Native Son Thoughts/Reactions

I was very glad that I went along to The Court Theater to see The Native Son as it turned out to be very well done in all aspects. The play is about a black man named Bigger, growing up in the 1940s. He is surrounded by powerful white men, and he is always living in fear of the powerful until he not purposefully kills a white woman and everything boils over. After this happens, he is forced to flee and live on what he can. This provokes even more bad acts. The play shows the downward spiral of this young man who so vividly depicts hopelessness and fear.

I was very impressed by the play. Everything about it was carefully thought out, down to the background noise. It all amounted to a fantastic production. I was especially impressed by the acting. I thought the play was cast perfectly, and everyone carried their part really well.

My main question that I bring from the play is are we supposed to sympathize with Bigger? I argue yes, because the whole play is shown from his minds eye and we see firsthand everything that he is thinking. We know that Bigger is not a bad man, we see that he is a very intelligent and supportive male figure in his family. But down the road he commits two killings. Sometimes he has no choice, other times he's so afraid that he doesn't know what else to do. We see how unbelievably difficult life was for African Americans in the 1940s and this feeds Biggers fears and thoughts. The whole reason he accidentally killed the woman was because he was afraid he would be killed if he was caught with a white woman in bed. Ironic that the fear of being killed caused the actual killing. And after that he kills his wife because he can't leave her, but can't take her with. They are both in danger of being killed. The fear of getting killed, killed both of those women.

Overall I thought the play was very powerful and well done. Many of the issues discussed still run true today and the play makes you think about them. I would definitely recommend it. If anyone else has other opinions let me hear them in the comments please.