As soon as we begin Native Son, the author, Wright, throws us into a dramatic mess of a scene. An enormous black rat has trespassed into the single-room home that Bigger’s family shares and sends the entire house scrambling for higher ground or a weapon to attack the rat. Bigger spends the next two pages frantically trying to catch the rat. While attempting to smash the rat with a skillet, the rat tears his pants apart. Eventually, however, he succeeds and corners the rat with a box and hits its head repeatedly with a shoe all while cursing hysterically. After giving the already dead rat a good beating, he and his brother stand over it and comment on the monstrous size of the rodent. In the first few pages, Wright establishes a chaotic setting that continues on for the rest of the novel.
Actually written and included after the completion of the first draft of Native Son, Wright writes the opening scene with the rest of the book already in mind. This leads to the rat’s battle against Bigger becoming an allegory of Bigger’s battle against the white people. The rat is specifically described as black, acting as a reflection of Bigger. Readers are inclined to feel sympathetically towards the small rat, with its belly trembling in fear. However, as much as it is pitiful, the rat has to go and the author immediately turns around to describe the rat as dangerous and terrifying, drawing attention to its large size and hideous features as it even leaps and tries to take a bite out of Bigger. The rat, while insignificant, poses a threat to Bigger. And just like the rat, Bigger’s oppressed and suffocating life makes the reader want to sympathize with his character-until he murders people and rather than remorse feels free after doing so.
Wright also uses this element of fear to draw a clear parallel between the power dynamic present in the rat and Bigger’s relationship vs. the white people. The rat fears Bigger, yet Bigger is also uneasy. He doesn’t want to get up close to the rat to hit it, but he’s also afraid that if he throws the pan he might miss. Bigger has the upper hand in nearly every way and yet he still fears that the rat will escape and be on the loose. White people fear Bigger in the same way, afraid of the black peoples’ potential to break free and cause an upheaval in the system they have carefully placed. Just like how the rat fears him, Bigger fears white people and the looming authority they hold over him. Therefore, these relationships are, at their very root, built on mutual fear. The relationship between the rat and Bigger cleverly unmasks the hidden conflicts in power dynamics that were present since the years of slavery. This same mutual fear caused the captors to resort to more extreme punishments and the captives to rebel, creating an inbuilt cycle of violence that fueled slavery for many decades.
I think this is a good breakdown of the opening scene of the novel. To me, this scene is even a bit more fantastical than the rest of the novel, which I find puzzling.
ReplyDeleteThe rat scene has so many interpretations its crazy! I also used the rat scene in my essay but it was in a completely different way (explaining how bigger gets less moral throughout the story). Native Son does such a great job with it's metaphors.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great analysis of the rat scene at the beginning of Native Son and how it connects to the rest of the book. I like your idea of setting of a setting of chaos that will persist for the rest of the narrative. It's also interesting how to connected this scene with the general theme of fear, it makes total sense. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think your analysis of the rat scene's deeper significance is really enlightening to read! This scene really does develop into an underlying metaphor that resurfaces again and again throughout Native Son, which is something we didn't really get a chance to dig into in class. I especially found your point about mutual fear affecting power dynamics to be interesting!
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic blog post! Your analysis of the rat as a metaphor for Bigger is incredibly compelling. I love how you describe Wright's initial description of the rat, a sympathetic creature in fear of its life, in stark contrast to the sudden 180 the description of the rat takes, in which it is suddenly inferior and threatening to Bigger. The reader wants to sympathize with Bigger's character throughout the book, as he seems like a fearful man, until he commits murders and more terrible crimes. Only then the reader is left trying to figure out what happened and whether or not they can continue sympathizing with him. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really loved this blog post! The way you analyzed the rat scene showed such an interesting perspective to how the scene connects to the rest of the book. Having this scene be at the beginning of the book really helps in setting it as the metaphor for Bigger for the rest of the story. I especially loved your connection to the theme of fear and the rat. Great Job!
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