Buddy Thomas
I think it's fair to say that all the major characters in Native Son represent something larger than themselves. They typically represent a subset of a larger demographic of people. Going off of this idea, I was wondering what role Bigger's family play in Richard Wright's analogy. Even if his family does not necessarily hold their own metaphorical roles in society, they might be examples of the types of people that would influence the Bigger Thomases of the time. After all, these three people are the first people to interact with Bigger in the book, and their relationships with him already show a lot about his personality. What can their relationships with him show about their personalities?
The family member that was the most intriguing to me was Buddy Thomas. He is the only one that really seems to develop his character throughout the novel, and as I said before, it's his interactions and relationship with Bigger that show his own character. One thing is constant: Buddy constantly admires Bigger, whether that means envying his hated job or trusting him after discovering Mary's purse. The variable that seems to develop is Buddy's innocence. Buddy goes from a boy who follows his mama's every instruction to one who is willing to kill White people on Bigger's behalf.
Does this mean we have witnessed from afar the creation of another Bigger Thomas, or is Buddy something else entirely? There are definite differences between Buddy and Bigger, but they grow up in the same house and environment with the same societal pressures of being a Black man. So what makes Buddy different from Bigger?
In the opening scene of the novel, Bigger is forced to kill a rat in his family's apartment. His mother and sister stand back as he and Buddy must try to kill it. For the majority of this scene and the entire interaction between the family, Buddy's only actions stem from orders from his mother, sister, and brother. He does nothing to contribute to the killing of the rat besides handing Bigger a skillet and putting the box over a hole, both on command. I think that Buddy's passivity in this scene show that he is not as grown up as Bigger. Perhaps his inability to act with agency against the rat reflects his current passivity towards the problems that he and his brother face from society.
The next interaction Bigger and Buddy have together is after Bigger kills Mary and Buddy wakes up and asks him questions about his job (Side note: I had been looking for evidence of the gender roles that played into Buddy's character and I found a quote in this scene where he says "How come gals that way, Bigger? Soon's a guy get a good job, they want to marry?" (104) and I thought that was interesting and that maybe Buddy is using toxic masculinity to relate to Bigger. But anyway). I think this scene shows the admiration that Buddy feels towards Bigger. He treats his new job with a lot of amazement. This scene also brings us Bigger's realization that Buddy is "blind" and "defenseless" and "aimless" like a "chubby puppy. (108)" He compares Buddy to Jan's "stillness," "isolation," and "meaninglessness." I took this to show that Buddy is as naive as Jan is about what actually needs to be done or the inner-workings of society that seem so clear to Bigger now. He is blind to Bigger's feeling of having agency over one's life. This is more evidence that Buddy is passive in society and has not yet matured or gained form. Buddy's admiration of Bigger might show that he wants to become Bigger, which shows where he might be headed.
The last scene that seems to show Buddy's transformation is when he visits Bigger in the jail cell. Buddy speaks to Bigger with anger in his voice, claiming that he is willing to kill some of the white men if Bigger is innocent. Whether or not he is willing to go through with his claim, this is one of the first times that Buddy has ever claimed to have agency or done something without prompting from others. I think this shows Buddy's development from a passive, shapeless boy into someone willing to take some form of action against white people. It's also clear that Buddy is extremely angry during the scene, as his hands are clenched, and Bigger expresses wishes to quell Buddy's anger. He expresses his wish to do something as rebellious as murdering white people, a rebellion which I think is certainly a trait of many Bigger Thomases. Or perhaps not? Perhaps, unlike Bigger, Buddy has found a way around not being able to control his feelings, and maybe he is just being protective of his brother. This may be a stretch but it felt like it was worth talking about. If he isn't on his way to becoming Bigger Thomas, why isn't he? What is he instead?
- Roshan Perry
I found your blog post very interesting and got me thinking and I have some thoughts about why Buddy didn’t become like Bigger. Like you said earlier, they grew up in the same environment, so what made them different? I think there was actually one crucial difference in Buddy’s environment growing up, which was his brother, Bigger.
ReplyDeleteAs Buddy was growing up, he had his older brother with him as well. In several cases with siblings, the younger sibling follows the older one around at some point usually because of some fascination with what the older sibling is doing. For Buddy, this might have not completely worn off and was still following Bigger around, ready to help him with whatever he does. If Buddy was the older sibling, then he might have been much more like Bigger. However, Buddy was the younger sibling and was held in awe of what his older brother was doing and wanted to help. At the end when Buddy is making the decision to possibly attack white people for Bigger is where we see Buddy change from just being a follower of Bigger. At that point, Buddy knew that Bigger would most likely receive the death penalty, and I think that finally created some separation between him and Bigger and Buddy began to think and speak his thoughts. We won’t know how he develops, but after Bigger’s death, Buddy might have developed into somebody much more like Bigger than Buddy at the start of the book.
That's interesting. So what you're saying is that Buddy's relationship with Bigger kept him as a follower so he didn't have his own ideas about fighting back against society like Bigger, and once he loses Bigger, he might become more independent and have to make his own decisions on what to do like Bigger? I think I agree if I understood you correctly.
DeleteI barely thought about Buddy as I read Native Son, but I think that goes to show how easily Buddy seeps into the background of the story. To me doesn't stand out much from the rest of the family. When the family is eating breakfast and Bigger's mom keeps nagging Bigger about getting a job, Buddy tries to speak up for Bigger, but even Bigger brushes him aside. To me that means that Bigger doesn't car for Buddy, and he doesn't seem to care for his mom or sister, so they begin to blend together.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Buddy develops significantly as the novel progresses, and he grows up a lot. However, I think that he will never become like Bigger. As a younger sibling, he is always looking up to Bigger as an example, but as the novel progresses he begins to see Bigger as more of a counter-example for how he should behave. The defining difference between these brothers is Buddy's ability to express his emotions. His offer to kill white people for Bigger is out of love for his brother, and fear for what could happen if he loses Bigger. Think about it: he's already lost his real father, now he's losing his fatherly figure, and he's going to be the "man of the house". He's terrified, and his offer to Bigger is more of a cry of desperation than a transformation into a mini-Bigger.
ReplyDeleteSo because he doesn't have so much pressure, Buddy can never become Bigger because he has the ability to love Bigger, which Bigger doesn't seem capable of. That's an interesting point if I understand you correctly.
Delete