Today in class we tried to recap where we are in the novel by reflecting on our thoughts about observations about Bigger and the society in which he lives.
Here is a brief version of what we discussed:
Bigger:
- Morals - has a sense of right / wrong (possibly a confused one)
- Unsure how he feels about Mary's death
- Sees himself as "lower" than others
- Why didn't he flee? Why does he go back to the Daltons?
- How does he view his actions / see himself?
- Bigger is constantly thinking about race
- Bigger does not think about the Daltons / Mary / what her death means to them
- Uses race to justify his actions
- What will he do next?
- (some expressed feeling a sense of sympathy for him at this point of the book)
Society
- Complex attitudes about race
- Differences between white and black perspectives
- Bigger fears what whites might think about / do to him
- Bigger's group of friends - what do they mean to him?
- What is the role of the Daltons?
- Actions in terms of race - how to white people act in a black setting and how do blacks act in a white setting?
- How much knowledge do the whites and black have about each other? How ignorant are they? How curious are they?
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