From the opening of Book Three through Bigger signing
his confession
Summary
In jail, Bigger lives in a world with no day,
no night, and no fear or hatred, as such emotions are useless to
him now. He feels gripped by a deep resolution to react to nothing,
and he says and eats nothing. He longs for death, but as a black
man he does not want to die “unequal, and despised.” Bigger wonders
if perhaps the whites are right that being black is the same as
being an animal of some sort. Nonetheless, the hope that another
way of life exists, one in which he would be able to forget his
racial differences, keeps coming back to him.
The authorities drag Bigger to an inquest at the morgue.
He senses from the white people around him that they plan not only
to put him to death, but also to make him a symbol to terrorize
and control the black community. A feeling of rebellion rises in
him and he begins to come out of his stupor. In the morgue, Bigger
sees Jan and the Daltons. As he gradually begins to snap out of
his psychological stupor, he faints, overcome by hunger and exhaustion.
When Bigger awakens in his cell, he believes he has “come out into
the world again” in order to save his pride and keep the authorities
from “making sport of him.”
Bigger asks to see a newspaper. The headline reads, “Negro
Rapist Faints at Inquest.” The story compares Bigger to a “jungle
beast” who lacks the harmless charm of the “grinning southern darky.” Edward
Robertson, editor of the Jackson Daily Star, advises
total segregation and a curtailment of the education of the black
population, which he claims will prevent men like Bigger from developing. Bigger
contemplates returning to his protective stupor, but is not sure
if he is still able to do so.
Reverend Hammond, the pastor of Mrs. Thomas’s church,
visits Bigger in his cell. The Reverend talks to him about hope
and love beyond life. Bigger feels a terrible guilt for having killed
within himself the kind of world the preacher describes. He compares
the murder of his faith to his murder of Mary. Hammond places a
cross around Bigger’s neck just as Jan enters the cell. Jan says
that he is not angry and that he wants to help Bigger. Jan says
he was foolish to assume that Bigger could have related to him in
a different way than he relates to other white men. Jan says that
he loved Mary, but he also realizes that black families loved all
the black men who have been sold into slavery or lynched by whites.
As Jan speaks, Bigger notes that this moment is the first time in
his life that he has seen a white person as an individual human
being, rather than merely a part of the larger oppressive force
of whiteness. This feeling deepens Bigger’s guilt, as he knows he
has killed the woman Jan loved. Jan introduces Bigger to Boris A.
Max, a lawyer for the Labor Defenders. Max wants to defend Bigger
free of charge.
Buckley, the State’s Attorney, suddenly enters Bigger’s
cell. Though Max argues that white power is responsible for Bigger’s actions,
Bigger feels his burgeoning friendship with Max and Jan quickly
evaporate when he sees the self-assured Buckley. Mr. and Mrs. Dalton
enter the cell and ask that Bigger cooperate with Buckley and reveal
the name of his accomplice. In response, Max asks that they not
sentence Bigger to death. Dalton says that despite the crime he
is not angry with all black Americans. He announces that he has
even sent some Ping-Pong tables to the South Side Boys’ Club earlier
in the day. Doubtful, Max questions whether Ping-Pong will prevent
murder.
Bigger’s family and his friends Jack, G. H., and Gus
enter the now crowded cell. Bigger looks at them and thinks they
should be glad that he has “taken fully upon himself the crime of
being black,” and thus washed away their shame. He knows, however,
that they still feel shame, and he asks his mother to forget him.
Mrs. Thomas tearfully begs the Daltons to have mercy, but they only
reply that they have no control over the matter. Mrs. Thomas also
tells Mr. Dalton that his real estate company has been trying to
evict her family, and he promises they will not be evicted.
