Bigger Thomas's Descent Towards Being

Bigger Thomas's descent towards being a criminal in "Native Son" by Richard Wright In the novel, "Native Son," written by Richard Wright in 1966, readers witnessed the life of the black American Bigger Thomas, whose life of poverty and discrimination ultimately drove him to commit murder and assume a violent behavior towards anyone in his society. The novel provides an effective illustration of the development of Bigger's character towards fittingly assuming the stereotypical attitude and personality that white American society holds against blacks: violent and criminal.

Wright's organization of the novel was aptly divided into three: fear, flight, and fate. These chapters in the novel provide a clear description of the events that occurred in the life of Bigger, where his life was like the white man's prophecy fulfilled: black Americans are violent criminals, therefore, society's prejudiced treatment for their lot is justified -- because blacks are criminals and they propagate an atmosphere of violence, they should be 'eliminated' through mass persecution by the white American society.

This was the social environment Bigger was in when the novel unfolded to reveal Bigger's tragic end. Initially, in "Fear," the protagonist was described as living the typical life of a poor black American. Bigger had a poor family, had a conflict with his mother because of their poverty, lived according to his own means by joining a gang of black Americans who earned money through robberies.

In effect, he was an individual who lived the simple yet typical life of a poor black man; a man who, despite his fear of being further discriminated by and integrated in the white American society, tried to retaliate by conducting criminal activities against the society that oppresses him. In "Flight," the crucial event that determined the life and eventually, the fate of Bigger Thomas was given primacy.

In this event, he had tried to integrate himself in both white and black societies by getting a job from Henry Dalton and extracting himself from the illegal activities of his gang friends. However, in the most pivotal moment when he was living his life straight, Bigger had encountered an unfortunate incident that made him do drastic actions that determined his fate as a criminal.

The accidental death of Dalton's daughter, Mary, and Bigger's unwise decision to burn her body and disguise her death as a kidnapping did him worse than good. Now, Bigger was branded as worse than his gang friends, now that he is labeled a murderer and rapist. To further add to his criminal act of beheading and burning Mary's body, Bigger had also raped and tried to kill his girlfriend Bessie when his plan to escape the authorities failed.

Towards the end of the novel, Wright aptly identifies Bigger's predicament in "Fate." Bigger's psyche as a member of an oppressed group (black Americans) and the vigilant attitude of the white society against his wrongdoing reinforced the notion that black Americans are, indeed, criminals and outlaws of the society. The novel comes full circle in this chapter, wherein the author had conveyed the inevitable fate of black Americans in a hostile and dominantly-white American society.

Thus, Bigger ended up where he was expected to end up: in prison, awaiting his final execution as a convicted murderer and rapist. Throughout the novel, and for each crucial development in his life, Bigger's character had undergone transition wherein he had been put into situations that ranged from worse to worst. The novel depicted him initially as an offender, yet an individual who has the potential to change and improve his life.

This seemed to be what Bigger was heading to, although due to the accidental death of Mary by suffocation, he has changed and became a murderer and rapist then a convicted criminal. Tracing these developments in the novel, the succeeding discussion illustrates the character transition of the protagonist through his relationships and interaction with other characters in the novel.

As a discriminated individual, Bigger had learned not to expect more from his community and society, limiting his dreams in life by earning just enough money to allow him and his family to eat for a day, as well as provide for some basic needs. Wright provides a glimpse of Bigger's psyche, which explained why his behavior and attitude towards life was full of bitterness and limitations (13): He hated his family because he knew that they were suffering and that he was powerless to help them.

He knew that the moment he allowed himself to feel to its fullness how they lived, the shame and misery of their lives, he would be swept out of himself with fear and despair. So he held toward them an attitude of iron reserve; he lived with them, but behind a wall, a curtain...He knew that the moment he allowed what his life meant to enter fully into his consciousness, he would either kill himself or someone else. So he denied himself and acted tough.

Indeed, Bigger's character was depicted in the most negative light, primarily because his tough attitude and personality are traits that his society expected him to have, being a poor black American. The harsh realities of every black American in the hostile white American society showed how, in effect, they reinforce and perpetuate their marginalization in the society. That is, the marginalized aid in their own marginalization.

By joining gangs and involving himself with petty offenses like thievery and robbery, Bigger was trying to act for both practical and philosophical reasons: robbery seemed to be the most practical means by which he can obtain money for him and his family, while it (robbery) also acts as his own way of retaliating, of protesting and acting against the feeling of oppression and disadvantage that he, as a black American, experiences compared to the white Americans.

It is evident that the strained relationship that he had for his family was Bigger's way of loving them --.