The first time I read the beginning of Native Son, I didn't think very much about the scene in the beginning where Bigger Thomas kills the vicious rat in his home. Now that I have finished the book, it is obvious to me that this scene was foreshadowing for what would happen to Bigger in the rest of the novel.
The rat in the beginning of the book struck out at Bigger because it was afraid, and if you think of Bigger as the rat from the opening scene, the analogy makes sense because Bigger killed Mary Dalton out of fear that he would get caught and accused of rape.
The rat’s belly pulsed with fear. Bigger advanced a step and the rat emitted a long thin song of defiance, its black beady eyes glittering, its tiny forefeet pawing the air restlessly. (6)
This quote shows how obvious Wright wanted to make it that the rat was scared. Even though it was a quick scene that only lasted a few pages, it is very obvious that the rat has more significance in the book than just introducing the environment that Bigger lives in.
The other part of the analogy that stands out to me is that the rat really had no chance to survive. It was up against a human who was a lot stronger and had the power to corner it and kill it. In Bigger’s situation, this was true as well. Once Bigger was wanted for the murder of Mary Dalton, he really had no chance to escape. Just like Bigger cornered the rat in the beginning, the white mobs looking for Bigger literally cornered him on a roof even after searching for weeks.
They were suspicious and would comb every inch of space on top of these houses. On all fours, he scrambled to the next ledge and then turned and looked back; the man was still standing, throwing the spot of yellow about over the snow. Bigger grabbed the icy ledge, hoisted himself flat upon it, and slid over. (264)
This quote is right before Bigger got caught, and shows how the white men literally cornered him just like Bigger with the rat in the beginning. Bigger was literally on all fours trying to crawl away, just like the rat in the beginning.
Overall, I think that this was a really interesting scene for Wright to add to the beginning of the book. Even though it seemed like nothing when I first read it, after finishing the book and looking back, I could see the scene’s importance.
Thanks for reading and comment if you had any other observations or noticed any more parallels in this scene!
Nice post Hadley! Overall i definitely agree with you that the rat scene in the opening pages is a huge foreshadow to Bigger's situation in the novel. The descriptions of the rat being scared and cornered really draw a parallel to Bigger and how there is basically nothing he can do and no where he can go. I had an idea that could draw more out of the scene as well. It stood out to me that the rat was hiding until Bigger and his family uncovered him. This to me could draw a parallel that it was inevitable for Bigger to be drawn out from the dark (hiding, living life) and to be cornered in this situation that has no escape just like the rat. Overall great post and i think you made some great observations!
ReplyDeleteYour comparisons draw attention to a handful of things I hadn't connected on my own. I wrote my paper on this scene, and by contrast, I focused on how Bigger's relations with his surroundings, i.e his Mother, household, etc., have subtle implications in terms of his later behavior. We often discussed in class the notion of being caged in, of having minimal mobility and a dearth of free will; this concept seemed to rear its ugly head in the opening scene as well--Bigger is required to kill the rat and required to get a job. I personally found the way in which Bigger wakes up and is instantly thrown into this hectic mess to be somewhat indicative of the ongoing struggle he faces in general. Furthermore, the fact that the second he steps outside of his house, he's immediately confronted with the presence of white society, makes this notion of "never catching a break" all the more evident.
ReplyDeleteYour comparisons are interesting though. I hadn't pictured the rat as being analogous to Bigger, but your logic makes quite a bit of sense.
How would you equate the fact that Bigger took notice of the rat's fear and almost felt bad for it? Would you say that it's analogous to a police officer feeling bad for Bigger before arresting him? I definitely like the rat=Bigger analogy because it makes sense, but the hesitation sort of throws me off. Good post though! Very interesting to read and easy to follow.
ReplyDeleteGood blog post Hadley! A parallel I noticed is that it seems as though Bigger accidentally killing Mary is similar to Bigger barricading the rat hole. It seems as though that is the point that his fate is sealed. He is afraid and alone while the walls are closing down around him.
ReplyDeleteReally nice observations. Everywhere that Bigger turns he is trapped in a cage, just like the rat. You give a nice example in the scene where Bigger is running from the police, which I did not notice before. In the end, the rat and Bigger have no choice but to accept their fate; every action that they do has no actual impact because in the end their final outcome has already been planned.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. I really liked your comparison of Bigger to the cornered rat in the sense that he is physically being cornered like the rat and trying to crawl away. I wonder if you think the killing of Mary Dalton is more representative of the similarities between Bigger and the rat or him being cornered at the end is.
ReplyDeleteNice post! As I was reading your post I was wondering about the importance of Bigger holding up the rat and causing his sister to faint. I have yet to understand the overall connotations of this portion of the rat scene to the whole story, but your post was definitely thought provoking and made me think about in what other aspects did the rat scene reflect the whole book.
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