Allegory In Richard Wright's A Big Universe

“And, under and above it all, there was a fear of death before which he was naked and without defense; he had to go forward and meet his end like any other living thing upon the earth. And regulating his attitude toward death was the fact that he was black, unequal, and despised. Passively, he hungered for another orbit between two poles that would let him live again, for a new mode of life that would catch him up with the tension of hate and love. There would have to hover above him, like stars in a full sky, a vast configuration of images and symbols whose magic and power could lift him up and make him live so intensely that the dread of being black and unequal would be forgotten; that even death would not matter, that it would be a victory.

Kaley Somers, Victoria Haskins, Kim Burmeister

Mrs. Saltzman

Freshman English (H)

3/22/17

A Bigger Universe

Wright uses the allegory of the earth, the reality of its orbit, and the revered nature of stars to denote Bigger’ perception of his life in the shadow of his inevitable death. Space represents how the world works from Bigger’s point of view; the earth being society, logically, and its orbit standing for society’s habitual movement around key issues; the sky and its stars epitomize those welcomed and lifted up by society. Wright describes Bigger’s perspective of life and death as a whole as Bigger desires to merge with society, being one with the world in the sense that he would have to “meet his end like any other living thing upon the earth.” Bigger gets a chance to sample this strange breed of equality in the time before his execution, and he would be content with that, if not for all that he was displeased with the life he lived. The workings of the universe have always regulated his thoughts, in a similar way that racism in society “regulat[es] his attitude toward death…” His skin, his

He cannot, then, feel any way but terrified at the prospect of death; he hasn’t had a chance to live except “passively”, which is the last thing he wanted. Bigger never had a chance to feel anything but what society made him feel, which Wright touched upon as a main theme in Native Son. His desire to be one with society could never be masked by death and he could never feel anything but terror, “naked and without defense.” Thus, Bigger longs for “another orbit between two poles that would let him live again.” His one craving, or rather, his last request, would be another life in a different society: a society in which he could live passionately, not passively, and where, when he died, “even death would not matter, that it would be a victory.” He wants to start again new, in a