Although society played a part in Bigger's actions, it cannot be held entirely responsible for the murder. Bigger has obviously shown himself to be a character prone to angry outbursts, as we have seen in the beginning of the book. Even when the rat was long gone, he continued to smash its head, disproving the belief that he was killing the rat for his family. Also, he is on the verge of killing Gus, making him lick the blade of his knife and nearly stabbing him, just because he is too afraid to stand up and say he's unwilling to go through with the robbery. The murder of Mary Dalton was not the first time Bigger has shown an inability to control himself, a characteristic that cannot be blamed entirely on society.
But at the same time, society has obviously influenced the unwritten rules and ways that Bigger interacts with whites. Mary and Jan treat Bigger like a human, something he isn't used to. On page 73 Bigger says, "He scratched his head. How on earth could he learn not to say yessuh and yessum to white people in one night when he had been saying it all his life long?" The couple put him in many uncomfortable situations. Yes, he should have refused to take Mary to see Jan and attempted to stop her from getting drunk...but after years and years of being put down by society and being told to never even look a white person in the eye, how could he find this new bravery and tell the rich and powerful, white Mary Dalton "no" during his first day on the job?
But, despite the fact society influenced the ability of Bigger to say no, his actions of murdering Mary and burning her body make it impossible use society as an excuse. He has to learn to control his outbursts and emotions, but just because he can't doesn't mean society can be blamed for a gruesome murder.
- Jim O'Donnell
2 comments:
You ask an important question in your response. I love your use of a quotation to back up and illustrate your thinking. "But, despite the fact society influenced the ability of Bigger to say no, his actions of murdering Mary and burning her body make it impossible use society as an excuse."--I'm unclear as to what you are saying here. How can he learn to control his outbursts if society has only allowed him an 8th grade education, limited his choice of action, and degraded him at every turn? Overall, some nice insights--fun to read--Mrs. Holst
Well thanks! But in that quotation I was trying to say that I felt society was partially to blame, and Bigger was partially to blame, but it was hard to say it without sounding too much like a fence sitter. (First off, it was mistyped; I intended "...his actions of murdering Mary and burning her body make it impossible TO use society as an excuse".) I meant that society without a doubt played a role, because it sort of forced him to go along with Mary and Jan and their drunken adventure. This was because it was hard, if not nearly impossible, for Bigger to stand up and tell Mary she was doing something wrong because he was raised to never look a white in the eye let alone tell them they're being irresponsible.
With this said, society can only be blamed to a point. I believe responsibility falls to Bigger when he chooses to kiss a women who is on the verge of unconsciousness and can't even speak, EVEN IF she kissed him first. Mary couldn't even tell him where her room was, why would Bigger think it was okay to make sexual advances with her? I think Bigger went way too far when he decided to kiss her and feel her breasts, which was due to his OWN actions, and cannot fairly be blamed on society.
Sorry for the late response, the snow day on Friday sort of threw me off schedule, my apologies
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