Native Son the Fact That Term Paper

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"Hate and shame boiled in him against the people behind his back; he tried to think of words that would defy him...And at the same time he wanted those words to stop the tears of his mother and sister, to quiet and sooth the anger of his brother..." With all that has happened and with his being incarcerated with little hope of surviving, he is able to think about the pain he has caused his mother and sister and brother, and this gives Bigger some depth in the mind of the reader.

The character Buckley, acting as state's attorney (prosecutor) in the courtroom, helps convey an impression for the reader of what life was like for an accused black man in the 1940s. Of course the evidence seems overwhelming against Bigger; and the lurid idea of a black man burning one woman, severing the head of another white woman is perfect fodder for the state's attorney to play off of. If ever the evidence is stacked against a man, this is it. On page 370 Buckley repeats the grim crimes to the audience; "A gasp of astonishment came from the court room and Bigger saw faces turning and looking in his direction." And the reader feels he knows Buckley the man outside the court of law through Buckley's employing his best rhetorical tools. "Never in my long career as an officer of the people have I...felt more unalterably certain my duty," he stated, raising the issue above the murder charges and into the realm of justice. This case is "solid as this brick, the brick that battered a poor girl's brains out," and adds that he enjoys having "the masses of the citizens who elected him...

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standing literally at his back, waiting for him to enforce the law..." Buckley deliberately stirred things further by raising the window so the mob outside could have its say. "Kill 'im now!" "Lynch 'im!" The crowd called out.

It would seem that Buckley has all the evidence he needs in the knife and the brick and the black man in custody who used those weapons against white women. So why would he need to resort to theatrics and racial innuendo to get the community stirred up and the verdict he needs? These stunts in court are what tells the reader the deeper darker side of Buckley. "Proceed in a fashion more in keeping with the dignity of your office..." The judge implored of Buckley. As far as readers go, Buckley is the character who reaches out to the racists and Max is the character who touches the fair-minded with his attempt to represent Bigger and speak for him. "I shall witness for Bigger Thomas," Max says on page 348, while trying to argue that Bigger is not sane enough to stand trial. But even though Max does pretty well trying to speak for this confused, condemned man, Wright makes sure that Bigger has the last (pathetic) word on page 392; and it's ironic that Bigger seems to be competent to relate his feelings when it's far too late anyway. "What I killed for must've been good...I can say it now 'cause I'm going to die. I know what I'm saying real good and I know how it sounds. But I'm all right. I feel all right when I look at it that way..."

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