As he gets more nervous about the job with the Daltons, he begins to act on his violent emotions. The first section of the book, entitled “Fear”, shows Bigger going on an emotional rollercoaster from rage to panic to indifference all in a single day. Initially, a crippling fear of white people lives inside Bigger and causes him to feel extreme emotions and perform extreme acts. Powerlessness in a power-hungry person creates a never ending circle of trying to break free. The need to feel like an individual who has self-power is more important to Bigger than his freedom and the life of others. Consciously, he decides to turn that fear around into an attempt to free himself from the firm grips of white power. In the face of confrontation of someone else’s power, the feeling of fear within Bigger is what causes him to react so negatively. When faced with the absolute power of white people, Bigger reacts dramatically and fatally.
Throughout the book, Bigger struggles to find a balance between being who he is and being trusted and accepted in society. White people stood on much higher ground than black people in Chicago in the 1930’s. In Richard Wright’s novel, Native Son, the protagonist, Bigger Thomas, and his peers deal with a constant feeling of suppression and unease due to the color of their skin. When moments of fear and uncertainty fall upon us, as humans, we often react in surprising ways.
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