Native Son Flashcards
Describe Bigger’s relationship with his family.
He is ashamed and resentful when he is with them. He is ashamed that they have nothing
and he is powerless to help them, and he is resentful that they look to him for support.
What does Bigger mean when he says, “Half the time I feel like I’m on the outside of the world peeping in through a knot-hole in the fence. . .”?
He means that although he lives in the world, somehow he is not a part of it at all. The
world is beyond his grasp as well as his understanding. He feels a stranger and an alien in
it.
Why do you think Wright included the scene with the sky-writing airplane?
He uses it to illustrate how the white man’s world is unattainable to Bigger. Bigger sees
the plane and comments that he would like to learn to fly, but that even the chance to try
is denied him. The distant plane represents the distance between Bigger and the world of
a decent job, home and life.
What is Bigger saying when he tells Gus that white folks live “Right down here in my
stomach”?
He is describing the ache and frustration bottled up inside of him from a life of being told
where to live and what to do. He has, in effect, swallowed his hate and anger and it rages
inside him.
What are the two controlling emotions in Bigger’s life?
“These were the rhythms of his life: indifference and violence . . . . moments of silence
and moments of anger . . . .”
Who is going to rob Blum’s store?
Bigger, Gus, Jack and G.H. plan to rob it.
Why isn’t the robbery carried out?
Bigger physically attacks Gus when Gus arrives late at Doc’s. He accuses Gus of being so
late that it is too late to carry out the robbery. Actually, Bigger doesn’t want to rob the
store anymore, so the fight with Gus is a good way to delay and to vent his frustration
caused by his own feelings of fear.
How do Jack and G.H. react to Bigger’s attack on Gus?
Initially they tell Bigger to leave Gus alone, but because they are frightened of his temper
they do not strongly insist. They eventually begin to laugh and enjoy the spectacle when
they realize that Bigger has made his point and will let Gus go.
What causes Bigger to lose his temper again?
Gus throws a pool ball, hitting Bigger in the wrist. Bigger lunges after Gus but slips on a
cue stick left on the floor. Jack and G.H. laugh at this turn in events, and Bigger’s rage
and embarrassment boil over.
Do Jan and Mary see Bigger as a man?
No, they both believe in equality and freedom for all people, but they don’t look at Bigger
as an individual man; to them he is a Negro man, not just a man. Their treatment of
Bigger, while superficially friendly, is actually very unkind. they can see that Bigger is
uneasy around them, and yet they force him to stay in the front seat between them and to
eat with them. They cannot see that Bigger is trapped by their desire to treat him nice just
as he is trapped by other white people’s desire to abuse him.
Why can’t Bigger speak to Mrs. Dalton when she enters Mary’s room?
He is terrified. He is in a rich, white girl’s bedroom, and she is drunk. Bigger knows he
could never explain the situation, that he would most likely be accused of rape, at least.
He knows that the punishment for raping a white woman is death.
How and why does Bigger kill Mary? What does he do with the body? Why?
He puts the pillow over her face in an effort to keep her quiet so Mrs. Dalton will go
away and not discover him. However, he has the pillow there for quite some time, and
Mary suffocates. He cannot leave the body as evidence, so he puts it in the trunk, carries
it to the furnace room, and puts it into the furnace.
How does Bigger feel after killing Mary?
He is still scared because now he is really in trouble with the white man’s world, but he
also feels a kind of pride and a direction for his life, for the first time in his life.
Why can Bigger fall asleep so easily after committing such horrible acts?
He is totally exhausted, and although he realizes the acts were horrible, he feels a sense
of relief that his life has a direction and that some of his violent frustrations have been
vented.
Why is Bigger no longer fearful in the presence of Gus, Jack and G.H.?
Bigger no longer fears them because the murder of Mary has given him a sense of pride.
They were afraid to rob a white man, but he has killed a white girl. For the first time in
his life, Bigger actually feels “bigger” and in control. Notice how he doles out the little
gifts of cigarettes and money to the gang, and also notice that they show him a respect
not born of fearing his temper but of being almost in awe of his new purpose and
command.
To what is Wright referring when he writes, “. . . they were a sort of a great natural force, like
a stormy sky looming overhead, or like a deep swirling river stretching suddenly at one’s feet
in the dark”?
He is describing how black people see white people less as people and more like a great
natural force as uncontrollable as the weather.
Who is Bessie?
She is Bigger’s girlfriend.
How does Bigger respond to Britten’s interrogation?
For the first time in his life, Bigger reacts towards a white man by thinking instead of
fearing. Notice in response to Britten’s questions Bigger does not feel the burning heat of
fear but remains calm and thoughtful. Bigger sticks to his story, and Britten comes away
more interested in Jan, just as Bigger wants him to be.
