Is Bigger Really Human?

Is Bigger Really Human?

I'm not about to argue for some absurd reality or complex conspiracy, rather I would like to take a look at Bigger's "choices" and evaluate whether he is merely responding to his environment or if he is consciously making decisions of his own free will. Conscious decisions are what separate us from animals. A predator displays an imitation of human choices, but they are not really aware of their decisions.They are simply recognizing stimuli and responding to it. Bigger Thomas can be seen in a similar light, and a variety of critics have commented on Bigger’s  inhuman qualities. At the same time Bigger in many instances does exhibit complex thought and unique ideas.

There is an extensive argument for both sides of this loaded coin. After analyzing Native Son in class for a week my gut instinct is to side with the Naturalist point of view, more specifically the "lab rat" analogy. That Wright is simply placing Bigger in a variety of compromising situations and simply observing his reactions and responses to the environment. The principal evidence for this argument is the quintessential scene of Bigger suffocating Mary. As the observer we can’t help but feel sorry for Bigger, he was only trying to protect himself and any action he performed would have ended up in a compromising situation. In those moments Bigger is driven solely by fear and panic. He does not think ahead, rather just responds to each event. The text is filled with reactionary language. There is a common pattern in the way the paragraphs are structured.

(p 85)

“The door behind him had creaked.” “He turned and a hysterical terror seized him, as though he were falling from a great height in a dream”

(...)

“Mary!” she spoke softly, questioningly.” “Bigger held his breath.”

(...)

“Mary!” “He felt Mary trying to rise and quickly he pushed her head back to the pillow”

The pattern continues for the rest of the scene, but it is obvious that every action Bigger does is directly in response to something Ms. Dalton does or says. He makes no independent actions, and his only thoughts during the scene are observations rather than assessments and impressions of the situation. This makes me think that Bigger is not in control of his actions and is just being Wright’s puppet to make a point. I agree with one of James Baldwin who said that the point of fiction is to show the development and complexity of characters. Bigger Thomas is not someone who displays this complexity. At this climactic moment Wright writes Bigger as a visceral character driven out of pure instinct rather than a complex character driven by individual thought.

There are still plenty of instances where Bigger looks like a completely different character. The main example that comes to mind is Bigger’s whole plot to frame Mary’s murder as a kidnapping and make a ransom demand. This plan, even though it spawned from the framework of Leopold and Loeb, took effort to put into place. Even after Bigger was caught people asked who his accomplices were, because no one thought that a black man would be capable of such a plan. This implies that his plan had to involve some careful thought out ideas.Bigger also considered the option of fleeing multiple times, but he made the decision to go through with his plan.

The two contradictory points of view both have very compelling arguments. It is important to think about the reasons why Wright would include two sides of such a contradictory character. I believe in some instance Wright purposefully trapped Bigger to illustrate that in the real world many people really are trapped and any decision they make leads down a bad path. Wright didn’t want the whole book to be solely based off of forced decisions because then Bigger would cease to be human and the corollary between Bigger and the rest of the world would cease to have value.