After Julian’s presentation this week, I spent some time thinking about the expression of fear and its relation to the expression of anger in James Baldwin and Richard Wright’s work. Julian spoke about the quote from Baldwin on Native Son, where he points out that “[a]ll of Bigger’s life is controlled, defined by his hatred and fear. And later, his fear drives him to murder and his hatred to rape” (Baldwin, “Everybody’s Protest Novel,” 18). I do not think that it is hatred that drives Bigger to rape. I think it is the sense of freedom, mixed with anger which is instilled within him out of fear, drives Bigger to rape. Bigger is taught since childhood to live in fear of the white men who control his life through their decisions. He is afraid of robbing the white man’s store, but not of robbing a black man. This fear creates anger within him, which has been built up all his life. Suddenly, Bigger experiences a sense of freedom which he has never felt before. After killing Mary, he thinks that he cannot be caught. He has never really made a choice in his life, they have always been made by the white people for him. He wanted to be a pilot, but the white men would not allow a person of his color to get admission in flying school. If he cannot get the job which he wants, he is reduced to resort to stealing from other black men. And, he is made to live on a certain side of Chicago, because the white men have decided that it is where the African American people can live. Over time, there is anger against the world which is built up in Bigger. Not only against the white men, but all the blacks that follow the white men’s lead and allow the white men to make decisions for themselves. Murdering Mary is Bigger’s first self-made decision. The new-found freedom and anger against the world make him think he can do whatever he wishes to. He likes the rush he gets from making his own decisions. I believe, that is why he rapes and murders Bessie.
2 thoughts on “Fear + Anger”
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I agree that hatred seems an ill-fitted motivation for Bigger to rape Bessie. As Chelsey points out, Bigger exhibits a complete lack of emotion as he violates Bessie–a detail which both objectifies Bessie (whose manner of death even further dehumanizes her) and emphasizes the lack of community which Baldwin criticizes in his essays, especially “Everybody’s Protest Novel.” I would suggest that it is a lack of control which drives Bigger to rape. Bigger’s entire life is determined by the stifling oppression of whiteness; murder and rape provide Bigger his first opportunity to fully oppress someone else. This is especially poignant when you take into account Bessie’s identity as a Black woman: she occupies the lowest of social strata, and is therefore the easiest prey upon which Bigger can pounce. I almost feel that Bigger’s leveraging this vulnerability reflects his own cowardice: he seeks to exert control, to feel for perhaps the first time like a man. Instead, he hurts the weakest person in his vicinity like an extremely screwed up schoolyard bully.
Some really good thoughts here. I think it’s interesting evaluating Bigger’s emotional motivation for rape. I think while Bigger has to grapple with fear, anger, and a rush of freedom with his rape of Mary, I felt with his rape of Bessie he was almost devoid of all emotion. I think there’s a contrast here between the intensity of his feelings when being with Mary and the numb, detached state he enters when he rapes Bessie, unconscious of her feelings and response to the rape. I think this further degrades Bessie and reinforces the insignificance with which he viewed her assault and murder.