Native Son

The murder of Mary Dalton exposed a growing animosity that Bigger kept hidden throughout his childhood and adolescence. White oppression cornered Bigger into a life of constant distress and restraint that he knew would ultimately overcome him. He recognized that his lack of opportunity would somehow determine his own drastic fate. The pressure of surrendering to the white power tamed his actions to a certain extent, but his yearning for liberation transcended all authority when he killed Mary.

Bigger did not view his crime as an act of hate towards Mary, but rather as an act of nature. Author Richard Wright notes, “His crime seemed natural; he felt that all of his life had been leading to something like this.” The unregretful assurance of Bigger’s reaction to the murder gives the murder itself a sense of importance. His certainty suggests the killing was not only worth while to him, but it was meaningful; “A meaning which others did not see and which he had always tried to hide.” says Wright.

Although the actual strangling of Mary was not intentional on Bigger’s part, he chose to view it as if it were. “Not once did he need to tell himself that it had been an accident.” writes the author. He understood that the consequences of his crime were inevitable whether he meant to kill her or not,