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Transcript

Bessie in Native Son

Bessie's Role

Cares for Bigger

"Naw; no whiskey. You need some hot milk" (226).

"O.K. honey, But be careful" (148).

~She says this as he is leaving her

She means nothing to Bigger or to anyone in the novel

"He had completely forgotten Bessie during the inquest of Mary" (331).

  • Although Bigger did not forget this because he thought less of Bessie, he still allowed the death of Mary to override the death of Bessie who should have been someone he cared for. That in itself shows that he thought less of Bessie.

"The black girl was merely evidence" (331).

"Yes, that was what he could do with it, throw it out of the window, down the narrow air-shaft where nobody will find it until, perhaps, it had begun to smell" (235).

  • Using the pronoun "it" to describe Bessie shows that Bigger thinks of her as an inanimate object

Foils Bigger

  • Points out his flaws and his bad temper

"He was afraid that he would have to kill her before it was all over" (180).

"Bessie did not figure in what was before him" (234).

"She might have come just in handy" (139).

  • These show that Bessie is only used, in Bigger's mind, as an object that could be thrown away at any point

"So he would give her the liquor and she would give him herself" (139)

"He snatched them from her and gave her a shove and turned back to the dresser" (176).

Serves as a punching bag and a stress reliever for Bigger

She is an alcoholic who only ever works and drinks

"She worked long hours, hard and hot hours seven days a week, with only Sunday afternoons off; and when she did get off she wanted fun, hard and fast fun, something to make her feel that she was making up for the starved life she led" (139).

"I'm going to get a pint" (148).

What Bessie Adds to the Story

Ransom Note

  • Gave Bigger the idea

~talking about Loeb and Leopold

"The one's that killed the boy and then tried to get money from the boy's family...." (136).

A feeling of pity & a sense of sorrow

  • Bessie amplifies the plight of the black person at this time more than Bigger does because she allows us to feel sorry for her

"I'd just as soon die right now" (233).

"She looked at him with round, helpless black eyes" (148).

"...A feeling of being forever commanded by others so much that thinking and feeling for one's self was impossible" (331).

"A sign of resignation, a giving up, a surrender of something more than her body" (233).

  • Bessie no longer feels like she should live at that point in the novel and she gives up trying to protest against Bigger
  • These quotes show just how helpless and pitiful Bessie is as they reveal how she views her self worth.

How the Novel would be different without Bessie

Bigger would never have thought of writing a ransom note

  • Without the ransom note Bigger probably would have fled the city a lot sooner which would have avoided him getting caught

Bigger would have no one to turn to for relief

  • Bigger would have no one to release his pent up energy and anger on therefore he would have allowed his fear and anger to take control of his actions thoughts causing him to make more mistakes and definitely get caught sooner
  • Makes him warm milk
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