Richard Wright
1940
Around 505 pages
I'm really divided about this novel, but the fact that I can't stop thinking about it means it earned five stars.
20-year-old Bigger Thomas lives in one of the poorest areas of Chicago. He is resentful of his family for being powerless to alleviate their suffering, so he's a major dick to everybody. He's hired by a white man, Mr. Dalton and his blind wife who are well-meaning white people who definitely would have bragged about voting for Obama. Bigger's story ends in violence, which seems inevitable in his case.
I understand the criticism of this novel. Bigger is the embodiment of a violent angry black man. And it's a story that seems like it is aimed at teaching white people a lesson, rather than a novel with an intended black audience. I don't think we should put too much pressure on Bigger to represent anything other than himself. He's a product of his environment, and in the process becomes an irredeemable monster. We really feel all the pain and fear that leads Bigger to his decisions.
It's difficult to portray how decentralized racism can be. The shortcut is just to have ignorant characters use racist language, but the situation is obviously much more complex than that. Wright did an amazing job showing how a million indignities and acts of dehumanization can lead to such brutal acts.
Also, welcome to the 1940s!
RATING: *****
Interesting Facts:
Interesting Facts:
James Baldwin wrote, "No American Negro exists who does not have his private Bigger Thomas living in his skull."
Sold 250,000 hardcover copies within three weeks of its publication.
The edition I read included a scene where Bigger and his friend pleasure themselves in a movie house, which apparently was left out of earlier editions. Glad I didn't miss out on that...
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