Jennifer Popa
3.19.12
ENGL 601

Marx and “the” Cultural Poetics (sounds like a band name no?):
From Bigger Thomas to Biggie Smalls

This class focuses on learning these theories, and yet there are some methods of analysis that feel unconscious, because they’re so ingrained as an academic discourse. Marxism is one of these, and I had a lot of “duh” moments when reading chapter eight. Marxism feels paramount to the way the world is analyzed. For the sake of these reading responses I think it’s important to bring in practical application, and to try my hand at conceptualizing these theoretical frameworks in relation to a specific work. Richard Wright’s Native Son seems an appropriate text for discussion, because it lends itself to a close analysis of the social constructs and environment of not only the characters but of the author himself. Bigger Thomas is from the south side of Chicago, and kills a rich white girl, Mary Dalton. I remember taking a class entitled “Narratives of Urban Black America” in undergrad, and we had a lengthy discussion about the character of Bigger and how he reveals the social constructs of the era. A student of the class made a comment that murder is dysfunctional behavior, but it would seem that Bigger’s actions were actually highly functional. They were revealing of his options, and even though his intent was not malicious when Mary Dalton died, it simply didn’t look good for him if he did nothing. He needed to save himself, to hide the evidence and burn her body. He seems to be self-aware and highly functioning, regardless of the perception of murder being a dysfunctional act. I suppose this is revealing of my own thoughts about characters like Bigger Thomas, because I believe the story is successful because he is humane, and somehow his crimes against others are somehow palatable. As a black man, his only way to exert control over his own destiny is to dispose of Mary’s remains, which is something for which Wright is not apologetic.

While the novel is situated in the 1940s, there are certain echos that relate to the modern day African American man. It’s interesting the idea of the oppressed black man, exerting power in the current social constructs and how he finds his power. A “notorious” (ho ho ho wordplay) example would be Biggie Smalls. He was the product of poverty, and a childhood in Brooklyn that ultimately led to drugs and crime. Still, it’s interesting this perception of a successful African American man, and how he demonstrates his power. What behavioral models are reinforced with characters like Bigger Thomas and Biggie Smalls? As an African American youth what is the perception of success, and how do their desires and dreams for their future establish class structures? I remember hearing a study about the disparity in aspirations between white children and African American. Often African American children would dream of careers as rap stars, or NBA players, so when their own assessment of their abilities is limited by two vocations of limited success, how is this dominant ideology of society’s expectations altered? What potential solutions exist for challenging the status quo when there are few models for success outside of rap stars and basketball players? I realize the story of Biggie Smalls is not a literary text, but I think it speaks to the dilemma of Bigger Thomas. As the oppressed protagonist who is at times quite sympathetic, how is Wright’s ideology in discussion with the text itself? It would seem that in the vein of this weeks reading, that they reflect back upon each other and reveal a significant amount about one another, but how can they be separated? New Historicism seems to take a more even handed or neutral approach, but I suppose I wonder about how it’s applied directly.