Mr. Bigger's Black Brothers

Author and sociologist, Dalton Conley, is a Caucasian boy who grows up in a predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhood in the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the 1970’s and 80’s. In his book, Honky, he tells us a unique view through a young boy’s eyes uncovering the way in which individuals are perceived in social reality, and how some groups of people are classified. He also speaks about how some groups get better opportunities and privileges then others. This book is a very powerful autobiography, according to his book, written by, “not your typical middle class white male.” (prologue, p. xiii) He goes on to say that he is middle class, even though his parents didn’t have any money and that he is a white boy, even though he grew up in an inner city housing project where mostly everyone was Black or Hispanic. Dalton speaks about his experience as a white boy exploring his definition of race and class and saying that, “race and class are nothing more than a set of stories we tell ourselves to get through the world, to organize our reality.” (prologue, p. xiv) He describes his childhood as a “social science experiment, Find out what being middle class really means by raising a kid from a so-called good family in a so-called bad neighborhood.” (prologue, p. xiii)

From the ideas shared in the novel, it is evident that the writer defines his ideal society in the form of an antithesis of existing society. The author takes the initiative of informing the American population - using the novel’s romantic medium - on matters concerning individualism, which is notable in an argument by Andrew Carnegie who claims

Another theme evident in Chesnutt’s novel concerns the class system religiously adhered to in the post-Civil War south. As the plot develops, it becomes evident that each of the major characters is contrasted with a counterpart, clearly showing which class each belonged to. An example can be found when comparing Major Carteret and Captain McBane. Major Carteret boasts a proud heritage of original plantation owners in the state. Pryor to the war, his family was quite wealthy. Despite his lack of financial resources, his name alone earns him respect in the community. He is well educated and carries himself in a dignified manner. Conversely, Captain McBane is the son of an overseer. He was representative of the lower class whites who took advantage of opportunities involving questionable politics that earned them considerable money. Having attained considerable wealth, he expected to become one of the elite. He dressed the part of the

The plot structure not only forces people to reevaluate their views on capitalism, the American Dream, and opportunity itself, but furthermore advocates social change. The book implicitly suggests communist ideals through the characters of Tom and Casey. Casey, in his questioning of Christian dogma, begins to reevaluate equality, in the terminology of what is holy.

From the start the novel is laden with the pressures that the main characters are exposed to due to their social inequality, unlikeness in their heredity, dissimilarity in their most distinctive character traits, differences in their aspirations and inequality in their endowments, let alone the increasingly fierce opposition that the characters are facing from modern post-war bourgeois society.

Mr. Butler represents capitalistic society taking advantage of the common people: Mr. Haskins and his family. After Mr. Haskins had worked towards purchasing the farm from Mr. Butler, he is met with resistance in the form of an unexpected price increase, to which he rebuts, “But you’ve done nothing to make it so. You hain’t added a cent. I put it all there myself, expectin’ to buy” (Garland 761). Garland, as if to emphasize the element of naturalism, writes, “Butler laughed” and has Butler respond to Mr. Haskins, “The law will sing another tune” (Garland 761).

Mr. Lindner’s visit to the Younger’s family depicted high level of racial segregation in the areas of Chicago. When Mr. Lindner comes to meet with Walter’s mama and Beneatha opens the door for him, “Beneatha is somewhat surprised to see a quiet looking, middle-aged white man in a business

Through a Marxist’s eyes, Death of a Salesman represents the struggle of middle-class families in a capitalistic world. From an early age, kids are taught to do well in school, be involved with sports and activities, and to go on to college; all in hopes of achieving the American Dream. This dream of obtaining success through hard work leads many into the

The story begins with Bigger Thomas, a twenty year old black man. He’s poor and uneducated. His mother pushes him to get a job working for a rich white man, Mr. Dalton. Instead, he goes and meets up with some friends to plan a robbery of a rich white man’s store. He became fearful of this robbery and attacked one of his friends to prevent the robbery. Left with no other option, Bigger takes the chauffeur job for the Daltons. Mr. Dalton likes to see himself as a benevolent Philanthropist. He pretends to be generous to poor blacks by giving them jobs. Mary, Mr. Daltons daughter, frightens Bigger with her carelessness about social and relation standards of Blacks and Whites. Bigger drives Mary to meet her Communist boyfriend Jan and they all go out for drinks.

The story, Sonny’s Blues, describes the lives of two brothers growing up in Harlem in the early 1960’s. Sonny and his brother are different in the way the go about life in general. They were both raised in the same household, yet they grew up to be totally different people. As the story progresses we see that both brothers have troubles in their lives and we get to see how each thinks and acts when facing such ordeals. While the brothers differ in the way they internalize and cope with their problems, they both show selfish characteristics, but ultimately feel remorseful for not being in each others’ lives.

I walked into the house an’ I immediately saw a Negro cookin’ dinner. Scout ran into the kitchen an’ told the maid, Calpurnia, that I was eatin’ with ‘em today. The fact that there was a maid made me more envious of the Finch’s wealth. Since the Finch clan had a lot of money, they get more opportunities, helpers, an’ love. Everyone in town loved the Finch clan because they were a very affluent clan. After I was calm, I reminded myself that I was goin’ to eat a decent meal.

The first example of society behavior is used through the story of a late thirties white man name Benhard Goetz who shoots four black youths on a subway cart in New York. This anecdote is significant to the novel because it takes place in the mid-80s where society is pointed by drugs, and violent brutality wreaks havoc through the city of New York. Leaving his Manhattan apartment, Goetz hops on the subway and notices four African American youths “horsing around,” and “acting rowdy.” According to the story, Troy Canty, one of the boys, asked Goetz for five dollars. Out of instinct James another one of the boys, “gestured toward a suspicious-looking bulge in his pocket, as if he had a gun in there.”

Throughout his life, Bigger, had been bound by the stereotyping of a whole society. The man versus society conflict in this novel is what this book is focused around.. Bigger is constantly intimidated by the white man and what they stand for. He is content in his efforts to rebell against they 're castes. "Let 's play ‘white, ' Bigger said, referring to a game of play actingin which he and his friends imitated the ways and manners of white folks." During this scene Bigger plays the President who is ordering a cabinent meeting.

Babbitt, a middle aged real estate agent, simply a conventional working class businessperson. He appreciates all the present day accommodations accessible to a man of his social class, yet he is disappointed with his life. He has no predictable agreement of qualities, yet trusts that his qualities are uniform since he has buckled down. Babbitt lives in a world in which everything depends on material belonging. The general population of Zenith including Babbitt construct their own riches with respect to the estimation of the belonging they claim. A significant worry of Babbitt and his wife is what other individuals think of them. All throughout Babbitt adjusts to the social standard. Pretty much as Babbitt's furniture is the same as his neighbors', his thoughts mirror the accepted standard. You can never be certain as to who Babbitt truly is on the grounds that he is never certain of his own identity. As the novel advances, we see Babbitt turn into an essential individual in his hometown. Babbitt is a satiric take on man and at the whole society. Babbitt speaks to the common prosperous, moderately aged American agent of the 1920s. Babbitt has a couple of assessments of his own, rather he only speaks of those in the publication pages of the daily papers. He is a promoter, noisily advancing his city although when he doesn't realize what he is talking about. He is stuck in a class that he feels is underneath him. The distinction is great to the point

Racial acrimony, bleak economic prospects, unanticipated troubles, and perhaps destiny test the mettle of Bigger repeatedly. Bigger’s life wades through deliberate experimentations, and it is through these experiments that Wright detests socio-economic consequences of slavery and racism on African American populace. As Ford states, “Wright’s major purpose in this novel was to show that social and economic barriers against race lead to grave injustices toward racial minorities and that those injustices so distort character and personality growth that criminal monstrosities, such as Bigger, are produced” (89). Bigger and his fellow blacks are prevented from availing economic and social equality on account of poverty and limited choices that the