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Bigger Thomas - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Jan plays an interesting role in the novel, especially by introducing the concept of Communism. Those who follow the Communist Party are also seen as the bottom of society for their beliefs. Bigger signing the kidnap note as a "Red" made the main suspect to be Jan because he is a Communist.
    - - This form of slur was used on the black community during this time period. This offensive name-calling dehumanizes Bigger and other black individuals.
  - - - In the novel, Bessie mentions how she has done nothing wrong in her life and never got to experience happiness. Living in the South Side was hard for Bessie because she "worked like a dog" just to survive and pay rent.
- - - - There is hypocrisy in the idea that though only one of these murders was a confirm rape and murder, the white woman's was prioritized and got a trial and justice because she was white with status.
- - - - Max
        
        Max was an advocate for the Black community. Moreover, he took it upon himself to defend Bigger in the trial when he was receiving threats from white individuals. In Book 3, he mentioned in his plea statement of how the justice system will always fail if we do not make a difference within our society.
  - - - Bigger Thomas
        
        It is Bigger's fear that justifies his actions throughout the novel. For example, in Book 1, Bigger and his friends were planning to rob a white-owned grocery store. Bigger, out of fear of getting in trouble, attacked and threatened one of his closest friends for being late. Bigger used fear and anger to get out of a situation, instead of facig/speaking the truth.
      - 1930's Chicago
        
        During this time period, there is increasing racism in American society, as it confirms racist whites’ basic fears about blacks. In Wright’s portrayal, whites effectively transform blacks into their own negative stereotypes of “blackness.”
  - - - South Side
        
        Bigger Thomas and his family live in an apartment building owned by Mr. Dalton's real estate company. The building that the company owns on the South Side are for the black residents; moreover, the rent is more than what most individuals can afford. One must also take into consideration that Mr. Dalton does not rent out apartments to black individuals on other sides of the city and the rent is lower for the white community.
        
        But to Mr. Dalton, who is a real estate operator, I say now: ‘You rent houses to Negroes in the Black Belt and you refuse to rent to them elsewhere. You kept Bigger Thomas in that forest. You kept the man who murdered your daughter a stranger to her and you kept your daughter a stranger to him.’
  - - - Mrs. Dalton
        
        Mrs. Dalton is physically blind and figuratively blind as well. Richard Wright portrays Mrs. Dalton as a positive attribute of blindness. Mrs. Dalton cannot see the difference in skin color; therefore, she is not biased on their race.
- - - - The fear that drove Bigger to anger and violence almost daily because he feels like he is walking on eggshells due to white people, is significantly decreased when he kills Mary because for once he overtook a white person. Even if it was an accident.
  - - - In Bigger learning about himself and his motives while talking to Jan, his second and true awakening takes place in which he accepts that though what he did was wrong, it was motivated by a sense of freedom for himself and from society because he killed the embodiment of what was to him, white ignorance. Despite him being in prison, he never felt so acknowledged and finally had an identity, which he had never had before.
- - - - There a specific incident during Bigger trial where he is taken back to the Dalton house to Marry bedroom with the officers and one of lawyers. As they arrived to Marry bedroom Bigger is forced to demontrates how he killed and "rape" Marry that night; however, Bigger refuses to do so and stand by a wall giving them their back. To Bigger this is rape because it take everything from him such as identity, being human, and simply ones own freedom.
  - - - Textual evidence: Bigger laughed and approached the bed with the dangling rat, swinging it to and fro like a pendulum, enjoying his sister’s fear.
        
        Textual evidence: “Put that box in front of the hole so he can’t get out!”
        
        Text evidence: A huge black rat squealed and leaped at Bigger’s trouser-leg and snagged it in his teeth, hanging on.
      - Text evidence: He kicked the splintered box out of the way and the flat black body of the rat lay exposed, its two long yellow tusks showing distinctly. Bigger took a shoe and pounded the rat’s head, crushing it, cursing hysterically:
  - - - “Mary! Is that you?”
      - Mrs. Dalton now stood over the bed. Her hands reached out and touched Mary.
        “Mary! Are you asleep? I heard you moving about….”
  - - - QOUTE: "and not tremble with fear that at this very moment some half-human black ape may be climbing through the windows of our homes to rape, murder, and burn our daughters! "
        
        The black ape used during part three of the novel is dehumanizing black folk. It shows how people like Bigger are to be fear because they represent the idea that black folks are to not be trusted because you never know when they can turn and the whole idea is referring these black folks as animals.
  - - - The cross in Native son when it is first introduced to Bigger represents hope but the falls hope towards Bigger because to Bigger the cross represents everything that the preacher, his mom, and "god", hope to justify his own actions and his own sacrifices as "God did". The cross makes Bigger upset because he does not believe God can be the one to help him through this especially the feeling of fear, getting anything in life, and hatred he lived in simply because he never truly believe nor seek god to truly help him.
        
        Text evidence: “I didn’t like it. There was nothing in it. Aw, all they did was sing and shout and pray all the time. And it didn’t get ’em nothing. All the colored folks do that, but it don’t get ’em nothing. The white folks got everything.”
        
        The cross also represents hatred and racism to Bigger when he is transported. The burning cross to Bigger symbolizes all he lived for was hate after hate and racism from the white folks all his life.
        
        1930's Chicago
        
        During this time period, the KKK was active and were committing heinous acts against the black community.
- - - - 1930's Chicago
        
        Racial Devision connect to setting because it represent a significant time period where racism and poverty between white and black folk's was significantly present
        
        They say that black people are inferior. But, Bigger, they say that all people who work are inferior. And the rich people don’t want to change things; they’ll lose too much.
        
        This quote helps represent not only black folk's being less than white premises but the idea of the division between one other. It is understood that during the Bigger trial social and racial inequality is not there. To be black people are inferior label them as less or second hand of everything. For white people to enforce social and racial inequality makes them lose a lot. So for Bigger the color of skins make him shame his people and himself because they will never have anything as long as there is no division between white and black.
  - - - Biggers murders explains that he was simply a victim of a community that faulted black folks. Simply the power one had over other
      - The Effect on Racism Towards the Oppressed
        
        Bigger living in a community where the white-owned everything especially Mr. Dalton made Bigger strikeout in the behavior he did because it is understood that white racism forces blacks into a state of mind that they are who they are, and they are intended to do something bad and it just a matter of time. As for Bigger, the racism towards the oppression was committing the murder of Marry Dalton and Bessie.
      - In all of his life these two murders were the most meaningful things that had ever happened to him.