The Making and Shaping of Identity

Literary authors have over the years written works to express people’s quest for identity.
Black people have historically faced an identity crisis. Even when represented in literature, they
have been made to exist in the white man’s world, reverting to their marginalization. Societal
norms have historically dehumanized black people. Over the years, black authors have depicted
black characters as battling human experiences and struggling to identify their identities. In
Native Son, Wright extensively writes about forces and processes in society and their role in
making and shaping the identity of specifically black characters in the city. The novel
demonstrates hardships experienced by blacks in a white-dominated society. The paper explores
the sense of lost identity as depicted by Wright and the experiences of African-Americans as
their identities are shaped and made through different experiences.
Racial segregation was a social problem in America up until 1969, when the Supreme
Court ordered real desegregation. Even after the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954,
racial segregation in school still persisted for almost two more decades (Gilbert, 2017). These
historical events affected black people who were discriminated against and denied certain civil
rights, such as the right to vote. Black people worked as slaves, and they were in some instances
denied access to businesses that were owned by white people. The racial strife led to the
production of a multitude of identities. Over the years, attempts have been made to rewrite the
colonial discourse and reconstruct the social identities that were affected by the marginalization
of the blacks. Wright’s novel depicts some of the struggles among the blacks as they fight to
recapture their lost identities and make themselves equal to the whites (Wright, 2016).

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Bigger Thomas is one of Wright’s characters that stands out in his quest to find his
identity. He is first depicted as a black young man who is sowing seeds of activism. He is kept at
the margins of society, and this is primarily due to his race. He, however, is ready to reassert his
position in society and shape his identity as he deems fit. He rebels and refuses to conform to
norms and customs, and this becomes apparent when he refuses to work for Dalton as a
chauffeur. He tries to identify the ground and assert his firm stand, although he knows well how
hard it is to achieve such progress. He exists in a society where the white perceive them as their
“property, heart and soul, body and blood” ((Wright, 2016). Through the thoughts of Bigger, it
becomes evident that the objectification of black people have made the rhythms of their lives to
be characterized by violence and indifference. Bigger acknowledges that violence had become an
integral part of his identity. He states that as a human being, he did not realize that he was alive
until he felt things hard enough to want to kill for them.
Black violence in Wright’s novel is a positive force, and the author demonstrates the
processes the characters have to go through to remove the indifference and dehumanize the black
identity. However, there is a sharp contrast between violence as seen from the perspective of the
whites and violence as perceived by blacks. Violence is depicted as a positive force that helps
make and shape identity in the lies of the black people in society. On the other hand, violence is
seen as a force of evil from the perspective of white people. The contrast shows that while black
people struggle with identifying their identity, white people do not support them. The white
objectification makes it necessary for black people to result to violence to form their identity. It
is out of necessity as opposed to depraved intentions.
The novel depicts a situation where white objectification of blacks perpetuates violence.
When whites treat blacks in an inhumane way, they create an environment that hinders the blacks

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from creating their identity as human beings. It is through violence that black people are finally
recognized as autonomous and sentient beings. Wrights novel relates to past experiences of
blacks, such as when they went through explicit racial zoning, a problem that affected blacks
historically in times when segregation was outlawed but was still being practised either way. The
whites would use their authority to create restrictive covenants that would make other races,
including blacks to be left out and not receive federal loans (Coates, 2014). The blacks that
existed ten fought to identify their independence. In the novel, Bigger overcomes indifference
through the use of violence. The author compares the darkness and violence of Chicago to the
violence and darkness that broods in Bigger’s heart (Wright, 2016). However, one of the
problems of making and shaping identity through the use of violence is that it hinders and
obscures it. Bigger’s newfound identity is ultimately limited because of the means used to
acquire it.
The forces that make and shape the black identity are dark and, in some instances, deadly.
Wright makes it clear that black men struggle with their sexual identity. According to him, their
sexuality is contaminated with aggression and violence. This can be seen when Bigger
masturbates shortly after watching a movie (Wright, 2016). He then rapes and kills Bessie, his
girlfriend. The sexuality of white women is flaunted in movies and magazines, but it is forbidden
to black men, and they can only admire and lust over them from a distance. Rape is then a form
of violence, a political act, and an act of rebellion that the men try to use to identify their sexual
identity. Such acts depict Bigger as a man who is indifferent to the suffering of other human
beings. He is willing to use whatever forces available and possible to create his identity, even if
that means hurting other people in the process. He outrightly states that he never loved Bessie

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but was with her out of convenience. He has been hurt before, and these experiences seem to
have hardened him and made him incapable of identifying in the plight of others.
The daily lives of black people in the city are characterized by rage, anger and frustration
as they struggle to identify their identity. Their experiences are exemplified in Biggers’s life. He
takes Mary, his boss’s daughter, out for a ride alongside her communist boyfriend. Mary insists
that Bigger takes them to an all-black restaurant. He is uncomfortable and embarrassed. They
order drinks, and all three get drunk. Bigger then drives Mary home and tries to kiss her (Wright,
2016). He almost gets caught, and this makes him unconsciously suffocate Mary to death as he
tries to stop her from shouting. At first, he feels guilty and has a sense of remorse. However, the
feeling does not last long as he soon after felt a sense of accomplishment. Killing a white girl
gave Bigger a new sense of identity and power. However, his actions make white authorities act
violently against him as well as his fellow blacks. He is eventually tried for murder.
Overall, racial identity development takes place through forces and processes that are
mainly dark and violent. Lives are lost, hared is bred, and people are left unsure of their social
standing even as they struggle to shape their identity. Wright uses Bigger to show how black
racial development takes place in the novel. The author’s writings are influenced by the social-
political environment of the 80s and part of the 90s in America. Most black people suffered not
just to identify their identity but to just exist as equal beings in a society dominated by white
supremacy. Their attempts do not sometimes end well, as can be seen in Bigger’s life. He used
excessive violence to assert his dominance as a black man and to identify his identity, and this
ended in suffering both for himself and other black people. They suffered long-lasting scars in
the process of identifying, making, and shaping their black identity.

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References

 Coates, T.-N. (June 2014). The Case for Reparations (Links to an external site.). The Atlantic —
>https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-
reparations/361631/
Gilbert, K. (Fall 2017). The Socialist Experiment: A New-Society Vision in Jackson,
Mississippi. (Links to an external site.) Oxford American 98. —-
> https://main.oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/1296-the-socialist-experiment
Wright, R. (2016). Native son. Random house.