In Native Son and Black Boy,
whiteness is represented on many different levels. What ways is whiteness
presented as a positive or negative? What privilege is whiteness given? How do
the characters benefit and/or suffer based on their whiteness? Make sure you
select specific examples and explain their meaning.
At the start of book two, a light snow begins falling. Eventually this little snow will turn into a blizzard ( a much bigger force) that will eventually be the precursor in the capture of Bigger. Throughout the novel, Bigger thinks of whites not as individuals, but as looming white mountain or great natural force pressing down upon him. When Bigger jumps through the window to escape just after Mary's bone are found in the furnace, the blizzard was raging. When he falls to the ground the snow fills his mouth, ears and eyes-all his senses are overwhelmed with a literal whiteness. This metaphorical whiteness represent the controlling power of the white that he has always felt throughout his life. Bigger tries to flee, but the snow ( again representing the Whites) has sealed off all avenues of escape allowing the white police to surround and capture him.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Dalton blindness plays a crucial role in the circumstances of Bigger's murder of Mary, as it gives Bigger the escape route of smothering Mary to keep her from revealing his presence in her bedroom. Back in those days, it was taboo or unconceivable for a black male servant or driver to be in the daughter's room of the white patron. On a symbolic level, this set of circumstances serves as a metaphor for the vicious circle of racism of White against Black in the American Society. Mrs Dalton's inability to see Bigger causes him to turn to violence, just as the inability of Whites to see Blacks as individuals causes Blacks to live in fear and hatred. Mrs Dalton's blindness represents the inability of White Americans as a whole to see Black Americans as anything other than the embodiment of their enforced-stereotypes. Indeed, Bigger later realizes that he has been blind, unable to see whites as individuals rather than a single oppressive mass or a great force of destruction.
Anne Marie B.
Being white is still seen as a desirable trait. And many people still do view white people as this all seeing, all-knowing being that is capable of either giving you everything or leaving you with nothing. Bigger was a tad bit intimidated by white people but I feel like he also felt like they were equal to him as such when he was hanging out with a group of them and drank most of the bottle.
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