Thoughts on Bigger Thomas
During our initial discussions of Native Son, the way Bigger was being discussed as a character was off-putting to me. It felt as if people can’t write about not “perfect” black people without critics on both sides being upset. Either people are upset about the use of negative stereotypes or upset that a character that “horrible” would be written about. Why is it that minorities are expected to behave as model citizens to be deemed as acceptable while white characters can perform any variety of acts without critics demonizing and disregarding them as worthwhile characters? There are countless stories about white male serial killers that people describe as misunderstood, complex, or even attractive. People often write off their actions as consequences of the world around them, whether that be their home environment, school environment, or otherwise. It’s interesting to see a novel extend the same thought process to a black man.
Though I think Native Son is innovative in its content, I do think the writing of Bigger Thomas is flawed. I think it’s important that people can tell their own stories in order to get the most accurate retelling. Richard Wright is not a Bigger. Max is not a Bigger. We as readers are not a Bigger. Never are we fully able to see Bigger through the eyes of Bigger and therefore are never able to see the full story. We are analyzing Bigger as members of the society that formed him. For many discussions I was left feeling uncomfortable trying to assign someone else’s life and actions meaning. It’s hard for me to even tell how much Richard Wright himself truly understands Bigger as a person and so I’m left feeling skeptical of how Bigger is described throughout the book.
I have a lot of conflicting views on how Richard Wright describes Bigger. On one side I am concerned with the use of stereotypes, mostly because I’m not sure how much Richard Wright, Max, or the reader truly understands Bigger and his motives. On the other hand, I appreciate that we are seeing a black man as a product of his environment the same way that white characters are often depicted. I’ve yet to come to a conclusion on whether I think Bigger is a “good” character. Despite this, I acknowledge that Bigger and Native Son as a whole are one of a kind pieces with a lot of insight to be gleaned from them.
I agree! Knowing that Bigger wasn't narrating his own life throughout the book makes the whole thing more complicated because we never truly know what he's thinking. Wright isn't Bigger, so it's uncomfortable realizing that even Bigger's thoughts have to go through a filter even though the book is about HIS story. It just reminds me of Max presenting Bigger's life experiences to the court, knowing Max doesn't truly understand Bigger.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a really good way of expressing the way that Richard Wright's writing of Bigger is flawed. I had not thought to compare the way that Bigger is depicted with the way that white male killers often are, but it really brings a lot of the flaws in his depiction to the front.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that Wright's narration of Bigger's story makes everything a lot more uncertain and complex. The lack of voice Bigger is given is almost demeaning in that he doesn't get the chance to speak for himself, but at the same time, it might be a way to express how uncertain and unaware he is over his circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about feeling conflicted. This book is really complicated and left me feeling like I couldn't really boil Bigger down to being good or bad. I think the fact that we never hear Bigger's thoughts or his side of the story is really important, and a commentary on how the criminal justice system works against black people by silencing them, and keeping their side of the story from coming out.
ReplyDeleteI think the criticism of Bigger as a minority character is extremely noteworthy. A lot of people these days glorify serial killers, and only talk about how attractive they are. Bigger isn't written to be an example of the "perfect person" but neither are white characters in essentially any popular film or book, and there's clearly a racial double standard as to who qualifies as a redeemable character.
ReplyDeleteExpanding on the catch-22 of writing imperfect minority characters, I think that criticism also arises when authors or media represent the opposite - a weirdly "perfect" character (in the eyes of society). A reaching example would be the main character from Love, Simon, who was pretty clearly designed to be more "palatable" to straight audiences and who ended up being unrealistic. And the movie received criticism for that. To generalize, I think there's always going to be criticism of any way a minority character is portrayed. The best authors can do is write their characters true to how they think the characters should be, regardless of how critics may nit-pick, and we as audiences to any pieces of media involving minority characters should be more aware of the double standards that the original post and some commenters have talked about.
ReplyDeleteI like that in your blog, you brought up something that we discussed in class. I also like how you used your blog to express how you felt about the discussions we've had in class. I wasn't uncomfortable, but I also found it interesting when we were in class analyzing Bigger, a black man. I like the statement you made that we as readers would never be able to understand Bigger. I don't agree with that statement personally, but I think it definitely applies to our class.
ReplyDeleteI agree; the only person who can truly understand Bigger is Bigger himself, because he is the only one who has lived through very experience that has shaped his story. We hear Bigger's story entirely through someone else's words, and I think this is a crucial detail. It shows that Bigger doesn't really have a voice, and it shows that Bigger's story can't be perfectly conveyed to other people--not Wright, not Max, not us as the readers.
ReplyDeleteI really like your blogpost, Ella! I agree with what you said even though some of it contradicts my Blogpost. You've made me think more about this topic. I think in general, it can be hard and almost impossible for non-white people to talk about African-American art and understand it fully. People like to put Black people in a box and talk about who we are and what is good for us even if they aren't black. Anyways, great post!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you would bring up the double standard between damaged white characters and damaged black characters, and I think people find Bigger's character upsetting because of the damage writing a character like this can do. By deliberately having his character fall and play into negative stereotypes of black men, Wright likely triggers some people who think that a character like Bigger will encourage more and more racist thought and stereotypes. It's the idea of double consciousness, that we have to be careful even in the way the characters that resemble us are depicted, because they could end up having real world consequences. Though this is indeed only the case because of pre-existing prejudices and racist systems.
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