When reading “How Bigger was Born,” I couldn’t help but see Wright’s explanation of how Bigger’s character came to be as rather a justification for creating such a hateable character. His articulation of the different Biggers he had met throughout his own life seemed too shallow to have accounted for the depth of Bigger’s character in the novel. Book Three stressed the idea that Bigger was created by this country and its people–anything that Bigger was resulted from what this country facilitated him to be. So to me, Bigger could be seen as sort of a placeholder for any Black man (I’m intentionally using the word man here because it seems as though Wright wasn’t concerned with Black women). This image of Bigger as representing a group seems undermined by the 5 individuals cited as his muse.
Additionally, regarding the idea of Bigger as a native son, I’m tempted to ask: what about Bessie? Is she not also born of this country, a native daughter, or is she simply a means to an end? It seems like, to Wright, she was merely the latter, and in writing her as so, I feel as though the message about race becomes undermined almost completely.
I find it difficult–impossible really–to defend sexual violence against women (or anyone). To me, rape and sexual assault are a different level of egregious. As we discussed in class, I understand that Wright wanted us to see an image like the one in Freedom, and think that nobody, not even Biggers, deserve such treatment–and I do. But I also see Bessie and think the same for her. I don’t think Bigger should have been sentenced to die, but not because I was able to empathize with him for his crimes. I don’t think he should have been put to death simply because I don’t believe in capital punishment, but I did feel sorry for him. However, I think it’s important to mention that as much as I felt sorry for Bigger and his “fate,” I felt worse for Bessie and hers. It’s difficult to see Bigger and his crimes as a result of a racist country that created Bigger when Wright failed to address Bessie and her blackness in America as well. He lost me in his treatment of women. Rape is what one does to women, and its effects last a lifetime.