Influences In Bigger's Life

Native Son A person’s surroundings influence their life; family, friends, society, alcohol, and emotions affect the way a person acts and thinks in their surroundings. Constant control or oppression can cause someone to become filled with tremendous hate towards the entity that restrains them. This entity can create a brute that will commit unnatural crimes. Friends can influence one’s actions in their everyday life. This influence can cause a person to consider breaking an ultimate taboo of their society. Family influences a person’s emotions, actions, motives, and goals. The consumption of alcohol can make men become brutes and cause them to commit gruesome crimes. A person’s emotions can greatly influence their actions and control their
Bigger’s friends were Jack, G.H., and Gus. The gang would play pool and rob stores during their free time. Bigger’s mother warned him that if he did not “stop running with that gang of [his] and do right [he’ll] end up where [he] never thought [he] would...and the gallows is at the end of the road [he] traveling” (Wright, 9). His friends influenced his daily actions and increased his temper problems. However, this friendship did not have as much influence as the overwhelming control as the power white society had over them. The reluctance the friends had about robbing Blum’s exemplifies the amount of influence the white world had on Bigger. Bigger, Jack, G.H., and Gus “had the feeling that the robbing of Blum’s would be a violation of ultimate taboo; it would be trespassing into territory where the full wrath of an alien white world would be turned loose upon them; in short, it would be a symbolic challenge of the white world’s rule over them; a challenge they yearned to make” (Wright, 14). The fear of how the white society would react to the robbery caused doubt in the minds of the friends. The white world seemed to exist on another planet in the eyes of Bigger and his friends; however, white society still had a vast control over them. Bigger longed to be able to do the things white men and women were able to do. The skywriter exemplifies this goal that Bigger has. He
During the novel, Bigger sexually assaulted and murdered two women, Mary and Bessie, and was condemned to death. The harsh environment and influences that envelop Bigger’s life led him to commit these horrible crimes. Due to society’s influence, criminals similar to Bigger exist today. Similar to today’s society, a person’s family environment, friends, and economic status directly correlate to one’s involvement in criminal activity. Richard Wright’s development the character of Bigger Thomas proves the possible existence of Bigger in today’s