Chisom Oraedu (post 2): Native Son, November 14th

In 1986, a film adaptation of Native Son was produced as a remake of the original 1951film starring Richard Wright himself as Bigger. In the 1986 film, Bigger is portrayed much the same as he is in the book. He is a scared black man who accidentally kills a white woman and tries to cover his tracks. In the featured trailer, we see that Bigger is told by Mr. Dalton to drive Mary to school. Just like in the novel, Mary tells Bigger on the way that she does not wish to go to the university, but instead to pick up Jan, her Communist boyfriend. Mary tells Bigger in the novel, “’Bigger!’ ‘Yessum.’ ‘Turn at this corner and pull up on a side street.’ ‘Here, mam?’ ‘Yes, here…You’re not a tattle-tale, are you?...I’m not going to the University. But you can forget that. I want you to drive me to the Loop. But if anyone should ask you, then I went to the University, see, Bigger?...I’m going to meet a friend of mine who’s also a friend of yours’ (Wright 64). This scene in the novel is perfectly portrayed in the movie clip seen in the trailer. Also seen in the trailer is Bigger’s introduction to Jan by Mary. Although Bigger does not know it yet, this is the man that he will later try to frame for the murder of Mary Dalton. After Mary goes missing in the novel, Mr. Dalton introduces Bigger to a private investigator, Britten, who he hires to find Mary: “’Bigger,  this is Mr. Britten. He’s a private investigator attached to the staff of my office….He wants to ask you some questions. So just be calm and try to tell him whatever he wants to know’” (Wright 155). Mr. Britten goes on to question Bigger about what happened the night that he supposedly drove Mary to the University. In the novel, there is no violence involved in the interrogation, but in the film, Britten beats Bigger with a bat when he hesitates to answer a question. This shows that the film differs from the novel in some aspects; the characters in the film seem a bit harsher and more intense than in the novel. Later in the trailer, Bigger is seen in the street being confronted by Jan as to why Bigger is trying to frame him. When Bigger tries to retreat from the questioning, Jan persists. This causes Bigger to pull a gun on him. This is almost exactly how it happened in the novel. Bigger feels guilty that he is framing Jan, an innocent man: “Bigger felt guilty; Jan’s presence condemned him. Yet he knew of no way to atone for his guilt; he felt he had to act as he was acting…Jan had done nothing to him, and it was Jan’s innocence that made anger rise in him” (Wright 171). This confrontation on the street causes Bigger to see just how innocent Jan truly is. He does not deserve to be blamed for the death of Mary. But the anger that the guilt causes him proves to be too much, so he draws the gun. The trailer for the film adaptation of Native Son shows that it is an accurate interpretation of the source material that will help in its deeper analysis and understanding.