The Difference

I figured that it would be nice to have a blog post on Native Son within my first batch of posts, so here goes…

Life is hard for Bigger in almost every aspect. He faces the effects and poverty and racism have, and resorts to robberies and other acts with his friends that are an unfortunate outlet from his reality. A very upfront part of this reality is the divide between white and black people in society, which can lead to anxiety and dashed hopes. Bigger seems to have a white-hot resentment with him all the time, and he struggles to actually grasp where it is directed, but it is pretty clear that the oppressive “white mountain” creating the divide is related to his troubled demeanor. So it is not surprising when Bigger meets Mary, and then Jan, that there is a change in both his mentality and the plot. The murder of Mary itself is a defined turning point in Native Son, but the change really all starts in that moment that Mary walks up to Bigger in her house to be introduced. It is then that the heated ongoing resentment Bigger carries becomes more focused.

During the car ride that Bigger spends with Mary and Jan, he is extremely uncomfortable. Both white people appear to make an over-the-top social welcome and Bigger just does not know how to handle it. This feeling is true right from the introductions. “‘First of all,’ Jan continued, putting his foot upon the running-board, don’t say sir to me. I’ll call you Bigger and you’ll call me Jan. That’s the way it’ll be between us. How’s that?’ Bigger did not answer. Mary was smiling.” Bigger simply does not know how he is supposed to act because this sort of interaction is a first for him. Whether white people have been moderately polite to him before is not issue, it’s just that they have never made the effort to put him on an equal level. Jan and Mary both participate in this effort to make Bigger feel “the same.”

Even though there is this common thread between the white couple of unintentionally making Bigger feel horrible, there is an important difference to mark between the two. Mary definitely comes off as a lot less dedicated, and more into the reaching out for the sake of saying that she is. She is the daughter of extremely wealthy parents, and she constantly makes them feel irritated by going off with Jan (who actually seems to believe in what he acts).  In other words, there is no doubt that Mary is superficial in her attempts to interact with Bigger. Simply by looking at her first words with Bigger we can tell. As soon as she learns his name, Mary asks Bigger if he is in a union. While it is debatable that Jan has an awkward and forced introduction, Mary does more than that – her introduction is out of place, offensive, and downright absurd. Nobody asks that sort of question as their second sentence upon encountering someone. After that moment, Bigger has negative thoughts about Mary permanently. “In his heart he cursed the crazy girl. Maybe Mr. Dalton was deciding not to hire him? Goddamn! Maybe he would not get the extra five dollars a week now? Goddamn that woman! She spoiled everything!” He doesn’t exactly pinpoint what it is about her that upsets him, he just knows that it is unnatural to him and it doesn’t appeal. If Mary is actually trying to make a genuine connection she would think about Bigger’s perspective, but with her first words it is quite apparent that’s not what is on her mind. I interpret her as just going through the motions as she brings up topics about progressive subjects such racial equality and communism. Immediately following the comments about the union, she actually challenges Bigger to verify that her father is a capitalist. By clumping all these topics together, it is almost like Wright is exaggerating her superficiality in caring about the movements she brings up.

As mentioned, Jan seems to come to the situation with real motives. He is a firm communist and activist for racial equality, and when he makes moves such as giving Bigger the pamphlets he gives Bigger the credit of being an equal human. He wants Bigger to understand and respect him. Late in the novel, when Jan converses with Bigger, it is clear that he has more than a flimsy reason to help out African-Americans. He actually believes in the cause, and that is why he is able to overcome the murder of the person he loved, to some extent, and talk logically with Bigger.

There is definitely a difference between where Mary and Jan are coming from in terms of mindset, and Bigger gets that. He wants to specifically put more distance between himself and Mary in the events going on before the murder, and in the end he is even able to reach an understanding where he can send his greetings to “Jan.” Not everyone with the wrong motivation to do what they do is going to end up murdered, but I think it really does matter what type of mentality is involved in reaching out to Bigger and people like him, as expressed by Wright.