Paper #2: Bigger and the Media Wright’s protagonist, Bigger Thomas, in the novel Native Son has a very interesting relationship to the mass media, and how it shaped who he was, who he became, and the contribution it had to his eventual demise. Wright portrays this stereotypical character of Bigger Thomas in combination with the repercussion of adopting a double consciousness. The term double consciousness was coined by the great James Baldwin to describe the duality of seeing one’s self as a personal identity, while simultaneously viewing the self by how one is perceived by the societal sphere. In the case of Bigger Thomas, Bigger is trapped in this state of being hyper concerned with how he is being portrayed and recognized through the …show more content…
eyes of the media while concurrently trying to see himself as he is in general. It becomes evident throughout the novel that Bigger would like to escape the persecution of his grotesque actions of murdering Mary Dalton, but cannot do so because he needs to be found out in order to satisfy his need to be recognized by society, though his portrayal in the mass media. There is this constant question being asked of how can Bigger not become invisible and in the case of Bigger, not being invisible constituted with being unmoral and murderous. “That day and night after I done killed her when all of them was looking for me, hunting me, that day and night for the first time I felt like a man. I was a man!” (pg. 107). After murdering Mary, Bigger feels for the first time that he is finally living as a true, American man is meant to live. He he fully aware of the fact that for the white population Mary will be symbolic of all white women, and he, a Black man, will be representative of the black population. Unlike the perfect whites, Bigger will be portrayed as a monster and a criminal. Ironically though, Bigger feels a sense of pride for his hate against whites, which affords to his obsession of being recognized. Fear is the dominant emotion that Bigger embodies, and what contributes to the conflicts that arise throughout the novel.
His fear results from the lack of power to control his own surrounding and what becomes of his life. Bigger is exceptionally fearful of the white population because of the power they are able to wield over him from how the society of America is constructed. He is fully aware of the hierarchal system that compartmentalizes the value of human beings by racialized categories. This fear becomes a personal reality for Bigger with how the media will portray him to be, and what he gains recognition for. As the novel progresses, the reader will realize that Bigger’s fear is symbolic of a communal fear embodied by much of the black population in America. The specific fear of being portrayed negatively by the mass media contributes to unintended consequences for Bigger. He murders Mary out of fear of being discovered in her room, then continues operating on this heighten level of fear of being exposed by stuffing her body into the furnace. The irony of the situation is that he destroyed the very evidence which might have proved his innocence and saved him. His desire to be viewed a certain way by the mass media fully overshadows the repercussions that would become of killing Mary. This fear-based crime also leads to other fear-based crimes. Bigger would then proceed to blame Mary’s “disappearance” on her lover Jan, a Communist hoping that Communist ideals would be …show more content…
a more convincing motive then a black man raping a white woman. Once the body is found, Bigger continues operating out of fear and also murders his girlfriend, Bessie, to keep her from betraying him to the police, which would then be exposing him to the mass media. Fear is constantly driving Bigger’s actions and this fear is stemmed from how will be perceived by the media. The only contrast to this is when he felt relief and a sense of accomplishment after killed Mary Dalton. Finally, in Bigger’s eyes he was performing the first free action in his whole fear-tortured life. That is what he tried so hard to explain to his lawyer, Max, when he said “I ain’t worried none about them women I killed…I killed ‘em ‘cause I was scared and mad. But I been scared and mad all my life and after I killed that first woman, I wasn’t scared no more for a little while” (NEED PAGE #). Ironically, through murdering two women out of fear, Bigger is finally able to free himself from the fear that has consumed him his whole life. Despite removing the fear from leading his life, Bigger continues to be misrepresented and negatively portrayed by the mass media throughout the novel. Bigger’s trial is a perfect example of this negative portrayal and the continued obsession of how he is recognized by the media. The obsession is not mutually shared by both Bigger and the Media. It becomes clear that the trail of Bigger’s murder was merely a spectacle for the enjoyment of the public and for some juicy new material for the media. Bigger’s guilt and punishment are decided before his trial ever begins, and the proceedings of the trial are unconstitutional and very much unfair. There is no question that Bigger will be sentenced to death, but the public still feels the need to go through the motions of justice while simultaneously attempting to deny the instilled structures of racism by creating the illusion of equal treatment under the law. This can be seen as a double conciseness exhibited through the catalyst of the media. As the lawyer, Max, argues later, there is a component of guilt in this hateful hysteria, as it represents an attempt on the part of the empowered majority to deny its responsibility in Bigger’s crimes. The illusion of equality under the law disguises the economic inequality that has condemned Bigger to a hopeless, impoverished urban ghetto and a series of menial low-wage jobs. It is popularly philosophized that keeping the black population in constant fear ensures its submission. However, as Bigger’s life demonstrates, this constant fear actually causes violence.
In this sense, the empowered majority sows the seeds of minority violence in the very act of trying to suppress it. Bigger, he explains, had been trained from the beginning to be a bad citizen. He had been taught American ideals of life, in the schools, in the magazines, in the cheap movie houses, but had been denied any means of achieving them. Everything he wanted to have or do was reserved for the whites. “I just can’t get used to it,” he tells one of his poolroom buddies. “I swear to God I can’t…Every time I think about it I feel like somebody’s poking a red-hot iron down my throat” (NEED PAGE #). He was living, only as he knew how, and as society has forced him to live. The hate and fear that has been instilled in his being from the country that was supposed to embrace him, ended up being the force that removed him from this earth as well. He was, in every aspect of the sense, a product of his
environment.
Temporary inequality exists as a means of “improving” a subordinate to the level of a dominant. After the period of inequality is over, the two view each other as equals. The other form of inequality, permanent inequality, exists solely because of an ascription of inferiority to a subordinate that is inherent and unchangeable. Unlike temporary inequality, there is no possibility of improvement for the subordinate; they are, in the eyes of the dominant, inferior and impossible to “fix.” The dominants, who view themselves naturally superior to the subordinates, begin to take advantage of the subordinates. “Out of the total range of human possibilities, the activities most highly valued in any particular culture will tend to be enclosed within the domain of the dominant group; less valued functions are relegated to the subordinates” (Rothenberg, 112). Moreover, the subordinates, who by this point are under the total control of the dominant group, may begin to internalize the value of the dominants. “[Subordinates’] incapacities are ascribed to innate defects or deficiencies of mind or body…More importantly, subordinates themselves can come to find it difficult to believe in their own ability” (112). This theory of domination and subordination are clearly mirrored in race relations in the United States. Whites, who are the dominant group, make all of the fallacious errors involved in race-based thinking; they are prone to, like Miller describes, hoarding superior roles in society and practicing systematic cruelty towards the subordinates due to their sincere belief that the subordinates are inherently incapable of rising to the level of the dominant. This internalized belief on the part of the dominants, that the subordinates
The idea of double consciousness, as defined by DuBois, can be seen in fleeting moments in both He Who Endures by Bill Harris and The Sky Is Gray by Ernest Gaines. When one compares the thought of double consciousness with the modern perception of a hyphenated existence, one can see that they both view the cultural identity ( African American) as one of a dual nature, but the terms differ in their value judgments of this cultural duality. Depending on how one values this cultural duality, as evidenced in both of the aforementioned works, it can alter the meaning of the works. However, double consciousness is the more appropriate perspective because it existed as a thought when these works were written, a positive view of hyphenated existence
Staples successfully begins by not only admitting the possible faults in his practiced race but also by understanding the perspective of the one who fear them. Black males being opened to more violence because of the environment they're raised in are labeled to be more likely to cause harm or committing crime towards women but Staples asks why that issue changes the outlook of everyday face to face contact and questions the simple actions of a black man? Staples admits, "women are particularly vulnerable to street violence, and young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of that violence," (Staples 384) however...
Tanner, Laura E. "Uncovering the Magical Disguise of Language: The Narrative Presence in Richard Wright's Native Son." Appiah 132-146.
Du Bois' metaphor of double consciousness and his theory of the Veil are the most inclusive explanation of the ever-present plight of modern African Americans ever produced. In his nineteenth century work, The Souls of Black Folks, Du Bois describes double consciousness as a "peculiar sensation. . . the sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity" (Du Bois, 3). According to Du Bois assertions, the Black American exists in a consistent "twoness, - an American, a Negro"(3). Further, he theorizes, the African American lives shut behind a veil, viewing from within and without it. He is privy to white America's perspective of him, yet he cannot reveal his true self. He is, in fact, protected and harmed by The Veil.
While Bigger Thomas does many evil things, the immorality of his role in Mary Dalton’s death is questionable. His hasty decision to put the pillow over Mary’s face is the climax of a night in which nothing has gone right for Bigger. We feel sympathy because Bigger has been forced into uncomfortable positions all night. With good intentions, Jan and Mary place Bigger in situations that make him feel "a cold, dumb, and inarticulate hate" (68) for them. Wright hopes the reader will share Bigger’s uneasiness. The reader struggles with Bigger’s task of getting Mary into her bed and is relieved when he has safely accomplished his mission.
In other words, double-consciousness can be described as an attempt to make peace with the clashing values of African heritage and European upbringing within an African American individual. Such an obstacle has the potential to be quite damaging to one’s sense of identity. The psychological theory of double-consciousness can be explored in the writings of African American authors. The works of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and the first chapter of Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man demonstrate the challenging collision of two cultures within the protagonists shaping their identities, and surprisingly aiding them to achieve a stronger sense of self than...
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.
The American Narrative includes a number of incidents throughout American history, which have shaped the nation into what it is today. One of the significant issues that emerged was slavery, and the consequent emancipation of the slaves, which brought much confusion regarding the identification of these new citizens and whether they fit into the American Narrative as it stood. In The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B Dubois introduces the concept of double consciousness as “the sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others” (Dubois 3). This later became the standard for describing the African-American narrative because of the racial identification spectrum it formed. The question of double consciousness is whether African-Americans can identify themselves as American, or whether the African designation separates them from the rest of society. President Barack Obama and Booker T. Washington, who both emerged as prominent figures representing great social change and progress for the African-American race in America, further illustrate the struggle for an identity.
In Darryl Pinckney’s discerning critical essay, “Richard Wright: The Unnatural History of a Native Son,” Pinckney states that all of Wright’s books contain the themes of violence, inhumanity, rage, and fear. Wright writes about these themes because he expresses, in his books, his convictions about his own struggles with racial oppression, the “brutal realities of his early life.” Pinckney claims that Wright’s works are unique for Wright’s works did not attempt to incite whites to acknowledge blacks. Wright does not write to preach that blacks are equal to whites. The characters in Wright’s works, including Bigger Thomas from Native Son, are not all pure in heart; the characters have psychological burdens and act upon their burdens. For instance, Bigger Thomas, long under racial oppression, accidentally suffocates Mary Dalton in her room for fear that he will be discriminated against and charged with the rape of Mary Dalton. Also, according to Pinckney, although the characters of Wright’s books are under these psychological burdens, they always have “futile hopes [and] desires.” At the end of Native Son, Bigger is enlightened by the way his lawyer Max treats him, with the respect of a human being. Bigger then desires nothing but to live, but he has been sentenced to death.
In Native Son Book One Fear: We can infer that Bigger Thomas has suppressed many feeling and feels uneasiness about his own thoughts. Bigger was just afraid of his own thoughts to not be able to express and physically do what he wished to do creating fear within himself. So now that Bigger has let go of that fear by murdering someone he feels like he has power to do whatever he wants since black people are overlooked he believes that no one will suspect him.
...the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with a second-sight in this American world,- a world which yields him no true self consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.*(215)
In the novel the Native Son, the author Richard Wright explores racism and oppression in American society. Wright skillfully merges his narrative voice into Bigger Thomas so that the reader can also feel how the pressure and racism affects the feelings, thoughts, self-image, and life of a Negro person. Bigger is a tragic product of American imperialism and exploitation in a modern world. Bigger embodies one of humankind’s greatest tragedies of how mass oppression permeates all aspects of the lives of the oppressed and the oppressor, creating a world of misunderstanding, ignorance, and suffering.
People being prejudice and racist have been a major issue in society. This causes people to commit crimes in order to receive justice. In Native Son by Richard Wright there is a lot of prejudice against the black community. In Book Two: Flight; we get a closer look at Bigger Thomas’s actions and thoughts after murdering Mary. With the amount of racism and stereotypes made against the black community it has forced Bigger to feel that the people around him are blind, making him feel powerful and him murdering Mary is justified.
Self awareness of a person’s identity can lead to a challenging scope of ascertaining moving forward: the moment he/she has an earth- shattering revelation comprehending, they of African descendant and they are a problem. The awakening of double-consciousness grew within the literary cannon sensing the pressure of duality in the works of Native Son and The Bluest Eye, Richard Wright and Toni Morrison respectively create two characters who deal with this struggle. It is illustrated through both text how society creates situations that impose the characters Bigger and Pecola encountering extreme measures in the mind frame of double consciousness in their pursuit of survival physically, the search for identity, the desire of self- expression and self-fulfillment.