Aaron Zamecnik Hilary Holiday GENG 260 11/17/2011 Biggers Predestined Life of Oppression and Crime Native Son

is a prime example of naturalist fiction. The naturalist genre is defined by lifelike day to day reality with a melancholy air since the protagonist is predestined to a life of failure by a genetic or environmental shortcoming that is beyond their control. Bigger is black in a time of Jim Crow repression and segregation; his father was killed in race riots and he has no opportunity to care for his family. His mother also instills a deep sense of misogyny in him by blaming him for their shortcomings and poor social stature. This character typifies the genre of naturalism, since Bigger is divided between an assertive self and a submissive self, according to Masaya Takeuchi (57). Biggers struggle and ultimate fate is a direct product of his grappling with both of these selves and is foreshadowed throughout the book, and is best represented by the symbolism of blindness that is present throughout the book in both Bigger and the whites he encounters. Naturalist literature is a very melancholy genre; it follows the specific passing of time as it would happen in real life in order to make the story seem natural and real. Wright states in How Bigger Was Born that he followed many principles of the novel which my reading of the novels of other writers had made me feel were necessary for the building of a well-constructed book. For the most part the novel is rendered in the present: I wanted the reader to feel that Biggers story was happening now, like a play upon the stage or a movie unfolding upon the screen. Action follows action, as in a prize fight.
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Wherever possible, I told of Biggers life in close-up, slow motion, giving the feel of the grain in the passing of time. I had long had the feeling that this was the best way to enclose the readers mind in a new world, to blot out all reality except that which I was giving him (459). Wright set out to write a naturalist novel in order to enclose the reader in the world that Bigger sees, one of oppression, anxiety, hatred and despair. Another major trait of naturalism is a major flaw in the protagonist that is not of his doing, usually genetic or environmental. The protagonist has a major flaw that is not of their own doing and is usually genetic or environmental in nature. Biggers flaw is the color of his skin; he and his family suffer throughout the novel because of it. Wright foreshadows Biggers ultimate demise throughout the book, saying, He knew that the moment he allowed what his life meant to enter fully into his consciousness, he would either kill himself or someone else and Every time I get to thinking about me being black and they being white, me being here and they being there, I feel like something awfuls going to happen to me (10, 20). He knows his position in society and that he has no means to provide for himself and his family because of the social structure and relationship dynamic between blacks and whites at the time, and also no way to express that angst in a constructive manner. Therefore, he engages in self-deprecating behavior because of his social role and position that ultimately secures his fate, which is a key trait of naturalist literature. Another key trait of naturalist literature is environmental determinism, or a lack of control of ones own life due to the prevailing socioeconomic and racial structures of the time. Blacks were thought of as less than people and as brutes. For instance, the article in the
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newspaper detailing Biggers arrest for the murder of Mary Dalton refers to him as a jungle beast who raped, killed and incinerated Mary in in the grip of a brain-numbing sex passion that distinguishes him from the average, harmless, genial, grinning southern darky so beloved by the American people (27980). This denial of Biggers individuality and demeaning stereotype is what created such a schism in Biggers personality and encouraged him to commit such crimes as a mode of self-expression. The prevailing social structure also forbids Bigger to express his anger at the racial constructs present against whites. He is forced to lash out against fellow black men and women, especially his sister, Bessie and his friend Gus, much to the detriment of his own relationships which further isolates him from society. Blacks had no way of expressing their despair of isolation from mainstream society other than taking it out on each other. Wright states in How Bigger Was Born: I had also to show what oppression had done to Biggers relationships with his own people, how it had split him off from them, how it had baffled him; how oppression seems to hinder and stifle in the victim those very qualities of character which are so essential for an effective struggle against the oppressor (452-453). Takeuchi writes about the fight between Bigger and Gus regarding the delicatessen robbery, he himself ruins the plan when his fear is exposed by Gus in front of the other fellows. At that point Bigger defends against emasculation by projecting this fear onto Gus and feminizing him, forcing him to lick the phallic knife to signify Biggers restored tough masculinity, but at great cost to their friendship (59).
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This is why Bigger believed that he was destined to kill Mary Dalton; he was finally able to strike out against a white figure he saw as oppressive. Biggers struggle starts within his own family; his father was killed in a race riot by whites and he is expected by his mother to provide for the entire family. She states on multiple occasions that they wouldnt have to live in this garbage dump if you had any manhood in you, which breeds a deep contempt for women in Bigger that is evident in all of his relationships with women throughout the book (Wright, 8). It also gives him a deep sense of regret and inadequacy which he lives in denial of and expresses passive-aggressively through a deep contempt for his family. Wright writes, He hated his family because he knew that they were suffering and that he was powerless to help them. He knew that the moment he allowed himself to feel to its fullness how they lived, the shame and misery of their lives, he would be swept out of himself with fear and despair. So he held toward them an attitude of iron reserve; he lived with them, but behind a wall, a curtain (10). This rift divides Bigger into two separate selves, a submissive side that is shown to whites and an aggressive side that comes out when Bigger has an opportunity to display it, usually around fellow blacks. In his relations with Mr. Dalton, Bigger cannot even make eye contact with him; Wright writes, He had not raised his eyes to the level of Mr. Daltons face once since he had been in the house there was an organic convention in him that this was the way white folks wanted him to be in their presence their manner had made him feel that they did (48). However, directly after the murder, Bigger thinks,

He did not feel sorry for Mary, she was not real to him, not a human being; he had not known her long enough for that. He felt that his murder of her was more than amply justified by the fear and shame she had made him feel. It seemed that her actions had evoked fear and shame in him. But when he thought hard about it, it seemed impossible that they could have. He really did not know just where that fear and shame had come from; it had just been there, that was all. Each time he had come in contact with her it had risen hot and hard (114). This shows the extreme polarity between the two sides of Bigger and how he did not have any personal resentment against Mary as a person; she was simply the target of his fear and loathing of whites because she was convenient. She was so intimidating to him because he had seen her in the social news at the theatre and she was the epitome of the perfect white woman that was so far from Biggers grasp; he could not even fathom talking and holding a conversation with her. Blindness is one of the major symbols of Biggers predestination; all of the characters except Max are blind to each other. The Daltons see themselves as philanthropists, but the money they use to help a select few blacks with is taken from the tenements that Mr. Dalton owns and forces blacks to live in. Mrs. Dalton is literally blind to her husbands detrimental business with the black community and believes she is doing right, even though the amount of money they give back to the black community is dwarfed by the income they receive off their impoverished tenants. They are totally blind to the disparity between themselves and their tenants and workers, not only economically but socially. They believe that blacks would be grateful to them and absolutely accepting of them for lavishing black universities and welfare
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groups with millions despite the fact that they support a ridged caste system in which blacks are confined to tenements and run-down neighborhoods in utter poverty and squalor. Furthermore, blacks have been conditioned all their lives to be wary and submissive of whites, especially rich landlords like Mr. Dalton. This makes them fully blind and ignorant to the distinct lack of comfort and level of intimidation displayed by Bigger in their interactions with him, he takes the persona of Jim Crow in all of his conversations with the Daltons. Takeuchi says, As we see here, when the balance of his assertive and submissive selves is threatened, he falls into a passive state in which violence is what happens to him rather being a means of asserting his manhood (61). He feels emasculated and feels that he has no identity other than a poor stereotypical black male around them, and he tries to compensate and deny those feelings the only way he knows how: violence. Mary and Jan are also blind, but to a lesser extent. They are unable to see Bigger as an individual; even though they do not hate Bigger for being black and show him more acceptance than other whites, they do not take into account his perceptions of them and are preoccupied by sightseeing black culture by visiting a black restaurant and singing spirituals. They also do not take into account his preconceived notions and his general protocol of submission when interacting with whites. He is not used to being treated as an individual, and this makes him feel like less of a person because he feels that his skin color is still separating them. Wright writes, He felt that he had no physical existence at all right then; he was something he hated, the badge of shame which he knew was attached to a black skin (67). Bigger interprets their conversing with him as a more subtle way of reinforcing the differences between Mary, Jan and Bigger. He is accustomed to the normal separation like he experiences with Mr. Dalton, but
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their questioning and conversing throws him off. Wright writes, The guarded feeling of freedom he had while listening to her was tangled with the hard fact that she was white and rich, a part of the world of people who told him what he could and could not do (65). He Bigger is also quite blind to the true intentions of the whites he encounters, especially in his relations with Jan and Mary. He does not see their good intentions and reacts with the same schema he uses in all of his interactions with white people, one of distrust and submission; he is totally blind to those whites who are trying to be progressive and change the racial stereotypes of the time. He also is blind to Christianity and the cross; the cross is a symbol of hate to him and in the novel. He had no respect for Christianity even in the beginning; he equates his mothers attachment to the faith to Bessies constant consumption of whiskey. Biggers blindness is what leads him to commit his crimes, he lives in denial of the rift between his two sides and the wall within himself, as well as the wall he has constructed in others. Takeuchi writes, Even so, after his arrest the wall he has erected between himself and others begins to crumble. When his mother tells him between sobs that his plight has made his sister Vera too ashamed to attend school, he realizes that he has not been alone as he had assumed, that he had made his family suffer because they were a part of him, not only in blood, but in spirit (298). At this point, his assertive self refuses to yield to the tears and embraces of his mother and siblings, but when he feels himself alone, profoundly, inescapably after he signs his confession, he achieves a moment in which his assertive, masculine side and his passive, feminine side fuse (70).
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His wall has prevented him from establishing any social connection because of his preoccupation with the predominant caste system present in 1930s. He feels inadequate that he cannot provide for his family since his father was killed by whites and he is not able to secure a job where he can adequately provide for his whole family. He also feels inadequate to whites since they single him out as either a jungle beast or a the average, harmless, genial, grinning southern darky so beloved by the American people (27980). He knows he is neither and is predestined to kill or do something awful. In this way does Native Son typify a piece of naturalist fiction where the protagonist is predestined to a fate that is determined by his environment.

Works Cited

Takeuchi, Masaya. "Bigger's Divided Self: Violence and Homosociality in "Native Son."." Studies in American Naturalism 4.1 (2009): 56-74. Online. 15 November 2011. <http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?sid=963334a7-ab5b-49be-bb7e369dc4f4eb55%40sessionmgr14&vid=1&hid=20&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9 c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=47734465>. Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1940. Book.