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Stereotyping in its original sense is a neutral idea. It refers to any categorization of individual elements that mask differences among those elements and it is a form of generalization that involves names of some group of people and statements about that group.
On the whole, stereotyping is actually a distorted idea or image of the out-group formed negatively and rigidly by the in-group. They are in fact “rigid preconceptions which are applied to all members of a group or to an individual over a period of time, regardless of individual variations.”With a stereotypical thought pattern, one sees the individual as whole or imposes the group features on the individuals or vice versa. Further, stereotype often appears in negative sense considering its negative consequences. People with a negative stereotyping of other groups will instinctively show a poor, rigid attitude toward the stereotyped group so that misunderstanding and conflicts are doomed to occur.
The stereotypes as revealed in Native Son reflect the conflicts between the White and the Black in history, politics and social culture and, meanwhile, imply the great barrier to the social progress in America.
In Native Son, Wright introduced a figure familiar to 1930s America --- the poverty-stricken young man backed into a corner by discrimination and misunderstanding. Frustrated by racism and the limited opportunities afforded black men in society, Bigger Thomas struck out in a useless attempt to go beyond the boundaries and limits of his position. The portrayal of this alienated character had shed much light on many of the values and morals of the culture in which he lived. As commented by Ervin Howle, “Native Son” is a heavy blow to the white because it reminds the white that they are the oppressor. Meanwhile, it is also a blow to the black for it shows the black the price of their obedience and docility to the white. In this sense, the novel was written as a protest against the black stereotype from the white.
In Native Son, negative stereotyping is reflected by the facts that the black take the white as a whole that carry poor or bad features. In other words, all the white people are oppressors and the root of the miserable life of the black. On the other hand, the white would take that the black are uncivilized, violent and apt to commit crimes. In the novel, such concepts are frequently repeated as “the white”, “the white folks”, “the black”, or even “the nigger”, and “the negroes” when the characters described the events. These words or phrases, on the surface, are used to refer to the people or group that the characters want to mention despite the fact that words like “the nigger” and “the negroes” have derogatory sense.On the other hands,these concepts or phrases have strong stereotypical sense considering the context of the novel or the social context of America at that time.They are not used in the general sense like historical recordings but are applied, to a great degree, to express a strong implication of denigration,complaint,or even resentment or hostility.
In the eye of Bigger, all the white people are the same, evil, cruel,oppressive, yet powerful. The scene in which Bigger was seated in a car illustrates his idea, or even stereotypical idea, of the white people. Bigger believe that white people did not like the blacks, especially the poor black people. Bigger looked at the white as a whole and would not believe any “alleged” friendliness or good intention on the part of the white people. In other words, none of them are good or trustworthy. This attitude found expressions in his idea about Mary, the white girl whom he killed accidentally and unintentionally.
At the same time, the white also bore strong negative stereotypes against the black in Native Son.
White people in early 20th century did not have a positive idea of the black and would also take the blacks as a whole. In the novel, when Britten, the white private investigator searched the Dalton’s house and asked Bigger several questions, his suspicion of Bigger grew but it was firstly and simply based on Bigger’s racial identity. Being black had become a symbol of crime. Britten’s negative stereotyping or even prejudice of the black drove him to take the initial attitude to his firm belief in Bigger’s criminal misdoing and was going to use cruel measures to force Bigger to admit his crime.
White people had developed a crazy idea about the relationship between white women and black men. It was said that black men had a great virility that could satisfy white women’s sexual hunger. Meanwhile gossip also went that black men were lustful for white women’s beauty. Many African American literary works also recorded such stereotypes. In Native Son, even when the investigators were busy investigating on the murder and questioning Bigger, they never forgot the negative stereotypes of black men concerning their relationship with white women.
It is easily seen that such an attitude of the white takes on a strong feature of racial prejudice. Once the black men were covered with a hat inscribed with “the predator of white women”, they would be thought of as a dangerous thing to be removed. That was why the white private investigator constantly repeated to Bigger the topic of the black-white sexual affair.
Negative stereotyping has bad effects on the people in their interactions and gives rise to misunderstanding. People with a stereotypical state of mind generally treat each other on the basis of the psychological set they had formed before. They turn to previously formed opinions and attitudes to judge and interact with others. With such stereotypes in mind, misunderstanding is doomed to occur. Examples are found abundantly in Native Son.
Negative stereotyping widens the psychic distance between the white and the black and has strengthened the Effect of white Racism on the Oppressed black. As remarked by Ward and Purcel (2003), Wright’s exploration of Bigger’s psychological corruption presents a new perspective on the oppressive effect that racism had on the black population in 1930s America. Bigger’s psychological damage resulted from the constant racist propaganda and racial oppression that he faced while growing up.As a result of his hatred and fear, Bigger’s accidental killing of Mary Dalton did not fill him with guilt as was revealed in the novel. Instead, he had a strange feeling of queer excitement because, for the first time, he had, by himself, the chance to defy the white force and to revenge on those white folks whom he believed had caused his misery. He even intended to destroy the “evil white force.”
Bigger Thomas is a figure created based on the legend of “bad nigger” and the social reality of American society, which of course had great impact on the white world. Wright thus was known as a forerunner of black protest novel writing. His creation of Bigger Thomas had much to do with his background from a poor black family living in a miserable condition of ghetto.
References:
1. Anna Maria Chupa, Anne, the White Woman in Contemporary African-American Fiction: Archetypes, Stereotypes, and Characterizations, Greenwood Press, 1990.
2. Daniel Hoffman, ed., Harvard Guide to Contemporary American Writing, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England, 1979.
3.Richard Wright, Native Son, Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, Viking Penguin Inc., 40 West 23rd Street, New York, New York 10010, USA, 1940.
4.Selena Ward, Dave Purcel, 导读《土生子》，季文娜 翻译， 天津科技翻译出版公司，2003年。
5.范桂兰．论《土生子》中的新黑人艺术形象[J]西北师大学报(社会科学版)，2003年05期。
6.姜艳艳, “《土生子》在美国文学中的重要地位”， 《阜阳师范学院学报》(社会科学版),2006年第3期。
7. 杨金才主编，《新编美国文学史》（第三卷），上海外语教育出版社，2002年。
（本文为云南省教育厅科学基金研究项目（2010Y324）成果）
On the whole, stereotyping is actually a distorted idea or image of the out-group formed negatively and rigidly by the in-group. They are in fact “rigid preconceptions which are applied to all members of a group or to an individual over a period of time, regardless of individual variations.”With a stereotypical thought pattern, one sees the individual as whole or imposes the group features on the individuals or vice versa. Further, stereotype often appears in negative sense considering its negative consequences. People with a negative stereotyping of other groups will instinctively show a poor, rigid attitude toward the stereotyped group so that misunderstanding and conflicts are doomed to occur.
The stereotypes as revealed in Native Son reflect the conflicts between the White and the Black in history, politics and social culture and, meanwhile, imply the great barrier to the social progress in America.
In Native Son, Wright introduced a figure familiar to 1930s America --- the poverty-stricken young man backed into a corner by discrimination and misunderstanding. Frustrated by racism and the limited opportunities afforded black men in society, Bigger Thomas struck out in a useless attempt to go beyond the boundaries and limits of his position. The portrayal of this alienated character had shed much light on many of the values and morals of the culture in which he lived. As commented by Ervin Howle, “Native Son” is a heavy blow to the white because it reminds the white that they are the oppressor. Meanwhile, it is also a blow to the black for it shows the black the price of their obedience and docility to the white. In this sense, the novel was written as a protest against the black stereotype from the white.
In Native Son, negative stereotyping is reflected by the facts that the black take the white as a whole that carry poor or bad features. In other words, all the white people are oppressors and the root of the miserable life of the black. On the other hand, the white would take that the black are uncivilized, violent and apt to commit crimes. In the novel, such concepts are frequently repeated as “the white”, “the white folks”, “the black”, or even “the nigger”, and “the negroes” when the characters described the events. These words or phrases, on the surface, are used to refer to the people or group that the characters want to mention despite the fact that words like “the nigger” and “the negroes” have derogatory sense.On the other hands,these concepts or phrases have strong stereotypical sense considering the context of the novel or the social context of America at that time.They are not used in the general sense like historical recordings but are applied, to a great degree, to express a strong implication of denigration,complaint,or even resentment or hostility.
In the eye of Bigger, all the white people are the same, evil, cruel,oppressive, yet powerful. The scene in which Bigger was seated in a car illustrates his idea, or even stereotypical idea, of the white people. Bigger believe that white people did not like the blacks, especially the poor black people. Bigger looked at the white as a whole and would not believe any “alleged” friendliness or good intention on the part of the white people. In other words, none of them are good or trustworthy. This attitude found expressions in his idea about Mary, the white girl whom he killed accidentally and unintentionally.
At the same time, the white also bore strong negative stereotypes against the black in Native Son.
White people in early 20th century did not have a positive idea of the black and would also take the blacks as a whole. In the novel, when Britten, the white private investigator searched the Dalton’s house and asked Bigger several questions, his suspicion of Bigger grew but it was firstly and simply based on Bigger’s racial identity. Being black had become a symbol of crime. Britten’s negative stereotyping or even prejudice of the black drove him to take the initial attitude to his firm belief in Bigger’s criminal misdoing and was going to use cruel measures to force Bigger to admit his crime.
White people had developed a crazy idea about the relationship between white women and black men. It was said that black men had a great virility that could satisfy white women’s sexual hunger. Meanwhile gossip also went that black men were lustful for white women’s beauty. Many African American literary works also recorded such stereotypes. In Native Son, even when the investigators were busy investigating on the murder and questioning Bigger, they never forgot the negative stereotypes of black men concerning their relationship with white women.
It is easily seen that such an attitude of the white takes on a strong feature of racial prejudice. Once the black men were covered with a hat inscribed with “the predator of white women”, they would be thought of as a dangerous thing to be removed. That was why the white private investigator constantly repeated to Bigger the topic of the black-white sexual affair.
Negative stereotyping has bad effects on the people in their interactions and gives rise to misunderstanding. People with a stereotypical state of mind generally treat each other on the basis of the psychological set they had formed before. They turn to previously formed opinions and attitudes to judge and interact with others. With such stereotypes in mind, misunderstanding is doomed to occur. Examples are found abundantly in Native Son.
Negative stereotyping widens the psychic distance between the white and the black and has strengthened the Effect of white Racism on the Oppressed black. As remarked by Ward and Purcel (2003), Wright’s exploration of Bigger’s psychological corruption presents a new perspective on the oppressive effect that racism had on the black population in 1930s America. Bigger’s psychological damage resulted from the constant racist propaganda and racial oppression that he faced while growing up.As a result of his hatred and fear, Bigger’s accidental killing of Mary Dalton did not fill him with guilt as was revealed in the novel. Instead, he had a strange feeling of queer excitement because, for the first time, he had, by himself, the chance to defy the white force and to revenge on those white folks whom he believed had caused his misery. He even intended to destroy the “evil white force.”
Bigger Thomas is a figure created based on the legend of “bad nigger” and the social reality of American society, which of course had great impact on the white world. Wright thus was known as a forerunner of black protest novel writing. His creation of Bigger Thomas had much to do with his background from a poor black family living in a miserable condition of ghetto.
References:
1. Anna Maria Chupa, Anne, the White Woman in Contemporary African-American Fiction: Archetypes, Stereotypes, and Characterizations, Greenwood Press, 1990.
2. Daniel Hoffman, ed., Harvard Guide to Contemporary American Writing, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England, 1979.
3.Richard Wright, Native Son, Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, Viking Penguin Inc., 40 West 23rd Street, New York, New York 10010, USA, 1940.
4.Selena Ward, Dave Purcel, 导读《土生子》，季文娜 翻译， 天津科技翻译出版公司，2003年。
5.范桂兰．论《土生子》中的新黑人艺术形象[J]西北师大学报(社会科学版)，2003年05期。
6.姜艳艳, “《土生子》在美国文学中的重要地位”， 《阜阳师范学院学报》(社会科学版),2006年第3期。
7. 杨金才主编，《新编美国文学史》（第三卷），上海外语教育出版社，2002年。
（本文为云南省教育厅科学基金研究项目（2010Y324）成果）