Do we really control our faith? Do we really have free will?
Native Son by Richard Wright challenges this idea of us being only partially responsible for our own actions. The environment that we are raised and live in help shape the life options and decisions that we make. This is present in Bigger Thomas's life. Bigger in the later parts of the novel feels cornered, like he has no freedom whatsoever. But the white people of the Chicago society have complete free will.
Throughout Native Son, we see many instances where characters have no free will but also instances where some characters have ultimate free will. In the first scene of the book, we learn that there is a huge rat scampering around the small, impoverished apartment. Bigger, being the headstrong boy that he is, decides he is going to kill the rodent. The rodent in this situation has no chance of surviving. His faith has been decided for him.
On the flip side, Mary and Jan showcase the white privileged youth who have complete control over their future life options. They have full control over the choices that they make. As shown in the book, Mary does not have a care in the world. She is free to do whatever she wants, even if it means disobeying her father. The white children are allowed to do whatever they want with anything at their disposal. But on the other hand, black children (especially Bigger and his siblings) have many restrictions placed over them. They do not have the choice to love carefree like their white counterparts.
The only instance where Bigger felt true freedom and it felt like he had total control over his life was when he committed the rape and murder or Mary. He felt like his life had true meaning after these crimes. This was an instance where Bigger rebelled against the white society. The society that has decided the fate of Bigger Thomas.
In present day, does white society still force certain circumstances on black Americans?
Native Son by Richard Wright challenges this idea of us being only partially responsible for our own actions. The environment that we are raised and live in help shape the life options and decisions that we make. This is present in Bigger Thomas's life. Bigger in the later parts of the novel feels cornered, like he has no freedom whatsoever. But the white people of the Chicago society have complete free will.
Throughout Native Son, we see many instances where characters have no free will but also instances where some characters have ultimate free will. In the first scene of the book, we learn that there is a huge rat scampering around the small, impoverished apartment. Bigger, being the headstrong boy that he is, decides he is going to kill the rodent. The rodent in this situation has no chance of surviving. His faith has been decided for him.
On the flip side, Mary and Jan showcase the white privileged youth who have complete control over their future life options. They have full control over the choices that they make. As shown in the book, Mary does not have a care in the world. She is free to do whatever she wants, even if it means disobeying her father. The white children are allowed to do whatever they want with anything at their disposal. But on the other hand, black children (especially Bigger and his siblings) have many restrictions placed over them. They do not have the choice to love carefree like their white counterparts.
The only instance where Bigger felt true freedom and it felt like he had total control over his life was when he committed the rape and murder or Mary. He felt like his life had true meaning after these crimes. This was an instance where Bigger rebelled against the white society. The society that has decided the fate of Bigger Thomas.
In present day, does white society still force certain circumstances on black Americans?
This is an interesting idea - I hadn't previously thought about the topic of free will in this novel. I do think that white society today still forces African Americans into certain conditions to an extent. Although the racism that we see in Native Son isn't typical of society today, we do have institutional racism and racial stereotypes against African Americans, both of which are still fairly prevalent.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would mention is the idea in naturalism that free will isn't ever really "free". By this I mean that in a naturalistic view, every single action that someone may have made out of "complete free will" was influenced by that person's circumstances and environment and therefore not really "free". I think following the naturalistic view of naturalism, it's interesting because even the white people in Chicago like Mr. Dalton don't really have complete free will because all their actions are influenced by their circumstances. For example, Mr. Dalton donated ping pong tables and supports the NAACP, but how genuine are his actions? Is it because he truly wants to help black people or is it because of the credit and acknowledgement he gets from the action? I would say his actions at least somewhat stem from the clout he gets from them especially because of how much it is advertised by him, an example being when he first meets Bigger. In this way, I think even white people don't have complete free will to some degree because their actions are influenced by their environment.
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ReplyDeleteI really like this idea of whether or not we control our own fate. We see this a lot in our own lives through the American dream. There are those out there who argue that no matter who you are or where you're born, it's possible for you to succeed in American life so long as you work had and apply yourself. This, however, isn't necessarily the case. I read some of a book called Outliers: The Story of Success one time, and it looks at lots of famous people throughout history. What's uncovered is that many famous or extremely rich people actually had many advantages early on in life. For example, Bill Gates, unlike many other kids around his time, had access to a computer that he could use most times he wanted to. This reliable access to a computer kick started both his aptitude for programming and his interest in it. Overall, he had a very obvious advantage compared to the majority of people which led to him becoming the multi-billionaire he is today. As you've said, we see this in Native Son through Bigger being forced to live a specific life in which he has no opportunity to break free.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point that in American society, race and socioeconomic status have a lot to do with people's abilities to make their own choices. Do you think Wright's view of the rat killed in the apartment has something to do with his description of Bigger Thomas as almost like a lab rat in a test tube made to run through simulations? I think it's also important to note that black characters like Bigger and Gus are more self-aware of their limited opportunities while white characters like Mary have more unconscious privilege.
ReplyDeleteI think the question of free will is the most unsettling part of Native Son. People want to think that they have complete control over their actions, rather than being influenced by environmental conditions or opportunities offered to them. After Bigger commits his first murder, he feels that he's finally asserted his individual power over the whole sadistic system by making his own decision, no matter the implications of such a choice. However, during the muder scene it doesn't feel like Bigger is making the kind of choice he later celebrates. Nothing Bigger does seems truly self-motivated, he simply responds to external stimuli in the only way he knows how.
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