Desperate Situations

by Sam Newman

             Richard Wright’s (1940) Native Son was written to demonstrate how systemic racism can (and does) affect specifically Black men. Poor living conditions, gang culture, and discrimination in employment and law enforcement all play a huge role in Bigger’s life, causing him to become who he is (a deplorable character) and keeping him that way.

The very first instance of Bigger’s circumstances’ affecting him is seen in the first few pages, when Bigger must kill a rat. “‘I got ‘im,’ he muttered, his clenched teeth bared in a smile,” and “Bigger took a shoe and pounded the rat’s head, crushing it” (pg 6). This is a very normal day for Bigger. Most upper middle-class White families (the target demographic for this book) probably had never seen a rat in their homes, because their homes were in better condition and in nicer locations. It is never said but it is implied that this kind of daily instance had conditioned Bigger to be desensitized to violence, which is important and partially responsible for his violent actions.

It is widely known that you act like who you spend time with. As you may have guessed, Bigger’s friends are not wealthy scholars, but rather are other poor Black men who live on the rundown side of town. When you have no money or job and do not know where your next meal is coming from, you might be inclined to turn to crime just to get by. Bigger and his friends would much rather “fly planes and run ships” (be employed in secure jobs with steady pay), but Black people were not allowed to have those jobs or the education/experience required, so instead to make sufficient money, they had to rob stores. In order for Bigger to not be forced into these situations, his family would only need slightly more financial resources (enough to buy food/rent/clothing), which would be achievable if more jobs were available to him or his mom.

Arguably, the most eventful part of Native Son is when Bigger kills Mary, a White woman (pg 87). Bigger had never killed anyone before this point (as far as we know) and he did not do it on purpose. To summarize, Bigger was bringing Mary up to her room after they had gotten back from the bar. Drunk, Mary starts kissing Bigger and Bigger reciprocates. Mary’s mom starts walking up the stairs and almost walks in on them, but before Mrs. Dalton can hear them, Bigger becomes overrun with fear and his first instinct is to shut Mary up with a pillow that ends up suffocating her. If Mrs. Dalton had caught them, Bigger could have been lynched/killed. If Bigger were White, this would have happened very differently. Even if Mary were heard by Mrs. Dalton with Bigger, it would not have been illegal/taboo. It would have just been slightly awkward, and not carried the threat of mortal consequences for Bigger.

               Every conflict that Bigger faces in Native Son can be boiled down to the world he grew up in. Bigger snowballs from needing money to almost killing his friend Gus (to get out of risking his life/jail over robbing a store). Native Son does a good job at exemplifying what many Black people struggle with because of their circumstances. Almost no one wants to have to kill people or rob stores, but if they are put in a kill-or-be-killed situation they might. People who are placed into circumstances where they must resort to crime end up reinforcing the racial stereotypes, causing more discrimination, which in turn causes others who merely look like those who originally committed crimes to be put into dire conditions of poverty, creating a vicious cycle of poverty, crime, and discrimination. Native Son is trying to say it is not the fault of those people who committed the crimes, but the fault of the people who discriminated to begin with.