Book 3 Part 1

This forum is for the discussion of Native Son, Book 3 Part 1.

I got that the white community hoped to make a specticle and lesson oout of Bigger which was not surprising given the circumstances of the murder and the times. I didn't like that the author portrayed Bigger as dull and unresponsive when first put in jail. He needed to rage out if he wanted white folks to know his suffering, not in ridiculous actions like killing people but with words. All through the book he could never articulate well. That was frustrating for me as a reader. I was interested to see how much latitude the papers and lawyers had with both Bigger and the communist party. If people really could say and print stuff like that back then, we have come a long way today in protecting peoples rights.

This is all part of the evolution of freedom. Bigger is a product of his environment. The whites don't even think Bigger was capable of planning out a murder, let alone covering it up.

I agree with you girls. It is interesting to see how far the media has come with respects to printing acusations against people. You can compare that to what is printed about the war and what goes on in other countries, that we don't know what kind of liberties the media may take.

the only reason the whites didn't think bigger was capable of the murder of Mary was because they had bigger worries with the "reds'. Bigger had no idea how effectively he turned their eyes from him by claiming to be a 'red'. However as soon as it was obvious that bigger DID commit the crime they were all over him accsuing him of doing just what any black man would do, rape and murder a white woman at the first opportunity! They would have been most happy though if they could have tied Jan to the murder as well.