When recalling reading Native Son, one of the most emotionally charged scenes takes place at the start of book three. Bigger has finally come out of his sickness after being caught, and is suddenly confronted by an array of people coming into his cell. The scene itself is difficult to read, as it is when Bigger first sees his family after being arrested, but I would like to focus on the end of the scene, during which Mrs. Thomas attempts to appeal to the Daltons to save her son. The reaction of each person in the scene to Mrs. Thomas's actions indicate how much of the rest of the book with unfold, and how each character relates to their place in US society.
Towards the end of the scene, Mrs. Thomas appeals to Mrs. Dalton by kneeling at her feet and begging her to have mercy on Bigger. She attempts to find common ground between the two of them, saying "Please, don't let 'em kill my boy! You know how a mother feels!" (Wright, 301). However, Mrs. Thomas's pleas are unsuccessful, and Mrs. Dalton confronts her with little emotion, stating "There's nothing I can do now," even going so far as to place her hand on Mrs. Thomas's head (I acknowledge that she does this throughout the book because she is blind, but it still strikes me as out of place) (Wright, 301). This reaction is in contrast to Mrs. Thomas's highly emotional petition. Mrs. Dalton is content to be a part of the systems in place in the US, even if those systems don't have her best interests in mind, as both a woman and a mother. This is because Mrs. Dalton's proximity to white supremacy allows her to remain in a place of privilege, even as it disadvantages her in some ways. By appealing to Mrs. Dalton as a mother, Mrs. Thomas is asking her to go against the system on the basis of her own personal marginalization in it. This is not Mrs. Dalton's sole motivation in refusing Mrs. Thomas, but I see it as overall or underlying motivation.
The physical aspects of this scene are also important and insightful. When Mrs. Thomas first falls to the floor in front of Mrs. Dalton, Max and Jan both immediately run to pull her up from the ground. Later, after she is heard by the Daltons, Max succeeds in getting her off of the the floor, but the text notes that he must grapple with her to do so. He then leads her from the room, despite her looking back at Bigger. To me, this sets the tone for the rest of the book, with Max leading Bigger through the trial, and constantly speaking for him, and while this scene isn't very important in terms of plot, it does set the tone for much of the rest of the book.
Wright, Richard Nathaniel. Native Son. HarperCollins, 2005.
I really liked how you analyzed a less talked-about scene. I see Bigger's mother in this scene almost as his last line of defense. Mrs. Dalton has just lost her daughter and one would expect her to be more sympathetic to the pleas of someone about to lose their son, however, she almost appears indifferent. Even Max, someone who should be on Bigger's side, appears to be helping Mrs. Dalton when he takes Mrs. Thomas out of the room.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree, this is such a great blog post and I loved how you analyzed this specific scene too. I found that for me, it was also super emotional, especially seeing Bigger’s family again and them being reunited in the jail. I too wasn’t really sure how to feel about Mrs. Dalton’s response. On the one hand, I guess her distanced reaction made sense because she did lose her daughter, but on the other hand, I almost expected her to do or say more and her character disappointed me a little here. I’m not sure if she would have had the power to do anything, and I’m not sure if she fully understands Bigger at this moment, but I feel that the Daltons could have had some influence over the case in any way they wanted it to go, and that if they had helped Bigger, his fate could maybe have ended up differently. I’m glad that Mrs. Dalton didn’t seem too angry though and didn’t take it out on anyone at least.
ReplyDeleteI really love how you point out the physical aspects of this scene too. Because much of Book Three is based on verbal communication, I feel that these physical details stand out even more and are really deliberate in trying to tell the story. This is a really compelling blog post!
Thanks!