Shocked by Humanity

       Bigger is by no means an average human being. He has had many extenuating circumstances that affected and controlled his development in a dog-eat-dog world where he was the bottom of the food chain. The oldest male in his household, society dictates that he has to take responsibility for his mother and two siblings, but as we see Bigger is clearly conflicted about any decision he tries to make. This is particularly dangerous since his younger brother looks up to him and Wright’s protagonist is far away from being a good role model. It shows the power dynamic that perpetuates the petty violence that controls Bigger’s life. Afraid of standing up to the consequences of his actions, Bigger beats up Gus to get out of robbing a white man, leaving himself no choice but to take the job chauffeuring for the Daltons. Overall, the start of the novel clearly sets up how secluded Bigger’s life has been, living in poverty his entire life and resorting to crime to survive without a better option on the horizon. 

       Taking a job working for a rich white family was perhaps the smartest decision Bigger ever could have made (just thinking of average circumstances, not what actually happens in Native Son). Mr. Dalton even turns out to be quite the philanthropist¹, giving Bigger a raise before he even starts work. Now, Native Son is far from an ideal world, but even there it is possible to make the right decisions and lead a good life, as evidenced by the previous chauffeur working for the family for ten years. Truly, the catalyst of the novel is the jarring transition from a poor African-American life and culture directly to that of a rich white family (Bigger even notices this himself when first going to the Daltons, realizing how conspicuous he looks in their neighborhood). It was hard enough for the protagonist to figure out which door to enter the house was for him, and being thrown straight into the family lives of strangers would be hard for any man. Mary’s mannerisms and Jan’s communism were the finishing blow (although getting drunk certainly did not help Bigger’s decision making skills) that threw Bigger off completely and commenced the downward spiral that resulted in Mary’s death, beheading, and incineration (and by extension, Bigger’s own demise). Perhaps a slower transition into higher class society would have benefited his long-term prospects, or at the very least a less radical family to work with².

       Although he was a product of his environment in many ways, Bigger was still a human. Some might argue against free will, but from a first person view you always have a choice to make, and in the end, live with the consequences. Although there was plenty of shock for the new chauffeur on his first day of work, there are many ways to deal with surprise in life that aren’t so criminal or terminal. Even Bigger himself had shown bursts of good decisions that show him capable of making the right choices. I kept this mindset throughout reading Native Son, and while I feel somewhat sympathetic to Bigger’s case, the whole tale of insane events could’ve been avoided altogether³.

¹Perhaps Mr. Dalton’s use of his money wasn’t the most effective to reach the general population, but you can’t argue that he wasn’t a philanthropist. Donating to the NAACP in its early years is undoubtedly helpful, but just not directly to Bigger and his world view. If we focus just on the conditions the protagonist had growing up, Mr. Dalton by no means helped him, as seen by the constant worry of Bigger’s mother about the overpriced rent and the direct trouble that caused.

²I say this because of all the trouble I noticed Bigger had in his first meeting with Mr. Dalton. Bigger Thomas had spent his entire life being educated about a certain norm that people must meet, and those societal norms covered both his own life and that of the higher class that controlled it. The Daltons with their progressivism and modern thought were completely contrary to what everything in Bigger’s life had told him was standard. Had he been more lucky (or less, depending on how you look at it), he might have ended up in a stereotypical white family that was just as racist and traditionalist as most of society was at that time. What could have happened then?

³What might be even more striking than the circumstance or events of the case depicted in Native Son is Wright’s masterful setup of the novel. Reading it is quite a shocking experience in of itself, especially at the start where Bigger’s actions move just as fast as his crazed thoughts, but rarely did I doubt what I was reading. The detail of his background and his environment that so influenced the events of the book made me forget just how insane it really is for someone to act this way. Perhaps Wright using the case of Robert Nixon as an influence made Native Son all the more realistic, just like how any good lie has a bit of truth in it.