Bigger's Fears

Fear has always been part of our everyday lives, it has always been in the past and it will always be part of our lives. Fear comes in a variety of sizes and shapes, but fear can also be psychological meaning that fear is created by ones mind, for instance someone that is afraid of heights. For instance, in the novel Native Son , Bigger experiences the many aspects of fear that always hunt him and don’t let him have a normal life. Thus fear is a good title for the first part of the novel.

Fear is a good title for the first part of the novel because it describes the type of fears that Bigger experiences through out the first part of the novel. One of Bigger’s biggest fears is failure. Bigger is afraid to fail in life because none of his family members would support him because they think that Bigger isn’t capable of doing anything right “ Bigger ain’t decent enough to think of nothing like that,” (pg.11) this is what Vera says( Bigger’s sister), Bigger is afraid to fail in life because if he fails that will just mean that his sister would be right and nobody likes to be wrong specially Bigger. Another reason why Bigger fears failure is because the fate of his family rest on his shoulders, “You know, Bigger, “ his mother said, “ if you don’t take that job the relief’ll cut us off. We won’t have any food.” Bigger’s mother puts a big and heavy load of responsibility on his shoulders because she tells him that if his family starves is going to be Bigger’s fault because he didn’t take the job.

Another of Bigger’s fears is the fear that he has towards the white race. Every time bigger encounters a white person he would act differently as if he was a coward “ Jan smiled broadly, then extended an open palm toward him. Bigger’s entire body tightened with suspense and dread”. Bigger changes he goes from being a wolf that always acts tough, but when he makes contact with any white person he turns into a weak and defenseless sheep. Bigger’s fear towards the white race comes from the fact that his surroundings always make his race feel inferior to the white race. For instance, the billboard that has a white male pointing at Bigger and saying “YOU CAN”T WIN” this makes Bigger feel inferior and thus makes Bigger be afraid of any white person, because , to Bigger that billboard is saying we ( the white race) are stronger than you and as hard as you try you will never defeat us and we will always be superior to you.

Bigger’s fear of getting caught might be his biggest fear of them all and it’s the reason why this part of the novel is called “FEAR”. Bigger is afraid to get caught after he kills Mary, decapitates her, and then burns the evidence, her whole body. Bigger is so afraid to get caught that he cautiously looks around after he burns Mary’s body so that he won’t leave any other evidence that might reveal the killer “ He looked around to see if he had left anything that would betray him, he saw nothing”. “I’ll tell’em I left her with Jan in the car. I took the trunk down in the basement. In the morning I’ll take the trunk to the station like she told me….”. This is what Bigger is planning to say if he is asked to tell the police if he had seen Mary at all, Bigger is so scared that in his mind he’s already making up stories that might sound real and believable.

Whether fear affects you or not, Bigger is very much affected by his fears failure, white people, and getting caught. Fear will always follow us (humans) around everywhere and won’t let us live a happy life just like Bigger or at least let us live in peace because fear is a part of life and without fear life and wouldn’t be normal because deep down everyone is afraid of somebody or something. Thus Bigger will always be hunted by fear that’s why the first part of the novel is called “FEAR”.