Richard Wright’s novel Native Son focuses on the experiences of Bigger Thomas in 1930s Chicago. The book opens depicting the dilapidated living conditions that Bigger, his brother, sister and mother are subject to, as well as a fight with a rat. I believe that Wright chose to include the killing of the rat to serve as a metaphor for the systemic racism that pushes blacks to live lives of crime. The rat is meant to represent Bigger, who was born into a world in which scavenging was the only means for survival. However, being caught scavenging, or stealing, meant being crushed by a skillet, or electric chair.
Unquestionably, social inequality is the central theme of this novel. All of the violence, crime and death that advanced the plot of the story can be directly tied back to the way Bigger’s life had been dictated by forces out of his control. He is pressured into illegal activity to maintain even the negligible living conditions shown in the first chapter. Systemic racism is also shown to affect the psyche of Bigger. He is so afraid of being caught in Mary’s room by Mrs. Dalton that he smothers Mary to death attempting to quite her. Interestingly, it is people like the Daltons that keep race relations in their unstable state. They may offer limited help to blacks in the form of jobs or ping pong tables, but they ensure the continued existence of racist structures in society as shown by their ownership of the apartments Bigger and his family live in.
I like your comment about Bigger killing the rat in the opening scene. After he and his brother attack and kill the rat they hold it up in front of their younger sister as if they are bragging. I think this part is a metaphor for how many blacks in the story react to the black community’s crimes and punishments. When a black commits a crime, the punishment is shown to all the blacks so they will be dissuaded from violence and theft.
I also enjoy your comment about Bigger killing the rat. I think that it serves as a metaphor to reveal the truth behind the system of racism. The rat and Bigger have very similar lifestyles in which both were born into a world where they have to scavenge in order to survive. This shows that the psychological corruption in Bigger and other blacks derives on the social conditions in which they grew up in.
Wright brings up a good point by using the metaphor of Bigger killing the rat and then bragging about it. Not only does this represent white oppression provoking blacks to engage in criminal activity towards whites, it can also lead to blacks performing crimes on other blacks. Racism and oppression forced blacks to act violently amongst themselves along with against whites, and this is in no way productive for society.