Bigger thomas s reaction to fear

Plot summary[ edit ] Book One:

Here is how Bigger Thomas helps the reader through his utterances, actions, and experiences to appreciate more the theme of fear in the novel, Native Son. This feeling of helplessness is borne out of the fact that the largely racist white world has stripped young blacks of their humanity, dignity, and liberty.

This loss of control over their destiny or fate breeds in the black population a perpetual sense of fear of their own surroundings.

It is important to note that the fear experienced by blacks in society is not cowardice. Rather, it is created by a frustrating awareness of the loss of control over their actions and the consequences of those actions. No wonder, the only time that Bigger does not experience this debilitating fear, and the only time he experiences a sense of personal power, is when he realizes that his killing of Mary Dalton and the burning of her body in the basement furnace are things he did on his own — no white person made him do it.

From then on, Bigger Thomas begins to act confidently and deliberately. For example, he cleverly crafts a hoax of a kidnap plot that seeks to implicate the communists in the disappearance of Mary Dalton.

Here are some instances of fear, and the effects of this pervading sense of fear on blacks as a race and on the American society at large. This palpable atmosphere of fear generates a tendency toward violent behaviour.

That is why Bigger Thomas carries a gun to his interview with Mr. Bigger and Gus fight over the above issue simply out of a discomforting awareness of their mutual fright at the mere thought of robbing a white-owned property. Neither is willing to admit this fear openly. So each has to fight as a way of escaping the pain caused by their helpless situation.

Out of the mortal fear of being discovered by the blind Mrs. It is this fear-induced reaction that kills Mary. Bigger kills his black girlfriend, Bessie Mears after raping her mainly because he fears that Bessie could, out of her own fear, talk to the police about his whereabouts and his crime.

Thus the inevitable result is that fear, resulting from a frustrating awareness of their state of powerlessness causes oppressed blacks like Bigger to react in diverse, often violent, and unthinkable fashion.Mary and Jan’s simple assumption that Bigger will welcome their friendship deludes them into overlooking the possibility that he will react with suspicion and fear—a natural reaction considering that Bigger has never experienced such friendly treatment from whites.

From the SparkNotes Blog

Bigger as a Reflection of Society in Native Son In Native Son, Wright employs Naturalistic ideology and imagery, creating the character of Bigger Thomas, who seems to be composed of a mass of disruptive emotions rather than a rational mind joined by a soul.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Bigger Thomas in Native Son, written by masters of this stuff just for you. Skip to navigation Bigger makes his living through petty crime. His daily existence is blotted with fear of white people, fear of life itself, and shame at the way his family lives: Bigger Thomas’s most consistent.

Book One: Fear. Summary: Native Son takes place in the Chicago of the late s, and it is a harsh winter in the "Black Belt" (a predominantly black ghetto of Chicago). The main character is a twenty-year-old named Bigger Thomas, who lives in an impoverished, one room apartment with his mother and his teenaged siblings, Vera and ashio-midori.com and Vera share one bed, Buddy and Bigger share the.

Bigger Thomas as America’s Native Son In the novel the Native Son, the author Richard Wright explores racism and oppression in American society.

Wright skillfully merges his narrative voice into Bigger Thomas so that the reader can also feel how the pressure and racism affects the feelings, thoughts, self-image, and life of a Negro person. Bigger Thomas: The protagonist of the novel, Bigger commits two ghastly crimes and is put on trial for his life.

He is convicted and sentenced to the electric chair. His acts give the novel action but the real plot involves Bigger's reactions to his environment and his crime.