Thursday, September 1, 2011
Bigger and Racism
Richard Wright has an interesting way of using "Bigger" to unveil the problems with racism. The reader gets a hint early on about how big of a problem racism is when wright talks about the overwhelming whiteness in the Daltons house. The problem is in fact racism, racism that has manifested itself so deep within his being that he cannot help but see the world the way he does. Wright highlights the problem with racism when Bigger ends up killing Mary in an attempt to save his own behind. In Bigger's eyes, if he brought Mary home Drunk, even to one of the nicest white families, he wouldn't only lose his job but possibly also his life. I'm sure that the Daltons would have probably pardoned Bigger because Mary is known for being wild, yet he is convinced that he HAS to keep her quiet so he doesn't get caught just like he HAD to fit her in the trunk, and to burn her body, and HAD to cut her head off. Wright, using this situation, makes a statement as to how bad the things are that racism can lead to.
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I'm going to have to agree with you there on the effects of racism. In other words, alienation can harbor negative thoughts in the victim of being scapegoated. I don't think what Bigger did was intentional --rather he was put into that situation and through lapse of judgement he was forced into executing the following actions he did with Mary's body.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem with the Dalton situation is that, both sides lack a sense of understanding the other. Although the Dalton family comes off good intentioned, they fail to realize the pain Bigger has been exposed to. Bigger is also to blame because of his cynicism; he fails to realize that the Dalton is a group of people who are working for something better, not just for Bigger but for a whole population of people. Is racially-charge cynicism still a problem?
i don't think racially charged cynicism is still a problem. maybe internally people might have racially cynic thoughts but i doubt these thoughts are as outwardly expressed and if they are they're probably only expressed on a small scale.
ReplyDeleteI do think racially charged cynicism is still a problem today. For example, our utter lack of understanding of the Islamic Culture has caused an extreme sense of fear in Americans for those who follow the Islam Doctrine. Most Americans, who do not comprehend the Quran think that Muslims are terrorists. Muslims are more likely to be stopped at security checkpoints especially airports, for wearing religious garments, the same way African Americans were more likely to be accused of crimes because of the color of their skin.
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