Why does Bigger convince himself that Mary's death is not an accident? What does he gain by believing that he killed her on purpose? How does his view of himself and others change?
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Bigger feels as if he is a product of his environment. THerefore, he feels as if any thing that he does was meant to happen. Whether the event is good or bad he accepts whatever will come of the event. After killing Mary, Bigger feels that he has changed the course of his life. Unlike before, Bigger now feels as if he sees what is supposed to happen in his life and the others, do not realize the way things are supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with what you've said. Some people today have that same mentality. I believe to a certain extent that you are a product of your environment but you have the opportunity to change if you want to.
DeleteBigger convinces himself that killing Mary is not an accident because he thinks that he has the upper hand in society. He gains insight to what he feels that has been missing out on his whole life by killing her. He believes that the bad situation that was going to eventually occur in his life has finally happened. His view of himself and others have changed drastically because he feels powerful and thinks that he has outsmarted everybody. Bigger also thinks that he has figured out everyone and that he knows what people are thinking and how they will react in certain situations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Bigger thinks he has outsmarted everyone and he knows how everyone will react in any given situation. He is feeling very powerful and it is not a good thing.
DeleteI agree, Bigger does feel as though he outsmarted everyone and it gives him power. Bigger doesn' stop to think that just because she disappeared doesn't mean that the authorities won't ever come snooping. He hasn't really outsmarted anyone but himself.
DeleteI agree, Bigger think he have the ability to go against there society. He thinks he can outsmart them by cover up his mistake, but in the end he will eventually get caught; thus, causing him to lose to himself and no one else.
DeleteBigger convinces himself that Mary's death is not an accident because regardless to the reason or explanation of what happened no one would believe him. They would not believe him because he is a black man and Mary is a white girl. In the world Bigger and Mary lived in then and the world we live in now, a black man should not be in a white girl's room, especially if hes the help. Our world today has somewhat accepted interracial relationships, especially when the male is African American and is wealthy. Actually it has often been said, "The only reason some white women date or marry African American men is because of their wealth". Very seldom will anyone see a very pretty white female with a Blue Collar African American man's arm. This is why Bigger felt regardless of what he says, he had no business being in Mary's room. Bigger gains confidence and self worth. In his mind, he had killed many times before. This time he actually had a body. Because of all the things and trouble he experienced before in his life, he felt that one day this very thing could happened where he would kill. He had always dreamed of killing. Bigger no longer saw himself as a timid negro boy. He felt that no one would think he would not only kill a white girl but cut her up and burn her body. He now began to see everyone as blind because they never knew the real person inside him. In his own mind, he was always a killer and had already killed.
ReplyDelete-Michaela Huskey
I definitely agree with what you said. Even if Bigger tried to explain what happened, no one would looked past the skin color of Bigger and his victim. I also agree with what you said about everyone being blind to the person that Bigger is. However, I also believe that the people around Bigger are blind to their situations to a certain extent.
Delete-Brianne Jones
Bigger convinces himself that killing Mary isn't a accident because his finger prints are over the entire room.He also decides to go hide her body without telling anyone. Bigger gains the courage to think that because he got rid of her, then the police wouldn't come looking for him and he wouldn't be accused of anything. He sees himself as living a lie and other people are unaware of the life he's actually supposed to be living.
ReplyDeleteBigger convinces himself that killing Mary was not an accident because he knew that was his only option to do at that moment. Bigger had no time to think about what he was doing because he was a black man in a white woman's bedroom, if he was caught he would be killed himself.After the murder, Bigger gains self confidence in himself. The average black person during the 1940's were inferior to the white people, but killing a white girl made Bigger feel powerful because he had done something that seemed insane during that time.Bigger begins to realize that he has more experience over other people because he feels he is not blind to the world. Bigger accuses his mother, siblings, and Bessie as being blind to the world because they are so limited as to what they experience. Whereas Bigger is entering into a world in which he does not wish to leave.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about this being Bigger's only option. He knows that weather or not it was an accident, the consequences would have been equal. I also agree with what you said about how the murder gave him power. Sadly, a lot of people who murder do it for the feeling of power.
Delete@Keisha Murray I am on the same page with you, defending the argument that you made about Bigger being able to know how others will react in certain situations. This is a special tool that I believe Bigger will use more throughout the novel.
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ReplyDeleteBigger convinces himself that he killed Mary on purpose because he begins to feel as if mischief is a part of who he is and he had no choice but to kill her because the consequences for him would have been of equal fate. Bigger feels like he has gained an invincible power by believing that he killed her on purpose. I really don't think the way others perceived him has changed with an exception to Bessie. Bessie feels like he thinks he's better than her because he was hanging around Caucasian's when that was not the case at all. Bigger's perception of himself however changed because he began seeing himself as this killer and it gave him power. He then began to believe that was who he was meant to be because that was what he had to do.
ReplyDeleteYolanda i do agree with you but i feel like Bigger could have faced his fear and take full responsible for making out with Mary. Bigger knows he not suppose to mix work with his personal feeling, yet he did and now he's making more lies to cover his first lie that i feel could have been avoided from the beginning.
DeleteBigger feels that Mary's death was not an accident, because he felt that something like this was inevitable. He knows how the situation looks, so he knows that whatever he says wouldn't matter. Bigger gains a new sense of reality when he comes to terms with this. He is a product of his neighborhood, and he feels like something like this is fated for him. He gains a new distorted sense of self and empowerment. He starts to see himself as a product of his neighborhood, instead of something greater.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because Bigger definitely was trying to overcome his environment until the murder happened. After the murder, he came to terms that he was just the same as every other African-American living in his neighborhood.
DeleteBigger tells himself that the death of Mary wasn't an accident, but was the easiest thing to do at that time. He felt Mary was going to throw the heat on him if the blind mother over heard them making out. The choice Bigger made was absurd and foolish and now he is dealing with the consequences. I feel like everyone have a choice in life, and the choice bigger made was childish instead of responsible. The fact that Bigger an african american from a bad neighborhood, he feel like nothing good can come from the hood. Bigger feel like he's trap inside the hood and feel like nothing good can happen for people in the hood. The death of Mary gave Bigger the idea that he is only meant for destruction for the world he's living. Bigger is pretending to be better than everyone because he helping his mother and sister by working with caucasian people , while instead he's the opposite of that. Bigger living a lie that will soon consume him as a person and change him into a monster
ReplyDeleteBigger convinces himself that Mary's death was not an accident, but rather something he was fated to do. He feels a sense of pride in which he accepted the fact that he killed Mary. The white people in the society viewed Bigger as someone who is capable of stealing and raping someone or something, but they would not think he had the ability to kill a person. Bigger feels like he gain power from this experience. That he got more authority over the "whites." At the beginning of the novel, Bigger is an innocent character who have a tough appearance yet ignorant and fearful. As time progress he became an experience character. He feels like he have the capability to do whatever he wants. He tries to get away with murder. And he think he can fight against society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because Bigger starts acting like he can conquer the world after Mary's death. He feels like he could get away with the murder and do worse things in the future. Bigger also uncovers his role in life after Mary's death. He gains freedom in a way because on the outside, he follows society's rules but under his mask, he does whatever he wants.
DeleteI agree with this because to me Bigger has totally got big headed in the sense that he thinks he's experienced. Bigger thinks that that he has power in society now and he thinks that he think that the whites will view him in another way.Biggger definitely thinks that he has got away with murder and he most definitely thinks that killing Mary couldn't possibly be an accident.
DeleteJennifer Tran Week 4
ReplyDeleteEven though Bigger never intended to kill Mary and his situation was only an accident, he convinces himself that he killed Mary on purpose. In persuading himself, Bigger gains a sense of peace and freedom from the confinement that society imposes on him. He also found his purpose in life through Mary’s death. “The hidden meaning of his life—a meaning which others did not see…had spilled out” (101.) That’s how Bigger’s view of himself and everyone around him changed. Now, Bigger describes everyone as being blind because they can’t see or do not want to see the reality that he can kill a white person. “They would never know…He felt that they wanted and yearned to see life in a certain way” (102.) That’s why Bigger thinks everyone is narrowed minded or blind in a sense because they do not want to look at things in another perspective.
Chelsea Carter Week 4:
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Bigger feels owned by society as if he doesn't have a mind of his own to think with, therefore he believes anyone and anything. Bigger feels like he has the upper hand on the situation but does not realize the severity of what has happened. so, Bigger convinces himself that Mary's death wasn't an accident, because he feels as if tis was all planned and was somewhat destined to happen. Basically Biggers' whole demeanor and mind set is "everything happens for a reason," in my opinion. Even though Bigger believes everyone because he thinks he is a figurine of society, he feels as if he has found his ultimate experience, and knows how everyone feels and endures in situations.
When Bigger kills Mary he begins to convince himself that the murder was not an accident because he wants to feel powerful. He wants to feel like he killed a rich white person and got away with it. "No; it was no accident, and he would never say that it was" (101). By believing that he killed her on purpose, he gains a sense of courage. He gains a sense of empowerment over whites because they would never suspect he was the one who committed the crime. Upon killing Mary, his views on himself and other people begin to change also. He sees everyone he's ever came into contact with and didn't suspect a thing as being blind. He sees himself as a black man that murdered a rich, white girl and would get away with it. Mary's killing definitely made Bigger reevaluate alot of situations he was currently in.
ReplyDelete