1. What are some of the reasons that Bigger begins to trust Jan and Boris Max?
2. Why does Bigger attack Reverend Hammond and discard the cross Hammond has given to him?
3. What two incidents in the novel indicate that the author believes that the psychiatric profession has contributed to racism?
Chisom Oraedu: (post 1):
ReplyDelete1. What are some of the reasons that Bigger begins to trust Jan and Boris Max?
In the beginning, Bigger resists the help that Jan and Max offer. He does not trust them because they are white. Then, as the inquest continues, Bigger begins to see that they really do have his best interests at heart. The book reveals, “He trusted Max. Had Max not taken upon himself a thing that would make other whites hate him?” (Wright 347). When Max gives his testimony for Bigger, Bigger sees that it is truly from the heart and that Max believes everything he is saying. Bigger’s admiration for Max is expressed when Bigger realizes, “It was then that he felt more deeply than ever what Max had grown to mean to him” (Wright 381). When Max speaks to Bigger in his cell, he is able to put Bigger in a psychological place where he is able to open up and elucidate about his life. Bigger reveals: “…he had spoken to Max as he had never spoken to anyone in his life; not even to himself. And his talking had eased from his shoulders a heavy burden” (Wright 359). The conversation reveals how racism has influenced Bigger. It has changed and morphed him into a shell of what he used to be. Now all Bigger longs for is the chance to fulfill the many opportunities present in society. Bigger begins to trust Jan and Max because he sees that they care for him and can aid him in his quest to reach these opportunities and his full potential in life.
2. Why does Bigger attack Reverend Hammond and discard the cross Hammond has given to him?
Bigger attacks Reverend Hammond because he thinks that he tricked him into trusting that God will forgive and accept him, only to have this assurance snatched away from him. At first when Reverend preaches to Bigger, he begins to believe his assurances that God will accept and forgive him as long as he has faith. The book says of Bigger, “…he remembered the sweating face of the black preacher in his cell that morning talking intensely and solemnly of Jesus…he had prayed about Jesus and His love, about His dying upon the cross” (Wright 337). After Bigger sees the burning cross atop the building, he begins to question what the preacher’s motives were in talking to him about Jesus. At first, he thought it was to instill hope within him and convince him that God will accept him after he is put to death and not discriminate against him for murdering the two women. Then, when he sees the burning cross and understands its true meaning, he is overcome with outrage. He has a fit of anger, “It gripped him: that cross was not the cross of Christ, but the cross of the Ku Klux Klan. He had a cross of salvation round his throat and they were burning one to tell him that they hated him…Had the preacher trapped him? He felt betrayed” (Wright 338). After hearing of the cross that Jesus was crucified on, Bigger came to see the cross as a symbol of hope that means that his life after death will be better. When he sees the cross being burned, however, the hopeful symbol that it once was to him becomes one of hate and betrayal. Bigger attacks the Reverend after seeing the burning cross because he only sees it as a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan and of the bitter hate that the whites feel for him. He regrets ever listening to the preacher’s words: “…he had let that preacher talk to him until somewhere in him he had begun to feel that maybe something could happen” (Wright 340). Bigger regrets that he let himself listen to the preacher for one second, planting the seeds of hope within him. Once the burning cross snatches that hope away from him, he hates the preacher and throws away the cross that he gave to him to where around his neck.
Chisom Oraedu (post 2):
ReplyDelete1. What are some of the reasons that Bigger begins to trust Jan and Boris Max?
Bigger begins to trust Jan and Max after he sees that they think of him as an equal and want to ensure that he gets a fair trial. Bigger knows that without Max defending him, he would fail miserably in the inquest and would undoubtedly be sentenced to death. With Max acting as a deterrent in the courtroom, it at least postpones the imminent death sentence and plants the idea in the whites’ minds that the oppression against the blacks is morally wrong. At first, Bigger resists Jan and Max. He even plots to frame Jan for the murder. He divulges, “Make them think that Jan did it. Reds’d do anything. Didn’t the papers say so?” (Wright 88). He does not think of Jan as a friend or even as an acquaintance at this point. He only sees him as a pawn in his plan to escape conviction. Later, Jan reaches out to Bigger and offers him his help in the inquest, even though he had previously tried to frame him. Jan says to Bigger, “I’m not angry and I want you to let me help you. I don’t hate you for trying to blame this thing on me...” (Wright 287). When Bigger sees that Jan forgives him and truly wishes to help him, he begins to trust him. Through this trust forms a sense of camaraderie between the two men.
2. Why does Bigger attack Reverend Hammond and discard the cross Hammond has given to him?
The preacher instills hope in Bigger during their conversation. Bigger considers the possibility that he might move on to a better place after his death. The preacher says to him, “’Life ever’ day is a crucifixion. There ain’ but one way out, son, ‘n’ tha’s Jesus’ way, the way of love ‘n’ fergiveness. Be like Jesus. Don’t resist. Thank Gawd tha’ He done chose this way fer yuh t’ come t’ ‘Im. It’s love tha’s gotta save, yuh, son. Yuh gotta b’lieve tha’ Gawd gives eternal life th’u the love of Jesus’” (Wright 285). According to the preacher, as long as Bigger has faith in God, he will reach a better place after his death and will not be condemned to hell. When Bigger sees the burning cross, he immediately thinks that the preacher has tricked him and that he just wanted to make him feel guilty for the murders. To him, the burning cross is symbol for his own demise. At first, he is mistaken and ponders over the crosses meaning: “Were the white people wanting him to love Jesus, too?...No! That was not right; they ought not burn a cross” (Wright 337). When he realizes that this is a symbol of hate, he jumps to the conclusion that the preacher purposefully gave him a cross and told him about Jesus’s love just so he would grow hopeful. He believes that the preacher’s ulterior motive was to snatch that hope from him with the burning cross. Once Bigger realizes this betrayal, he attacks Reverend Hammond and discards the cross he gave to him.
Chisom Oraedu (post 3):
ReplyDelete1. What are some of the reasons that Bigger begins to trust Jan and Boris Max?
The formation of a relationship of trust with Max is a rocky one. At first, Bigger feels distrust for this foreign white. Then when he sees that he truly wishes to help him and does not care that he’s black and that he murdered those two women. Instead, he cares about why he murdered them. He does not focus on the murders themselves, but the motives behind them. He reveals in the courtroom, “What motive actuated Bigger Thomas? There was no motive as motive is understood under our laws today…It is because of the almost instinctive nature of these crimes that I say that the mental and emotional life of this boy is important in deciding his punishment…Living in a Black Belt district, he is younger than most boys of his age, for he has not come in contact with the wide variety and depths of life.” (Wright 377). Max does not automatically discriminate against Bigger. He analyzes his motives behind the murder and does not judge him, which causes Bigger to build a sense of trust with him.
2. Why does Bigger attack Reverend Hammond and discard the cross Hammond has given to him?
The preacher urges Bigger to replace the hate that he feels in his heart with love for Jesus. According to the preacher, if he loves Jesus, he will be forgiven for his sins. The preacher gives Jesus a cross to wear: “’Look, son. Ah’m holdin’ in mah hands a wooden cross taken from a tree. A tree is the worl’, son. ‘N’ nailed t’ this tree is a sufferin’ man. Tha’s whut life is, son. Sufferin’. How kin yuh keep from b ‘lievin’ the word of Gawd when Ah’m holdin’ befo’ yo’ eyes the only thing tha’ gives meanin’ t’ yo’ life?’” (Wright 286). The cross is a symbol to remind Bigger that Jesus is always with him and will never leave him as long as he believes. Love for Jesus and Jesus’s forgiveness of Bigger is the only way that Bigger will die with an unburdened soul. When Bigger sees the burning cross, however, he thinks that the preacher was lying to him the entire time. Bigger thinks that the preacher only told him the inspiring story about the cross so he will feel pain when the whites burn it before his eyes. He feels betrayal, and because of this betrayal, he attacks the preacher and discards the cross necklace. Along with it, he discards his faith in Jesus.
3. What two incidents in the novel indicate that the author believes that the psychiatric profession has contributed to racism?
A man is brought into Bigger’s cell who the white police officers think is insane. The man is not insane at all, though. The whites only think that he is because he has discovered that the racism is morally wrong. The other prisoners tell Bigger, “’He says he’s got to the bottom of why colored folks are treated bad and he’s going to tell the President and have things changed, see?” (Wright 343). They whites don’t want this one man poisoning the rest of the blacks’ minds and planting the seed of rebellion into them, so they deem him insane and lock him up. Because he is put into the same cell as Bigger, this means that they also think of Bigger as insane. This contributes to the racism because the whites automatically assume that the black man is insane because he dares defy the racist rules and taboo.
The newspapers say that no black men can resist the temptsation of a white woman: “…white women have an unusual fascination for Negro men…’They just can’t help themselves’” (Wright 366). This suggests that blacks are all of the same mentality, which is not true. This assumption about the blacks’ mentality contributes to the racism of the time because it lumps all of the blacks together into one group, whether they are truly attracted to white women or not. The whites feel that it is their duty to separate their women and children from the blacks in order to protect them, therefore perpetuating the racism and segregation of the time.
Shelley Jiang:
ReplyDelete1. What are some of the reasons that Bigger begins to trust Jan and Boris Max?
Bigger realizes that Jan and Max are white, but they understand why Bigger has killed Mary. They believe in Bigger and treat him well. They defend Bigger and want him to understand his actions so he too will believe in himself the way that he believes in them. “Bigger understood that Jan was not holding him guilty for what he had done. Was this a trap? He looked at Jan and saw a white face, but an honest face. This white man believed in him” (Wright 289). “And Jan? And Max? They were telling him to believe in himself” (Wright 311). Bigger had begun to believe that he had killed Mary for the reasons that the whites and the papers were saying, but he had actually killed her by accident because he did not want Mrs. Dalton to know that he was in Mary’s room so late at night. Jan and Max realize that Bigger has committed the murder because of his situation. It was a natural instinct of survival not a murder because of racism.
2. Why does Bigger attack Reverend Hammond and discard the cross Hammond has given to him?
Bigger does not like Reverend Hammond because he makes him feel as guilty as the whites. “Bigger stared unblinkingly at the white wall before him as the preacher’s words registered themselves in his consciousness…And he loathed it because it made him feel as condemned and guilty as the voice of those who hated him” (Wright 283). He accepts the cross that the Reverend gives to him and tells his mother that he will pray in order to make his mom less sad. However, after seeing a cross of the KKK on fire, Bigger removes the cross the Reverend has given to him and throws it away because it does not offer mercy but instead is a constant reminder of the hate people have for Bigger. “To those who wanted to kill him he was not human, not included in that picture of Creation; and that was why he had killed it. To live, he had created a new world for himself and for that he was to die” (Wright 285). “It gripped him: that cross was not the cross of Christ, but the cross of the Ku Klux Klan. He had a cross of salvation round his throat and they were burning one to tell him that they hated him!” (Wright 388). Bigger lost all hope for himself a long time ago. The Reverend convinced him that the cross was a symbol of hope for what could happen. Once Bigger loses hope again, he no longer wants the cross. “Never again did he want to feel anything like hope. That was what was wrong; he had let that preacher talk to him until somewhere in him he had begun to feel that maybe something could happen” (Wright 340). Bigger realizes that his fate is too strong for anything good to happen to him so he does not need hope.
Shelley Jiang:
ReplyDelete3. What two incidents in the novel indicate that the author believes that the psychiatric profession has contributed to racism?
Max argues that Bigger is not insane in terms of what the white people classify as insane, instead Bigger is a victim of his society. “The State has sought to create the impression that I am going to say that this boy is insane. That is not true. I shall put no witnesses upon the stand. I shall witness for Bigger Thomas. I shall present argument to show that his extreme youth, his mental and emotional life, and the reason why he has pleaded guilty, should and must mitigate his punishment” (Wright 376). Bigger is also a scapegoat. Bigger’s actions have given all white people the right to hate the blacks and think all the blacks are rude because they can base their anger on all black men being as dangerous as Bigger. “Or, am I wrong? Maybe we wanted him to do it! Maybe we would have had no chance or justification to stage attacks against hundreds of thousands of people if he had acted sanely and normally!” (Wright 395).
When Bigger is in the jail, he becomes a black man who acts like a crazy young man put into his jail cell. This man is rude to the officers and is screaming about his rights to the point that Bigger is actually somewhat scared of him. Him, “All his hate and shame vanished in face of his dread of this insane man turning suddenly upon him” (Wright 343). A white prisoner says to Bigger, “Make ’em take ‘im outta your cell. He’ll kill you” (Wright 343). Even other prisoners realize that the black man put in Bigger’s cell is no like Bigger and might do him harm. The black man is sad to be insane because “He was writing a book on how colored people live and he says somebody stole all the facts he’d found. He says he’s got to the bottom of why colored folks are treated bad and he’s got to tell the President and have things changed” (Wright 343). Essentially, the crazy black man character is the author of Native Son, Richard Wright.
Sedale Scullark
ReplyDelete3. What two incidents in the novel indicate that the author believes that the psychiatric profession has contributed to racism?
One incident is when Bigger is in his cell and Buckely walks in to come see him and tell him that he has no chance of winnig the case because they have all these different pendings on him of stuff that he has done. the weird thing about it though is that he never really did half of the things they were trying to blame him for.they try to get in his head so that he will give up hope of being free. this is shown in this quote " Boy, you might just as well tell me. we've got a line on all you ever did. And how about the girl you attcked in Jackson Park last summer? Listen, boy, when you were in your cell sleeping and wouldnt talk we brought women to identify you(Wright305). this helps to show that he had no chance of getting out of this situation freely.
Another situation in which this happens is when Buckely explains how he brought in his friend Jack and he told him all he needed to know about what he thought of miss Dalton and what they did in the movie theatre. This is shown through this quote "you didn't think I knew about that, did you? I know a lot more,boy. They try to make it seem like they had been watching him all his life and make him feel powerless as to trying to get out of this situation. Bigger realizes that he has no chance and his fate is sealed so he starts to give in to the beliefs of others just like they want him to
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ReplyDeleteSedale Scullark 2nd post
ReplyDelete1. What are some of the reasons that Bigger begins to trust Jan and Boris Max?
I think that some of the reason that bigger starts to trusts Jan and Boris Max because they are actually listening to what his thoughts and trying to work with him. They don’t seem to come onto him as hard as other people have. Jan never really ever seems to be mad at Bigger even when he tells false stories about him. I think that the fact that they don’t have to help him also helps him to trust them. Max wants to help him to try to prove a point to not only blacks but also to whites. He believes that whites are just being unfair to blacks and making them act like that. Max tries to hear his thoughts on how his life was and actually talks to him as if he is human unlike everyone else he has ever had encounters with. Jan also wants to help him shown in this quote (Wright287) “I’m not angry and I want you to let me help you. I don’t hate you for trying to blame this thing on me…. I think that this helps to prove that they only want to help him and he has no reason not to trust them.
Sedale Scullark 3rd post
ReplyDelete2. Why does Bigger attack Reverend Hammond and discard the cross Hammond has given to him?
I believe that Bigger does all of these things out of anger for what he has done. I don’t think he understands that he is only there to help him. I believe that by this time he has given up hope on God and believes that there is no hope for him. He thinks about all of the things that has happened and knows that there is no way that he can get out of it. He just wants to face his consequences and die, But Hammond wants to help also. When Hammond gives bigger the cross he wears it. Hammond wanted him to keep praying and stay in good heart but Bigger doesn’t really listen to him. “Son, promise me yuh’ll stop hatin’ long enuff fer Gawd’s love t’ come inter yo’ heart.” Bigger said nothing. This shows that he does not really care what the preacher has to say and he just wants what’s going to happen to him to happen because he has stop believing in himself. You can’t ask someone who doesn’t even believe in himself to trust in someone.