By Richard Wright

Bigger Thomas' World
Vol 2. Issue 1. April 19, 2004
 

Summary: This is a book about Bigger Thomas, an African-American male living on the south side of Chicago with his family. He gets a job working for the "liberal," white Dalton family as a chaffeur. Upon meeting Mary, their daughter, he feels uncomfortable about the way she treats him, trying to act more like a friend than a superior. Mary introduces Bigger to her Communist friend, Jan, and they all go out to eat on the south side. Bigger hates Mary and Jan for making him feel so uncomfortable; he would prefer that they treated him as a servant rather than an equal because that is what he is used to. Upon returning to the Dalton house, Mary is too drunk to make it upstairs on her own. Bigger helps her to her room and tries to quiet her and accidentally suffocates her in the process. In a moment of fear, he remembers the furnace in the basement and disposes of the body. He comes up with the idea of writing a kidnap note, involving his girl, Bessie. The plan is to blame it on the Communists because he knows that they are "bad." The plan goes awry and he ends up murdering Bessie. He is soon put on trial, convicted, and sentenced to the death penalty for committing both murders.

 

 

 

 

 

Chicago's South Side
The city as an environment

Chicago in the 1930's was a city of segregation and hatred. Blacks were secluded to the South Side, an impoverished area. Racial segregation and stereotyping played a major role in the everyday lives of the people living in that urban environment. The city was divided into enclaves populated by different ethnicities, races, and religions. This caused tension to prevail as a daily ritual for the residents of Chicago. Due to this tension it wasn't uncommon to see living examples of injustice.

There was a definite distinction between the "Black World" and the "White World,"

 

 

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14

"Racist graffiti that reads 'Black ass go home...'"

which added fuel to the hatred felt throughout the city. In the White World one owned their own car, in the Black World one was lucky to get a job driving someone's car. White people such as the Dalton's in Native Son owned their own buildings, while black people like Bigger Thomas and his family rented a very small one room apartment. The White World was full of store owners, while people in the Black World were accused of stealing from those stores. The freedoms and liberties that the white people enjoyed were the very things holding the black society under oppression.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside Bigger's Mind
His rationalization

His entire life Bigger Thomas has had to fend for and stick up for himself. When faced with the fear of being caught in Mary's room, he panicked, not wanting to be accused of something he hadn't done. Racial stereotyping had taught him to assume that because he was black and alone in a room with an unconscious white girl he would be accused of rape. This reality caused him to be irrational and in an attempt to get himself out of the situation he got himself into more trouble than he had ever intended. Bigger felt he had to cover up what he had done to escape punishment. In attempting to cover it up, he caused more confusion in his own mind. Eventually the culmination of all this confusion led him to justifications for the crimes he had committed.

Bigger's crimes created a feeling of empowerment which he had never known before. This power struggle in his own mind led to a lack of remorse for his crimes. Eventually this empowerment led to his being caught because he was trying to gain too much control over the situation. This rationalization was used against him during his court case and in the end led to his conviction.

 

 

 

 

"Why had he come to take this goddamn job? He could have stayed among his own people and escaped feeling this fear and hate." 15
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Product of the Environment
Condone or Condemn? 


Bigger Thomas' actions can be at least in part accredited to the world in which he grew up. The sentiment of society at the time led Bigger to believe that he was a lesser person because of his race. He was not allowed the same luxeries as other races within society. This stigma led to internal pain and suffering throughout the course of his short life. Bigger is punished for actions he committed that were the outcome of this racial prejudice.

In a sense society had created a monster and then condemned that which they had made. This can be compared to the situations of the women on murderesses row in the movie Chicago. They also felt complete justification for the murders they had committed. This feeling of justification allowed them a sense of power that they had never known.

Wright felt that there were many "Bigger Thomas'" in the world when he wrote this novel. If this is really the case is it fair to condemn that which has been created by its environment. Perhaps society's treatement and education of people should be taken into account for situations such as this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The consciousness of Bigger Thomas, and millions of others more or less like him, white and black, according to the weight of the pressure we have put upon them, form the quicksands upon which the foundations of our civilization rest. " 18