Author: ssimon2

To judge David Baldwin through a 21st-century progressive lens might seem easy and evoke a universally negative response. Living with him was extreme, difficult, and abusive. He consistently beat his children, had many of them, and clouded his sins with forced religion. However, the short stories, “A Fly in Buttermilk” and “A Letter From the South” give important and needed context to David’s world. They give the reader an opportunity to see further into the circumstances that created David’s decisions. He was born and raised in the South during very difficult times. These short stories help the reader attain a better understanding and even empathize. While hard to endorse what David did, his history and circumstances need to be examined to understand his actions. Reading them certainly allowed me to pause in my harsh judgment and try to put myself in his shoes, in his environment. 

In the beginning of “A Fly in Buttermilk”, James Baldwin reflects on a discussion he had with an older Southern man: “”You’ve got to remember,’ said an older Negro friend to me, in Washington, ‘that no matter what you see or how it makes you feel, it can’t be compared to twenty-five, thirty years ago – you remember those photographs of Negroes hanging from trees?’ I look at him differently. I had seen the photographs – but he might have been one of them.”(187) While a true student—extremely wise to the ideas, thoughts, and emotions of Black people in history—James Baldwin was still missing the greatest and most authentic tool to capture the true essence of his people: Experience. While James Baldwin saw pictures in journals or articles and read books about the experiences of Black people in the South, James Baldwin never lived that reality firsthand. There is a difference between seeing the two-dimensional black and white photo of an incident versus seeing it in color, hearing the screams and sounds of torture, smelling the flesh and burning, and witnessing the depravity and fear. Being immersed in the event in real-time was different than the stories. David likely had similar real-life experiences as the older man. And we can likely surmise that these experiences had great influence over how he would live his life, raise and “protect” his family. In “A Letter From the South” Baldwin writes, “I could not suppress the thought that this earth had acquired its color from the blood that had dripped down from these trees…I was to remember that Southern Negroes had endured things I could not imagine.” (198) Baldwin acknowledges the constant and unjustified killing of Black people in the South with no recourse – almost as if it was an accepted way of life. Growing up in that environment had to have a massive effect on the definition of abuse and on how to raise a family in the “right” way.  James Baldwin had heard about the stories of Emmitt Till’s murder because of the allegation of whistling after a white woman in Mississippi. However, he only knew of this through the national media attention that it garnered. It was not a common nor widely accepted practice in Chicago. The regular occurrence of lynching —without retribution— had become part of the post-Emancipation terrorism that Black southerners endured regularly. Young people had to be affected by that type of evil behavior and made decisions as a result: fleeing home because of minor infractions, leaving loved ones, changing names, raising children in strict households, having many children just in case of premature death. While it can be argued that David Baldwin does not deserve our sympathy, we do not have the luxury of his viewpoint. He, in fact, may have created this strict, oppressive environment to save his children from the fates of those he witnessed while growing up in the South. There is some honor in his ability to execute a plan to create a family that could survive into the next generation. 

In “How Bigger was Born” Richard Wright effectively uses his protagonist to express his views on the larger society. Through character development, Wright is able to comment and message on the world as he sees it. For example, Bigger’s study of and connection to fascist movements across the world stood out. Wright grew up and wrote during an era where fascism was on full display. He would have been a child during WW1 but a grown man during WW2. The debate around the effectiveness of governments and regimes would have been in full swing. Because Bigger studied and commented on its effectiveness, means Wright used his protagonist to explore polarizing topics. Bigger wanted to be powerful, he wanted to be in control of his life, he wanted to matter. Naturally, he sought out examples. And while it may be abhorrent to admire these fascist leaders, especially through today’s lens, what Bigger and possibly Wright saw were men who were feared and effective.

After reading and processing this part of the origin story, Bigger made a lot more sense to me. Whether it was Bigger 2, whose hardness was directed toward the whites in the South, Bigger 5 who rode the streetcars and sat wherever he pleased, or Bigger Thomas who gazed up at the planes in the sky knowing his ceiling would never reach that high, there was a clear understanding that there was a larger life at stake. But other than a few fleeting moments, these Biggers were, for the most part powerless. The small acts of rebellion, while feeding their need to fight back, could not do much to change their situation at large other than land them in and out of the prison system. 

The attraction to and admiration of the Hitlers and Mousillinis, therefore, seems natural. They “did Things”. The Biggers of the world, knowing there is more to life, are angry and frustrated by being subdued in their environments. They gravitate towards those who can effect change. Bigger’s attraction to a leader stems from the deep desire for change but the lack of opportunity to do so. It is through this vantage that I see the parallels to Malcolm X. Malcolm Little was an aware, frustrated, angry young man with few options. He, like Bigger, landed in jail.  From there, he fashioned the tools and skills that would lead him to prominence and a place where he could effectively advocate for change. Young Malcolm grew up poor and endured many of the same racial tensions and racist encounters as Bigger. Thus, in their youth, they both turned to a life of crime, neither having the ability to give their inner Bigger a productive outlet. However, the key difference is that Malcolm X was introduced to a platform that allowed him a prism to project his Bigger. His intelligence and leadership abilities were not wasted – he had an incredible impact on Black lives, on the Civil Rights movement, and on American and global culture. Because Malcolm was “found” and cultivated, he could put his gifts to work.  Arguably, Bigger Thomas was a decision or two away from having a different path in life. The larger question is how many Biggers do we have today rotting in our prison systems or on the streets, unable to share their gifts with society. How many Malcolm’s are yet to be discovered?  

The crazed, bipolar, and volatile exterior Bigger fashions for himself is methodically designed to hide his insecurities. Bigger is completely controlled by the multitude of fears that dominate his life. For example, Richard Wright describes the hatred that Bigger has toward his family, “He hated his family because he knew that they were suffering and that he was powerless to help them”(10). Subsequently, he provides the reason why: “He knew that the moment he allowed himself to feel to its fullness how they lived, the shame and misery of their lives, he would be swept out of himself with fear and despair”(10). Bigger’s disdain for them stems from his fear of poverty and failure. Arguably, this is a common narrative for those attempting to defeat poverty’s confines: they use this fear of failure to push and drive them forward. However, Bigger is incapable of doing this. Bigger chooses to bury his fear deep into his soul, reconfiguring himself to act hard and lash out to protect his fear instead of facing it. He feels powerless to defeat the confines of poverty, resulting in him refusing to take job opportunities. Bigger’s is resigned: “Goddammit, I’m always broke” (13).

Bigger struggles with the decision of either taking the job or continuing to live the way he does. “Yes, he could take the job at Dalton’s and be miserable, or he could refuse it and starve” (12). It could be argued that there’s not really a choice as both paths lead to pain. This decision that Bigger is faced with is familiar to those living in poverty. Empathy is required before the judgment of Bigger as poverty, fear, and avoidance of it shapes many actions. In some cases, these choices may not seem logical. Some may be designed for short-term gain and escapism. In my Intro to Social Problems class last semester, we focused on wealth, poverty, and inequality. In a reading directly applicable here, the author stated, “You gravitate toward those that can make you feel special for however long that single experience may be and not worry about any future effects“. Although not healthy for him, the gang that Bigger runs with provides that much-needed companionship that he seeks. His ability to laugh genuinely because of the shared experiences of those around him, is essential to his well-being. He’s keenly aware that this would be sacrificed by taking the job. The author of the article also mentioned, “Poverty is bleak and cuts off your long term brain”. For many in poverty, the ability to dream and look forward is not feasible. While logic might suggest Bigger should take the job, the needed community of those with his same shared experiences of suffering is more powerful. He doesn’t have the will to break away from the tough, but predictable life he knows. The comfort of staying in the place he knows around the people he knows is a path of less resistance. The alternative, working for a white man in a white area of town brings its own set of anxiety and fears. The only opportunity to dream of a path towards a longer-term, better life is done through the movies he watches. The movies are his escape; however, what he sees on the screen is not accessible to him. The life he wants to live is seemingly only accomplished and lived by white people. Once again, he is deterred from this desire to think big, leaving him to suffice his desires by living day-to-day.  

Bigger is severely impacted by his fear of poverty and the mindset he has developed due to this. Bigger’s experience is not unique and it speaks to a broader challenge. The energy he has put into hiding and denying what he goes through leads to his volatile actions. His fears control him, and his actions constantly look to take some control back, leading him down bad paths.