In my opinion, society was partly responsible for Bigger's actions. Bigger's initial fear of being caught in a white women's room at night was because of society's conditions. The fact taht Book 1 entitled "Fear" makes sense, because it was the major driving force behind Bigger's actions throughout the section. If it wasn't for the heated racial problems existing during this time period, Mary would of probably lived; Bigger wouldn't of have been so afraid to of been caught. Instead, he probably would of tried to help her. Although Mary's death was society's fault, Bigger's later actions were not. After he murdered Mary he goes through an elaborate plan in his head about how he will blame Jan. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, Bigger is a coward and thinks of several ways in which he can deflect responsibility onto someone who doesn't deserve it. One could also argue, however, that society is responsible for this because society created the climate where the hatred of communism was bred.
-Cooper
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You make a really interesting point; you delineate Bigger's actions by making a clean line between what is society's fault and what is Bigger's fault. Very interesting! This shows close reading--you've put some thought into this!!--Mrs. Holst
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