After reading Native Son by Richard Wright, we read How “Bigger” was Born, which was Wright describing how he came up with the character and we discussed what we called “Wright’s Lab Experiments.” Since Wright based Bigger on people that he had met and seen in real life, he had the idea of the character before he had any idea what was going to happen in the book. This inevitably led to Bigger being classified as a reactive character in many situations, instead of taking charge and performing actions, he waits until an action is performed on him. Wright himself wrote, “Why should I not like a scientist in a laboratory, use my imagination and invent test-tube situations, [and] place Bigger in them (…)?” In other words, he takes his pre-written character and places him in different situations to see how he reacts.
Writing a story this way may lead to it being a little boring at times, with the character not doing anything proactive, but it also serves as a way for Wright to comment on life as an African American man. In Native Son, there are many times where it seems that Bigger has no free will and no choice as to what happens to him. He is constantly being backed into a corner where he just has to fight his way out. This may be because he is a reactive character, but it also portrays life for a black man in this time period. The whole night where he first meets the Daltons, he is constantly put off guard by Mary and Jan. They try to be familiar and comfortable with him, not noticing that it is doing the exact opposite. By asking him to call them by their first names, it is going against everything Bigger has ever learned about interacting with white people. If he does call them by their first names, it is going against a societal rule, but if he doesn’t, he is going against their orders. The night goes on and Mary and Jan get more and more drunk. By the end of the night, Mary can’t walk so Bigger has to help her. He can either do so, or go to her parents and get fired for letting her get so drunk in the first place. Since he doesn’t have any other options for a job, he helps her up to his bed. Unfortunately, he is stuck in her room with a blind Mrs. Dalton. His option here is to try to keep Mary quiet, or be found by Mrs. Dalton, which would lead to being accused of rape and being sent to jail. He chooses, and with that one choice (which wasn’t really a choice at all), he seals his fate.
Up until that point, Bigger truly was a reactive character. He went along with what was happening, and didn’t have much choice in the matter. But after that one night, he gets more free will, and ends up not making the best choices. When he finally gets the chance to make his own decision, he ends up writing a fake ransom note, hiding bodies, and raping and killing his girlfriend. But is it really free will? Besides the part with Bessie, he is doing what he thinks is right to make sure he doesn’t suffer for making a mistake. He knows that it was an accident, but because of his race, confessing and going to court is not an option. His only choice is to try to make sure that no one knows what happened. Having Bigger be a reactive character is a great way to make sure the reader understands what life as an African American in the time period is like. It highlights how even if you do have free will, there is still a lack of options and also how hard it can be to overcome one mistake.
