Native Son :: essays research papers

Character Actions Defines Their Individual Personalities and Belief Systems     Richard Wrights novel, Native Son, consisted of motley main and supporting characters to deliver an effective array of personalities and expression. Each characters litigate defines their individual personalities and belief systems. The main character of Native Son, Bigger doubting Thomas has personality traits spanning various aspects of human nature including actions motivated by cultism, lovesome temper, and a high degree of intelligence agency.     Bigger, whom the novel revolves around, portrays various personality elements by dint of his actions. Many of his actions suggest an overriding response to guardianship, which stems from his exposure to a cutting social climate in which a clear line among acceptable behavior for whites and blacks exists. His swift anger and his destructive impulses stem from that fear and become app arnt in the opening scene when he ferociously attacks a huge rat. The same murderous impulse appears when his secret apprehensiveness of the delicatessen robbery impels him to commit a vicious assault on his friend Gus. Bigger commits both of the brutal murders not in force or anger, but as a reaction to fear. His typical fear stems from being caught in the act of doing something socially unacceptable and being the motif of punishment. Although he later admits to Max that Mary Daltons behavior toward him made him hatred her, it is not hate which causes him to smother her to death, but a feeble test to evade the detection of her mother. The fear of being caught with a white adult female overwhelmed his common sense and dictated his actions. When he attempted to murder Bessie, his indigence came from intense fear of the consequences of 2"letting" her live. Bigger realized that he could not take Bessie with him or leave her behind and concluded that cleaning her could provide her only "merci ful" end.      The emotional forces that drive Bigger are conveyed by means other than his words. Besides reactions to fear, his actions demonstrate an extremely mobile temper and destructive impulse as an integral part of his nature. force plays a key part in his basic nature, but does not directly motivate the murders he commits. Rage does not affect Biggers intelligence and quick thinking and it becomes evident during the interview with Briton. The detective makes Bigger so angry that the interrogation becomes a game to Bigger, a game of logic and wills, of playing the stupid negro, and telling the man exactly what he wants to hear.