How Mary's Death Freed Bigger
I don't doubt that BIgger killed Mary by accident. Although his intentions were not entirely pure, the fact that Mary's death is accidental is made clear by the state of panic Bigger is let on to. Despite this fact, after inadvertently killing Mary, Bigger is filled with a sense of freedom and power. While reading Native Son, I often found myself questioning Bigger's decisions as well as his motives for his actions. This scenario was no different. Bigger's feelings and in a way, sense of pride for the murder, bewildered or even irked me. As I looked further into the situation, I found myself gradually understanding Bigger and the emotions that the murder evoked from him. Mary's murder not only opened my eyes to the racist society in which Bigger has little freedom but also helped me to understand how much those restrictions truly affected Bigger. One of the first indications of Bigger's longing for a choice in certain aspects of society is the scene where he ...