Native Son

"I was in jail grieving Mary then I thought of all the black men who've been killed, the black men who had to grieve when their people were snatched from them in slavery and since slavery" (288).

Despite his misfortunes Jan was still able to forgive Bigger and tried to understand why Bigger killed Mary. Jan is a very interesting character. He posses a very rare characteristic, which is being able to forgive. Unlike the other white he acknowledged that they as a people are part a the problem. The white in this case are the ones oppressing the black, which unable them to do certain things and have certain right and they end up stealing and hurting other to provide for themselves. The blacks living in a unjust society and Jan somehow sees the injustice and wants to take a stand and try to make a difference.

What series of events make Jan such a goof person or is he just a good person?

"He had lived and acted on assumption that he was alone and now saw that he had no been" (298).

Bigger finally realize that what he had done is a statement for all black people. Not to show that he is strong and above the law but that all black people are act irrationally. His actions had tainted his family name, his sister can not go to her sewing class because her brother had killed someone. To the white Bigger is essentially a symbol of hate and everything wrong in the world. To others he symbolizes pity and to others [or only Bigger]power. Nonetheless he finally show some signs of remorse. In this books Bigger is trying to deal with his emotion and seeing what he has done wrong.

Does Bigger misfortune inspire his friends to change their way?

"And under it all he knew that the whites people did not really care about Bessie's being killed" (331).

It was a bit insulting for them to use Bessie as an evidence to Mary's murder. They did not really care about her because she was black. They did not even try to make a case for her murder. They at least charge him with her murder and make him trial just like he is doing for Mary. That show that money and race is an advantage in this case. In the case of any other black girl it would not even make the news. A white girl the police would try to find out who it was but in the case of Mary Dalton it make national news. The news papers added so much fuel to the fire that it is getting out of control. Mobs of people are trying to kill every day he is being insulted by the angry white mob. In the situation both Bigger and Mary got the publicity the deserved and Bessie is just being used.

Will Bigger's personality change from a bitter angry man to a nicer one by the end of the book?