Indifference, Fear, and Violence: the Fate of Bigger Thomas.
Bigger Thomas lives in a world of fear, and hides behind a facade of indifference, often causing his emotions to erupt in violence. This novel portrays of the fate of Bigger, which is unraveled within a few days. Here I will give certain examples of how his emotions get the better of him. To understand Bigger, you must consider his background: He is a twenty-year-old black man living in an area of the Chicago ghetto called the "Black belt" in the 1930's. Life has been harsh for Bigger and His family. He lives in a dirty and cramped one-room apartment with his mother, and two younger siblings. Bigger once had a father, but he abandoned the family long ago. The Thomas's are on public assistance, and money is extremely tight. Bigger has only gotten to the eighth grade in school, and is unemployed when we meet him. He is not a good person, Bigger and his gang have pulled numerous store robberies on their own people, on a separate occasion he was sent away to reform school for stea!.
ling. Initially we as readers have no compassion for bigger, but as the novel goes on, we begin to understand that he is a product of our society; America made Bigger who and what he is.
The story opens on a cold Sunday morning in the winter. Since the apartment consists of one room, Bigger and his brother have to turn away as his mother and sister get dressed (this can be symbolically interpreted as Bigger turning away from his shame.) Bigger is afraid of being like his family and race: miserable and helpless. Bigger creates a mental facade, that is, a "wall" of outward indifference that keeps his fear bottled up. His fear is built up inside of him like a shaken soda bottle, and during stressful occasions, it explodes in the form of violence. His mother and sister finish dressing and notice a rat scurrying along the wall, they are terrified. The two leap up on the bed and scream pointing it out to Bigger and his brother.