Bigger must face his death for the terrible crime he commits and the novel’s resolution provides little consolation. But there is a notable change that occurs; Bigger becomes aware, after his crime and through communication with Max over the course of the trial, that his internalized notions of the bleakness and powerlessness of black culture have been implanted in his psyche by a dominant white culture, one that does not recognize the humanity of the city’s black population. Thankful to Max at his behavior, Bigger says to him. “You asked me questions nobody ever asked me before. You knew that I was a murderer two times over, but you treated me like a man….” (NS, 311) In his search for identity, Bigger gets an unexpected supporter in Boris …show more content…
He feels sorry for Bigger, but it is Bigger, who shows his extraordinary strength in facing his death. The act of killing for Bigger was not only destructive, but creative in a sense of giving Bigger a life he was denied before. “Men can starve from the lack of self-realization as much as they can from the lack of bread” (NS, 303). For the first time, he has a sense of his own identity. Bigger on the basis of his new individuality, realizes that his real tragedy is not death. It is rather the fact of never having been clearly seen and never having been identified by anyone. Wright sums up the whole agony of Bigger and entire black folk in just one sentence as Max says, “They don’t need ping-pong tables, they want a meaningful life” (NS, 299). Thus, self- realization and self-recognition is not possible without meaningful life, and the courtroom speech contributes to the theme of identity crisis and highlights that the denial of personality is the worst form of oppression. Although Bigger must die for his crimes, and he never repents for them, he has gained a degree of self-recognition. Death for Bigger no longer remains a thing to worry