he has to harm people and make himself feel in control. In order for him not to reveal how he truly feels, he covers up his emotions by trying to make someone else sense his feelings.

Wright portrays imagery throughout the novel profusely. In Book 1 “Fear”, Bigger kills a rat in his family’s apartment “‘I got ‘im,’ he muttered, his clenched teeth bared in a smile.” (pg. 6) This is also foreshadowing what to expect from him in the rest of the book. As Thomas chases the rat, we can infer that he is utterly determined to kill it with no remorse.

Another example of imagery would be when he murders Mary Dalton. “Gently, he sawed the blade into the flesh and struck a bone.” (pg. 92) The way the author describes the events that took place almost seemed as though Bigger enjoyed it because “He had to burn this girl. With eyes glazed, with nerves tingling with excitement…” (pg. 92) Not only...

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... the cops he was running from.

In Book 3, “Fate”, Bigger is now convinced that he is going to die for the crimes he have committed. “They don’t give black people a chance, so I took a chance and lost. But I don’t care none now. They got me and it’s all over.” (pg. 356) This book reveals Bigger’s realization of what he has done and how it will affect him. We find out that he is sentenced to death and he will not live for long. For some odd reason, Bigger has a sense of satisfaction and security knowing that he will die. “Aw, I reckon I believe in myself…. I ain’t got nothing else…. I got to die….” (pg. 428).

According to the excerpt, “How Bigger Was Born”, Wright says “that his imagination is a kind of community medium of exchange: what he has read, felt, thought, seen, and remembered is translated into extensions as impersonal as a worn dollar bill.” (pg. 433)