How does Bigger Thomas fluctuate between innocence and experience in the beginning of the novel. Think about the ways in which he demonstrates mature and immature behavior and behavior that feigns adulthood. Also think about how his personality shifts in the presence of different characters.
Provide specific examples from the novel with page numbers.
Beginning with page 11 of the novel started with an altercation between Bigger and his mother. As a man, you should no longer live with your parents anymore nor should your mother have to plead with you to get a job. Bigger has some maturity to do because he is still trying to take the easy way out of tough decisions, when he knows that what he is planning will put his family in an even worse position then they are already in(pg 16). From what I have read so far, I don't think that Bigger has any respect for anyone around him besides himself, just as a child respects himself and himself only. He does not treat his family with respect(pg 15) nor does he treat his friends with respect(pg 28).
ReplyDeleteCarletha Smith: Week 1
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the story Biggers' character showed that he was the man of the house and he took charge of his house hold. But, starting on page 11 it shows the lack of respect he has for his mother and how immature he was about things. Bigger is a person who has to learn the hard way. He's a self centered person who thinks about nobody but his self. On pages 14-15 it shows how his mother questions him over and over about taking a job at Dalton's but he's just giving her the answer she wants to hear instead of what he's really thinking. I feel that Biggers' mother should put him out and maybe that would make him grow up. Bigger is still in full stage of innonce, he has yet to show a stage of experience throughout what I have read
In chapter one, Bigger started off with maturity or experience when the rat invaded their house. Bigger directed his brother with authority, and he was the one who came up with a trap to kill the rat. When the rest of his family couldn’t do a thing except keeping still and watching, Bigger was the one who protected his family from the rat (pgs. 8-10.) It was almost as if Bigger was the head of the house until he goofed around and scared his sister until she fainted. Bigger went from being experience to innocence in that he didn’t care how his sister felt about the dead rat. Instead of throwing away the rodent, Bigger taunted his sister and made her faint so bad that she fell off of the bed (pg. 11.) Another act of childishness from Bigger was how he blocked out his mother and sister when they were eating breakfast (pg. 15) Bigger doesn’t really go back to being experience because his thoughts and actions were childish. For example, he was playing “white,” which is a game where his friends would pretend they were white people, with Gus even though Gus objected to playing in the first place (pg. 21.) That’s why I think Bigger is still in his ignorant childlike state because all he thinks about is himself.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this part of the book, the word confusion screamed out to me. I was not confused but the character, Bigger, was confused in that he did not know what he wanted for himself. Throughout reading this entire section I saw many places of innocence, experience and the rebellion that comes when a character is "forced" into experience. The part that stood out the most as innocence is in the beginning when Bigger causes his sister to faint because he is taunting her with the rat (page 11). I also observed innocence when Bigger killed the rat. When Bigger killed the rat and started yelling and screaming with excitement, I was reminded of a child that had just completed a hard task or won a prize (page 10). On page 21, Bigger and his friend Gus play a game, pretending to be white. This brings them to a childlike sate of playfulness. The mother definitely attempts to push Bigger into experience after the ordeal with Vera. Mother blames Bigger for their poor living conditions because she says he lacks manhood (page 12). On page 13 Bigger confirms the fact that he is trying hard to live a life of innocence when he says, "he knew that the moment he allowed himself to feel to its fullness how they lived, the shame and misery of their lives, he would be swept out of himself with fear and despair". On page 31 Bigger talks about "lurking behind a curtain of indifference". This is another example of his fight to stay away for experience and hide behind his innocence.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the novel, Bigger fluctuates between experience and innocence alot. Since Bigger is the oldest boy he has to be the man of the house which he displayed when he had to take care of the rat in the house (pgs 8-11). However, it is shown that he sinks back into innocence when he kills the rat and he starts yelling and jumping up and down just because he killed it. Also he acts like a kid when he pesters his sister with the rat like a five year old or something. Then a little later, his mom nags him about getting a job or else they won't survive. This shows how Bigger is forced into experience because he has to grow up and provide for the family. Then he goes right back into his innocence when he engages in a game of pretend to be white with his friend Gus (pgs 21-22). Yet, when his gang shows up he puts up a front like he is mature and decides to go rob Mr. Blum. He does not know what he wants in his life because he is confused about that aspect. The situation of his life is making him play a game of push and pull between innocence and experience. That push and pull also contributes to his bad temper and sudden rage of violence that he feels towards anything when things don't go his way. His outer facade is what is displayed as his "experience" but he is still fearful and nervous so a lot of the time he sinks back into innocence.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the book Bigger starts off by being experience. Bigger authorized his brother Buddy to kill the rat. While his brother is trying to kill the rat, Bigger gives him some ideas of how to kill it. When Buddy doesn't succeed in killing the rat, Bigger stands up and be the man and kills the rat. Bigger shows immaturity (pg 10-11) when he picks up the rat and puts it in his sister's face, which causes her to faint. After that his mom starts going off on him and telling him how unhappy she is with him, and how he needs to grow up and get a job to support the family. On(pg. 14-15) Bigger's mom keeps asking him if he's going to take the job or let them starve. It's kind of like he's being force to become mature and take care of his family. Through out the book Bigger's personality switches from innocence to experience for an example, when him and They are laughing and having a good time, but later on Bigger wants to act mature when his other friends come around and they're talking about robbing a white man. Bigger is always confused on what he wants to do, kind of like a child.
ReplyDeleteIn the first few pages of the novel, the reader can clearly see the fluctuation of Bigger's personality. Bigger is the oldest boy, but he seems to be the most immature. Pages 8-11 show Bigger as "experience" when he is killing the rat, he is like the father in this sense, when he is directing Buddy on how to handle the situation. However, Bigger jumps right back to "innocence" when he holds to rat up to his sister. He also fakes his innocence when he realizes he made his sister faint. Bigger is confused about his life. on pg. 13, Bigger's mind shows experience when the narrator states, "He hates his family because he knew they were suffering and that he was powerless to help them. He knew that the moment he allowed himself to feel...he would be swept out of himself..." This also show how Bigger is fighting against experience, because he wants to stay in his innocent state of mind. Bigger fakes experience though, when he puts on his tough front around his gang. In front of his family, he fluctuates between angry and submissive. He does what his mother tells him, but he resents her for it, thus he has angry outbursts. When Bigger is around his friends, he is more relaxed, and able to rely more on his innocence. Around his gang, however, Bigger is pushed into experience, which makes him put on his tough and fearless front.
ReplyDeleteBigger Thomas oscillates between innocence and experience throughout this section of the book when interacting with other characters and through the various thoughts that go through his mind. It is clear to see that Bigger is fighting experience which is shown by his rebellious personality. A prime example of Bigger fluctuating between innocence and experience is on pages 27 through 29 when Bigger proposes that they go and rob Blum's store. His innocence is portrayed through his thoughts when he thinks that if Gus doesn't consent to go then he won't have to go through with his plan. He is afraid of what might happen, and just as Sylvia in "The Lesson" became infuriated with her teacher because of being taught something she would rather not know, Bigger became angry to try and force Gus to decide if he would go rob Blum or not. Bigger's experience is shown through his thoughts again because he knows that there is a possibility of them getting caught and him going to jail. His experience also shows through the fact that he knows that it is not right to rob someone and that instead he should go get the job he told his mother and siblings he would get.
ReplyDeleteKeisha Murray, Week 1
Bigger Thomas fluctuates between innocence and experience in his thought process. One moment Bigger was speaking on the injustices of his society toward black people, then he is adding to the stereotypes of black men by plotting on stealing. His awareness of the world's problems is a sign of experience or knowledge. The attempts to plot a robbery were part of the innocence or ignorance that Bigger Thomas displays. To know the consequences of your actions, and ignore them shows a great deal of incongruity in the persons decision making processes. When Bigger gets around his friends he shows more signs of immaturity than with his mother. This is normal for most young people, however he takes it to the extreme. He is immature for wanting riches, but being unwilling to work for money to help his family survive. Because he is a disappointment to his mother, he feels a need to be a better person or a less corrupt person around her, in a sense of maturity. Bigger Thomas is actually as a whole immature, but shows moments of maturity because of his knowledge.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the novel, Bigger appeared to be a very young boy. He, Buddy(brother),Vera(Sister), and mom all slept in the same room giving one the impression that he is a young boy. It immediately became obvious that Bigger was older and more experienced than I initially thought. This is based on the verbiage he used when trying to kill the rat. He did a lot of swearing in front of his mother,he smokes cigarettes, and he is old enough to obtain a job(Pages 7-10). The following are ways he demonstrated immature behavior: dangling the rat in Vera's face causing her to faint and beating Gus to keep from doing the Braum's job (Page 11). Mature behaviors he displayed are 1. when he went back home, put the gun up, and decided not to use it(Page 38-41) and 2. when he seriously thinks about taking the job at Dalton's place. His personality shifts when he is in front of his mother, Buddy, and Vera. Buddy and Vera see Bigger as the older brother, even though he is still arrogant and mean. In front of Gus,G.H., Doc, and Jack, he comes around like he is the head of the gang, a gangster. In front of the gang, he is evil, bad, and puts fear into the rest of his friend's heart.
ReplyDelete-Michaela Huskey
Bigger fluctuates between innocence and experience in different ways.He shows innocence by still living at home with his mother and siblings. He also still has the innocent luxury of his mother preparing and serving him meals.Signs of experience show when Bigger has to become the man of the house to catch the rat that is running around the house. Bigger shows ignorance, which is like innocence when he is conversing with his friends about how they rob places and plan to newly rob a white owned business.This shows that he has no experience in life to know that he cannot get away with the crime. This also shows how he does not take the sign on the poster very serious and his ignorance was again takes over. Bigger shows a sign of experience or manhood when he does take the job, although deep down inside he wishes not to.
ReplyDeleteCecilia Tran, Week 1
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of "Native Son," Bigger, the older brother, sets off as an experience boy. He would swear and disrespect his mother, but truthfully he feels frightened and nervous; thus, this makes him seem innocent. His family is poor and this makes him feel ashamed of them. He was offered a job, but he wanted to reject the offer. Bigger is a selfish, careless, and ignorant person. When he surrounds himself with his friends, he seems to act immature. He throw this tough act in front of his family and friends, but deep inside he have an innocent side.
Bigger experiences innocense at the beginning of the story when he teases his sister Vera (pg 10-11). He later leaned into adulthood with the smoking and the attitude he had toward his mother with working. I belive he finally hit that major moment of experiene when he discoused the possibility of commiting a robbery with his three friends(pg. 25-38). Bigger has the type of attitude that seems unhealthy, his anger goes to a whole nother level. It's almost as if he wants to kill someone or himself for the way he and his family live. Yet at the same time, the job that he was offered, he was hesitant on accepting. When his mothered pushed how much they needed him to take the job it was like it fueled his anger and aggression.
ReplyDeleteBigger went from innocence to experience and back to innocence again. He and his sister Vera continuously argue and bicker which is a childlike characteristic.(10-12)He then moves into experience by being the man of the house when he killed the rat and seemed to be very mature. Bigger then had a complete turn around when he began to disrespect his mother for an example on page 15 his mother kept asking him if he was going to take a job. he replied "I told you last night I was going to take it. How many times you want to ask me?" His mother wants him to be responsible and work to help her out around the house but he is mean to her because he is upset with his living situation (16). He feels like he is only limited to taking the job at Dalton's but obviously wants more for himself.
ReplyDeleteBrandalyn Anderson (Week 1)
ReplyDeleteBigger is definitely in a struggle between innocence and experience. It seems as though every time he makes one step closer towards experience, his innocence kicks in and show just how immature he really is. Bigger obviously feels unsteady while being a mature adult, so for every mature deed he backs it up with an immature one. For example, Bigger kills the rat then goes and swing the dead rat in his younger sister's face (pages 8-11). Another example of innocence would be when he Bigger is forced to get a relief job or leave his family without any food (page 16). Being a grown man and also the man of the house, it should be common sense to want to work. Your mom shouldn't have to hold your hand to make you go ahead and take the job. Bigger definitely wants more for himself but being a Negro in the 1930s isn't an easy task.
Bigger, the guy who talks back to his mother knowing she only care about his safety first. The chapter starts with Bigger living in an apartment the size of a cube box. Bigger ashamed that his people living in the condition they are in now. A rat appears in the room and bigger is force to kill it, to protect his mother and baby sister. Bigger taunt his sister with the dead rat, while him mother complain to him on getting a job. On page13 Bigger confirms the fact that he is trying hard to live a life of innocence when he says, "he knew that the moment he allowed himself to feel to its fullness how they lived, the shame and misery of their lives, he would be swept out of himself with fear and despair". When Bigger is with his friends he change his character as the the funny guy and the serious hardcore guy in the group.Bigger switch from being innocence when he engages in a game with his friend Gus (pgs 21-22), yet, when his gang shows up he puts up a front like he is mature and decides to go rob Mr. Blum.The group of boys thought about robbing a store, and people in the group are not down for the task. Bigger is a confuse fellow and doesn't know what he want in life.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the novel, Biggger Thomas starts out with experience by being portrayed as the "captain of the ship," or as some would say the man of the house. He is seen in this light because he takes an authoritative position towards his brother to kill a rat, symbolizing something that would put their family in danger. Although Bigger seems this way, but really its just a big front in my opinion. For example, Bigger is still child in the eyes of the readers because of his innocence being that he still stays with his parents and have to be pushed and led to do everything. He isn't seen so much as a child but dependent and not much as independent rather. Biggers' personality shifts between different aspects and people when he witnesses different aspects of life first hand, that causes Bigger to make serious decisions. In my opinion as a reader Bigger doesn't want to take on the role of becoming the man that he feigns to be, so he is left somewhere in the world of immaturity.
ReplyDelete