Wright using Women
Joining the class late, I was only present for a discussion or two on Native Son, and was still in the process of finishing the book up as I watched classmates dissect the author’s intention. One of the topics that got a lot of takes stood out to me, and pretty drastically changed the way I read the rest of the book. A lot of people consider the author’s one-dimensional characters, especially the female characters, to be a flaw of the book and an oversight on the author’s part. People mentioned how Bessie’s death was used in the novel as a simple prop to the story, and how she and Biggers mother and sister got little character development, and I expected the novel to go a very different direction. I expected Bessie’s usage in the investigation to simply be described in the novel, and the opinions that classmates had about how unfair to her that was, to have been drawn from their own interpretations.
But when I got to the page, Wright
stated, “He had completely forgotten Bessie during the inquest of Mary.”, and a
bit further down, “… he knew that it would be for the death of the white girl
he would be punished. The black girl was merely “evidence”.” (Wright 331).
Not only was Wright writing directly about the double standard assigned to the murdered women, but even had Bigger dissecting it in his mind. Bigger thinks, “[Bessie] would resent her dead body being used in this way.”, showing Wright addressing the fact that Bessie, compared to Mary, was “used” (Wright 331). The awful treatment of the women in the book, as well as the differences between them, does not look like an accident to me. Bessie, along with every other character in the book, served a specific role in Wright's protest novel and seemed to have been developed almost exclusively for that purpose. In fact, the only character I saw having development past a baseline description of their backstory and goal, was Bigger, and this wasn’t too surprising to me considering how much of the meaning of the book centered on Biggers view of the world. Mrs. Dalton, Mary, Vera, Bessie, and Biggers mother had as much or more characterization at parts of the novel they showed up in, than Max or Jan, or any of Biggers friends did, despite them also occupying large parts of the book.
People’s criticism of the
one dimensional character’s, to me, serves as a useful criticism of the book for
its writing style or relatability, but on the point of it not developing women,
I believe that Wright’s decisions were very intentional rather than an
oversight. Readers wishing Native Son to act as a book leaving a lasting
impact from a large cast of detailed or emotional characters will be
disappointed, but those using it to see the world through one specific
character’s eyes briefly, or Wright’s idea of that character’s eyes, probably
won’t be as critical of the many characters openly written only to prove a
point.
It seems that Richard Wright was well aware of the dynamic between women and men in his novel, and developed
their characters exactly according to each message he wanted to send. Of
course, whether the message that black and white women were seen that way
through black men’s eyes is justified and a good message to send, is a
completely different topic that we could unpack, but I think that should be
done with the understanding of Wright’s intention and deliberate writing in
mind.
Previously, I thought that the lack of proper depictions of women in Native Son were due to Richard Wright's own values and beliefs coming into play. Now, I see that it was likely just a way of developing Bigger's character for the reader to understand him more. However, stepping back a little, maybe Bessie's role in developing Bigger as a character is commenting on how black women will help propel others forward while they stay behind, constantly not getting enough credit.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your take on this aspect of the novel! One section of this post that I found especially compelling was when you discussed how by reading this book, the audience gets to see the world through a very particular lens, and not necessarily a whole depiction of everything around that lens. As the novel is very much centered around Bigger’s perspective of the world around him, I find that it makes sense that these women who are highlighted in the novel are not the best developed and depicted characters. Although it frustrated me too, I feel like these descriptions made a lot of sense in the context of the novel.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree! Especially after reading “How Bigger Was Born,” I got a greater sense of just how deliberate each aspect of Native Son was planned, placed, and developed. I feel that Richard Wright, as you explained, had a very specific message he wanted to convey. I feel that maybe even getting us to discuss this particular aspect in class shows that he did this very well!
Thanks!
Hi Stefania, through this blog post, you've done a great job expressing your opinion on Wright's intentions concerning Bessie's place (and the place of other female characters) in Native Son. In our class discussions, similar to yours, there were two sides: one that believed Wright was projecting his own thoughts on women onto Bigger, and another that believed Wright intentionally framed Bigger's perspective as dismissive towards women to further the plot and frame Bigger's character. I'm not quite sure what specific message Wright was trying to send, but like you said, it would be interesting to explore.
ReplyDeleteI certainly do see Wright's depiction of women (specifically black women) as a bit of a problem in the novel, but I agree with you that it wasn't due to an oversight. However, I wish there were more direct call-outs of the narrow view that Bigger has of the women in the story. During class discussion, we talked at length about the validity of Max's interpretation of Bigger because there were aspects of the novel that encouraged us to question if Max was misrepresenting him, but there was not much that implied that Bigger's view of the women might be wrong. Native Son is certainly a novel about race, and not gender, so perhaps ignoring that question is permissible in the context of the book, but there were certainly areas where even subtle comments could have encouraged a deeper, intersectional reading of the novel exploring both race and gender. I think that is where Wright fell short, not necessarily in his initial depictions of the women.
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, I agree with your point that Wright was intentional with his using of black women, but I don't think that detracts from the harmful imagery used regarding them. Sure Bigger thinks about how unfair it was that Bessie was merely evidence to the case of a white woman, and that she would've hated being wheeled around like she was, but at the same time he did rape and murder her. I suppose maybe it speaks to his character development, but the way he treated this woman still remains. One could make the argument that his treatment of Bessie is also representative of how black women in general are treated, but their treatment isn't the only disappointing element of how they are written.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Bigger is definitely sexist! In the same way that the author depicts racism to make a point but isn't racist, he is probably making a point about Bigger and the society.
DeleteThis is an interesting take. I agree that the way Wright wrote the women in this book, although not great, was intentional. I think his aim with writing the book was to try and portray aspects of the life of a black man in America - the title is Native SON after all - and I think that meant he was willing to not spend the time needed to fully flesh out all the female characters. Not only that, as you said, the novel was very focused on Bigger's life - so it made sense not too spend too much time on anyone else - yet I'm not sure I agree that all the female characters had just as much or more characterization as the men.
ReplyDelete