Bigger Thomas, (Alleged) Rapist Before Murderer
Bigger Thomas is a rapist and a murderer. The second twice over, but the first only once. These three crimes should be more than enough to convict and sentence him to death, yet, in his prosecution, Buckley chooses instead to focus instead on a heinous act that Bigger did not, in fact, commit, the rape of Mary Dalton. This rape is the very crux of Buckley’s case, exemplified in his statement, “He killed her because he raped her! Mind you, Your Honor, the central crime here is rape! Every action points toward that!” (413). This approach is permissible in court because Max allows it. Max completely dismisses the idea that Bigger did not rape Mary saying, “Let us not concern ourselves with that part of Bigger Thomas’ confession that says […] he did not rape the girl. It really does not matter” (403). Why does it not matter? Why is Bigger convicted largely on a crime that he did not in fact commit?
The answer comes down to public perception. Bigger himself sums it up best when Max asks him if he raped Mary, “Naw. But everybody’ll say I did. What’s the use? I’m black. They say black men do that. So it don’t matter if I did or if I didn’t” (349). The complete dismissal of Bigger’s denial of rape seems ludicrous, but the reaction of the public to Bigger’s crimes makes it clear that he is correct. In newspapers, Bigger reads “AUTHORITIES HINT SEX CRIME”, “Shaded portion shows area already covered by police and vigilantes in search for Negro rapist and murderer”, and “24-HOUR SEARCH FAILS TO UNEARTH RAPIST” (243; 245; 255). The newspaper largely picks up the story of the rape, not the murder. Even when both are mentioned “rapist” comes before “murderer”. Reading that first newspaper header, Bigger thinks, “To hint that he had committed a sex crime was to pronounce the death sentence” (243). Clearly, in 1930s America, a black man raping a white woman holds more weight than the murder of a white woman. Through rape, Bigger would be tarnishing the innocence of Mary, a fate worse than death for a white woman. That is why Buckley ends his post-witness-examination speech by referring to Bigger as a “despoiler of women” instead of referring to his murders (381).
Still, a question remains, could Buckley not have convicted Bigger on the charge of murder alone? Did the charge of rape benefit his case in any way other than to make the verdict more assuredly death? Perhaps Buckley was trying to further write into the record the lustful, animalistic nature of the black man, just as Max hoped to write in how the environment of the black slums breeds societal outcasts. Or maybe he was truly convinced that Bigger must have raped Mary and was lying in hopes of avoiding a certain death penalty. Ultimately, Wright leaves us without a clear answer to that question. But looking back on this book it’s impossible not to wonder just how the court case of a man who has murdered two women becomes a case about a man accused of a rape he did not commit.
This is a really good point! I think that during the time period, white women were characterized as innocent flowers that had to be protected by white men. Whereas a narrative was created that Black men were always attracted to white women with awful intentions. Buckley is just trying to push this narrative to his benefit so he can continue perpetuating a racist world.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it was really Buckley's intention to perpetuate the racist world or merely to find the easiest out to sentence Bigger to death. Personally, I think that it was probably more the latter. Just like Bigger, Buckley is affected by his environment, his argument is based on the racist ideas that already exist in the world. But I can certainly see different perspectives on the case valid (I did ask the question after all).
DeleteI think it is interesting how you highlight the way that Max allows Buckley to take this approach. When he is defending Bigger he does not really mention the way that one of the things they are trying to convict Bigger of is completely false, even though it is completely false. This does seem like it kind of furthers these racist ideas rather than actually confronting the way that racism has shaped the way that the case is litigated, and not just the way that racism has shaped Bigger's life before he was arrested.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, it just seems like really bad legal practice to allow the prosecutor to base his case on a charge that you know your client did not commit. Could Max not have made his case after taking the rape of Mary off the table? It really just goes to show how far Max is willing to sacrifice Bigger's case in order to further his own agenda of spreading an anti-systematic-racism message. It really throws into question if we should be supporting Max (not that we didn't already have a billion reasons to be a bit cautious of trusting Max).
DeleteI really like how you focused on this because I thought it was weird too the first time I read it. From first glance, you would assume that murder is worse than rape, because you are literally ending someone's life. But I think the reason that Buckley focused on the rape is because it's a crime that has no excuse: it's only about power; there is no other explanation for rape. I think he focused on that angle because it made it easier to paint Bigger as a mindless rage machine if he kept the focus on a completely inexcusable crime.
ReplyDeleteI think you raise a really interesting point about the "value", if you will, of rape versus murder. It's a pretty common saying that sex always represents power in literature, which it seems you're definitely hitting on here, but murder, like in Native Son, really can represent a number of different things. It seems a bit odd, but I agree with you that in my mind rape is actually probably a worse crime than murder. I guess that just shows the effectiveness of Buckley's argument, it plays on notions we have of the different crimes (even in modern times) to paint Bigger in the worst light possible.
DeleteI think the framing of the case is really important for the last third of the book, as you have said. The case is completely based around race and assumptions about things he has done. I would say he did sexually assault Mary, if very briefly. Overall though you make a lot of good points about the trial.
ReplyDeleteYou've done a really great job exploring the exploitation of Bigger's case in court, and I completely relate to your confusion over why Buckley chose to frame his prosecution of Bigger with the claim that he raped Mary. Your take that through rape Bigger would be tarnishing Mary's fate "a fate worse than death for a white woman" was especially interesting, and I can definitely see how it is a outlook that can be/has been adopted (and manipulated) by society. At the end of your post where you pose the question whether the charge of rape was used to further the perception of black men or make sure that Bigger was given the death sentence, I would probably say that its a combination of the two. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many compelling and excellent points in this blog post. I also found it super interesting how you highlight that Max allowed Buckley to say these totally false things about Bigger, I hadn’t thought about this aspect at all before. The part about how it all relates back to public perception seems to be such a driving force in Bigger’s story, and shows how the media truly promotes these thoughts and racism. It seems to just make this cycle of systemic racism worse and worse, and this novel really highlights how Bigger’s entire story played into the bigger systems in society. And I thought it was really interesting how you brought up that people seemed much more disgusted with the (false) conviction of rape than the aspect of murder. This made me feel uncomfortable too as a reader, and it definitely says a lot about much of the public at the time.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great blog post!
Thanks!
(On a totally unrelated note, the blog name is awesome! :) )
I love this blogpsot, nice work! I think it's really telling and horrifying how Bigger is automatically accused of this. I think it goes to show how sexualized any sort of racial trauma is. By the nature of his skin color he is automatically assumed to be a rapist. However, no one really cares about the violence against Bessie, they really only care about Mary.
ReplyDeleteYou make some really good points! I think Max may have ignored the rape charge because he wasn't trying to change people's perception about what Bigger did instead just why he did it. It didn't matter whether Bigger did or didn't rape Mary - even just the murder would have been enough to sentence Bigger to death - and so instead of spending time on this Max focused on trying to explain why he committed any crime. I'm not saying this was the right approach I just think this is what he was going for. I also wonder whether there could be an aspect of Max just not believing that Bigger didn't rape Mary, or if he really thought - as you said - that there was no way he could get people to believe he didn't rape her so he decided there was no point in trying.
ReplyDelete