Before Native Son, Richard Wright published a collection of short stories under the title Uncle Tom’s Children.  It may not be too difficult to envision Bigger Thomas to be one of those children or, for that matter, to envision Bigger himself as a reincarnation of Uncle Tom.  Bigger clearly is not the sympathetic and appealing protagonist-hero who Uncle Tom was, and Bigger’s self-loathing contrasted sharply with Uncle Tom’s comfort (or at least acceptance) of his life and condition.

Nevertheless, both Tom and Bigger endured cruel lives and brutal journeys (the former perhaps more physically painful, the latter more psychologically painful) and died at the hands of and surrounded by uncaring or unresponsive institutions – Southern slavery and Chicago justice.  Both represented the (Christ-like?) agony of bearing the sins of others for the potential salvation of many.  In the end, as well, both stories suggested the possibility of hope – for Tom the hope that slavery’s end was possible or even in sight, and for Bigger the hope promised by his ability to finally recognize the humanity in at least one white man, Jan, and to see that recognition returned, however fleetingly.

Undeniably it is not easy to see hope in Wright’s Native Son (and it is hard to believe that Wright intended it); however, despite the ugliness of Bigger Thomas’ character and actions, I could not help feeling as emotionally moved by the tragedy of his life and death as I felt about Uncle Tom.

Denis Brennan