Bigger: A Result of his Environment
Bigger is a guy that we should hate. He murdered someone after all. Yet, I don't think we should hate him after all. I think Bigger is a classic example of a tragic character and a product of his environment.
We, the readers, get a good look at the life of Bigger. He grew up in not the kindest of environments, in a world where the people with all the power and money hate him and his community. He is powerless to really do anything, but he is clearly very frustrated about the situation he is in. He is described to have this hard shell personality because of his inability to actually do something about the situation he is in. As soon as he gets to a situation where there are people with more power than him, he goes straight into saying only "yessum."
Moreover, the killing of Mary entirely an accident. Yes, Bigger is clearly at fault somewhat for murdering Mary, but remember the situation that Bigger was in. I think that in his situation and in his mind, it would worse if Mary made a noise and Bigger was caught being in the same room with her. This isn't really anything to do about how Mary treated Bigger or how her boyfriend treated Bigger but more of Bigger trying to solve a problem and avoid getting punished for something he feared much more. I think it could be argued that the events after he found out that Mary was murdered was simply out of self-defense. He was doing the things he believed he needed to do to not get killed. Sure, you can say the right thing to do would be to turn yourself in and confess, but how would that help anyone? Him turning himself in would basically be suicide as the court wouldn't listen to him. He would be assumed to have raped and killed Mary and get put into jail for life or killed.
Yes, he makes mistakes, but we all make mistakes. Yes, I think he made a lot of mistakes, but I think Bigger's environment and the world he lived in was more to blame than Bigger himself. The story was more of a tragic tale of a guy who is trying to survive in a world all against him. I don't think I could have done anything better in his shoes in the world he lives in. What do you guys think? Do you agree or do you think Bigger was just a bad person?
I do agree that Bigger is affected by his environment and that the murder of Mary is an accident. However, there are still some things about Bigger that are troubling. If he feels any remorse about Mary's death, then he would have at least payed tribute to her somehow but he doesn't. He burns her body and creates an elaborate plan to not only cover up the murder but also get some money out of it. In addition to murdering Mary, Bigger rapes his girlfriend and proceeds to murder to her. Now that I don' t think those things are accidents nor are they affected by his environment.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's hard to know how much blame to put on Bigger for his action. This relates to the idea of naturalism that we discussed in class, as it seems much of what happens to Bigger is out of his control. While I felt some sympathy for Bigger when he killed Mary, the cold blooded rape and murder of his girlfriend he has no excuse for. Sure, Bigger would've never been in that position if it wasn't for the racist society he lives in, but that doesn't give him a free pass to act however he chooses.
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit strange how we manage to sympathize for Bigger. Sure, killing Mary was an accident, but what he did to Bessie should never be forgiven. Yet, I found myself almost rooting for Bigger at times, not really wanting him to get caught. I think that it is because Wright aligns us, the reader, with Bigger's every thought, from when he wakes up to the moment he sleeps. We are attached to him, and we see him as the protagonist twistedd by his environment.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that Bigger's environment is much more at blame than Bigger is. I also think that Wright wants readers to see it in this way, because he does not depict Bigger as a ruthless monster despite the horrible things he does. Wright continuously, maybe even excessively, gives us a look inside of Bigger's mind. Rather than seeing a cold, non-empathetic beast, we see a scared boy that feels bad about what he's done. This isn't to say that Bigger shouldn't carry any of the blame. Yes, he killed Mary and Bessie, and lied about everything. However, throughout the novel, I get the sense that this isn't a story about one terrible person, but rather a story about one out of many people that have been suffocated and driven into a corner by their environment.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Bigger's environment is primarily to blame for who he is. There is no question that he has been denied opportunities his entire life, and feels that he has no power over his life. He does murder Mary accidentally, and all of these factors make it easy to sympathize with Bigger. However, the reader does not feel comfortable sympathizing with Bigger because he is a murderer, even if it isn't really his fault. I think that Wright wants to make the reader uncomfortable, and wants the reader to struggle internally about how guilty Bigger is. This is not supposed to be a simple book, and I don't think we need to come to a conclusive answer about if Bigger is at fault. We just need to think about his situation and think about the bigger picture of racial oppression in America.
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