Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors
used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Mrs. Dalton’s Blindness
Mrs. Dalton’s blindness plays a crucial role in the circumstances
of Bigger’s murder of Mary, as it gives Bigger the escape route
of smothering Mary to keep her from revealing his presence in her
bedroom. On a symbolic level, this set of circumstances serves as
a metaphor for the vicious circle of racism in American society:
Mrs. Dalton’s inability to see Bigger causes him to turn to violence,
just as the inability of whites to see blacks as individuals causes
blacks to live their lives in fear and hatred. Mrs. Dalton’s blindness
represents the inability of white Americans as a whole to see black
Americans as anything other than the embodiment of their media-enforced -stereotypes.
Wright echoes Mrs. Dalton’s literal blindness throughout the novel
in his descriptions of other characters who are figuratively blind
for one reason or another. Indeed, Bigger later realizes that, in
a sense, even he has been blind, unable to see whites as individuals
rather than a single oppressive mass.
The Cross
The Christian cross traditionally symbolizes compassion
and sacrifice for a greater good, and indeed Reverend Hammond intends
as much when he gives Bigger a cross while he is in jail. Bigger
even begins to think of himself as Christlike, imagining that he
is sacrificing himself in order to wash away the shame of being
black, just as Christ died to wash away the world’s sins. Later,
however, after Bigger sees the image of a burning cross, he can
only associate crosses with the hatred and racism that have crippled
him throughout his life. As such, the cross in Native Son comes
to symbolize the opposite of what it usually signifies in a Christian
context.
Snow
A light snow begins falling at the start of Book Two,
and this snow eventually turns into a blizzard that aids in Bigger’s
capture. Throughout the novel, Bigger thinks of whites not as individuals, but
as a looming white mountain or a great natural force pressing down
upon him. The blizzard is raging as Bigger jumps from his window
to escape after Mary’s bones are found in the furnace. When he falls
to the ground, the snow fills his mouth, ears, and eyes—all his senses
are overwhelmed with a literal whiteness, representing the metaphorical
“whiteness” he feels has been controlling him his whole life. Bigger
tries to flee, but the snow has sealed off all avenues of escape, allowing
the white police to surround and capture him.
