"Native Son" Book 1 Questions

1. In the beginning of the book when Bigger kills the rat, Bigger's violence is displayed. Gruesomely killing an innocent rat shows that he has no mercy for innocence and does not care about other's feelings. He proceeds to wave the dead rat in his sister's face because her fear is humerous to him; a selfish act.

2. Bigger hates his family because they seem to not understand him and don't care about him, when really it is Bigger that doesn't care about his family.

3. Bigger and Gus are so interested in the planes flying overhead because it reminds them that they are not able to fly planes because they are "inferior" to whites.

4. Bigger and Gus imitate white people by making fun of how the black people are such a problem in society and how they need to be taken care of by the President and Secretary of State. They also make fun of how rich the white people are and how they can just throw money out of the window.

5. Write describes Bigger's environment as lower class and slummy. The two of them are just standing against the corner of a building looking suspicious. The whole scene makes the character of bigger seem like a troubled man with bad ideas.

6. Bigger gets mad at Gus in the pool room because Gus seemed to be frightened at the idea of robbing a white man's store.

7. Bigger learns who he is working for and that the daughter is involved with a communist from the movies that he and G.H. see.

"King of the Bingo Game"

When the narrator of the "King of the Bingo Game" says the quote ...
"“he felt vaguely that his whole life was determined by the bingo wheel”;“the unlucky cards and numbers of his days”“he felt that the man was making a fool of him”“as the wheel increased its speed it seemed to draw him more and more into its power, as though it held his fate; and with it came a deep need to submit, to whirl, to lose himself in its swirl of color”“This is God!”

I believe the wheel is discussed in these terms because it feels to the protagonist that winning the jackpot determines his life. Laura seems to be the love of his life, and if she is dead, then he has nothing to live for. The jackpot money will help pay for the doctor's bills, hopefully curing Laura from whatever sickness she has. By comparing the wheel to God, the protagonist is stressing how the money from the jackpot will change his life forever, just as God changes the lives of people.

I think at the end of the story, the protagonist did not win the jackpot and probably went crazy. His sexual thoughts from the beginning of the story hint that he might be "sick in the head" and this jackpot might have been his trigger for him to go crazy.

Macbeth- a tragic hero

Macbeth is the epitome of a tragic hero, one who is has the ability to become a hero, but can not because there are obstacles in the way. The tragic hero encounters his/her tragic flaw, which is the main cause of his/her tragic fall. The play begins with King Duncan praising Macbeth for being such a fantastic soldier and how he is destined for greatness. Duncan appoints Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor for his bravery on the battlefield. Allowing Macbeth to be given the title Thane of Cawdor demonstrates that he has the ability to be a great leader because of his bravery and wits. Just as a tragic hero, he is destined for greatness. However; a tragic hero has a tragic flaw, a characteristic stopping them from achieving greatness. Macbeth is a very ambitious man, and he even admits this to himself when he talks about murdering King Duncan. When Macbeth hears his prophecy from the three witches that he will be Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland, his ambition gets the best of him. He does whatever he can in order to become king, instead of letting fate take its course.

Macbeth plots to kill King Duncan in order to achieve his greatness. The desire to become king affects his judgment and he comes a murderous traitor to his king and later on his companion, Banquo, whose sons will become king according to the prophecy of the witches. Ambition is Macbeth’s tragic flaw, because it ultimately ruins his character and causes his tragic fall, when he begins to hallucinate, seeing the ghosts of people he’s murdered. His insanity is derived from his ambition, in relation to the tragic hero, his tragic flaw of ambition caused him to fall by going insane and not able to rule the kingdom that he worked so hard to get in the first place.