Native Son, Book 3 Blog Q&A

Here's my Q&A for the first blog question of Book 3 of Native Son!

What are some of the reasons that Bigger begins to trust Jan and Boris Max?
Bigger begins to trust Jan and Max because they begin to understand Bigger’s feelings and thought process.  Jan has a rather long dialogue in which he proves to Bigger and the readers that he begins to understand why Bigger killed Mary.  He even states that he thinks the entire murder stemmed from him, that it was his fault.  This shows that Jan is starting to comprehend how Bigger thinks – how Bigger has been raised to think by the white oppression.  Jan says that Mary’s death “taught [him] that it’s [Bigger’s] right to hate [him],” and that Bigger “couldn’t do anything else but that,” (Wright, 288). 
Bigger begins to trust Max because he gives Bigger a shred of hope that he can win, not only in his trial, but also against himself.  Max is similar to Bigger in that he is also oppressed by the white majority because he is Jewish and a member of the Communist party.  However, he goes to pretty extreme lengths to try and make the public understand the true cause of Mary’s murder.  While doing so, he also gives Bigger a chance to sort of vindicate himself, because during this time in the novel, Bigger feels ashamed of himself and feels guilty.  While Max explains Bigger’s background and situation to the public, he is also explaining it to Bigger, and this allows Bigger a chance to release his guilt.

--Maria(: