The Unconscious Desire and Its Conscious Reflection in Richard Wright’s Native Son

This paper examines Richard Wright’s “Native Son" from Jungian collective unconscious aiming the protagonist Bigger Thomas. Conducting qualitative content analysis method, it concentrates how a native Negro boy Bigger becomes entangled with the thought of identity crisis, color and faulty social circumstance facing indomitable fear and frustration. In fact, this paper targets not to prove that Bigger was innocent but to show what inherent factors engulfed his restless mind. It also analyzes the outer world of Bigger which goes under Whites’ control collapsing and repressing all his bright childhood days, simple dreams and usual desires to be contended as a native son. Consequently, these repressed collective unconscious desires took unanimous days to be exposed sooner or later. Finally, it shows how Bigger exposes his desires consciously through the accidental murder of Mary Dalton and aftermath dreadful inhuman activities. Keywords— Bigger Thomas, C.G. Jung, Collective Unconscious, Conscious Fulfillment,


I. INTRODUCTION
Richard Wright's Native Son has drawn profound attention of the international scholars. It moves forward creating three particular sections such as fear, fight and fate. Bigger Thomas, the 20 year-old-boy, has always been deprived from the common and basic rights to be a native, "Thomas is called a 'Native Son' but is treated very much like a hostile alien" (M. Ravichand and Latha 2, 2014, p.2). Being a native he could have a good life style enjoying freedom of speech and expression as a part of his birthright. Meryem Ayan (2011) pointed out that racism has been a matter of question in the United States for centuries. Race differences and prejudicial attitudes always caused problem whenever black and white wanted to unite and live together (p.135). Surprisingly, Bigger has become the toy of racial supremacy losing his authentic identity, "The racial strife produces the multitude of subjects and identities, which is often spoken of its social construction in which the subject is doubled in a transgressive rewriting of colonial discourse. This condition keeps the person's codes of integrity at society's margins; they are depicted in Wright's novel, Native Son" (Nejad, 2013, p.653). Nevertheless, the novel has also been analyzed from nightmare discourse technique where Helen Yitah (2008) exposes, "Each of the three sections of the book opens with a nightmare ofsome sort that not only jolts Bigger into reality but also catapults him into action. 'Nightmare' is used here both in its narrow sense of a bad dream and in its broader sense of a haunting fear or a harrowing experience" (p.39-40). The protagonist Bigger is not a selfcreated or motivated creation rather the ultimate fruit of American Society, "He does not know where he belongs to, and how to find his way out of his bewilderment. He is a marginal man, and lives between white and black. During his life, Bigger experiences social and cultural destruction of manhood and reconstruction of his identity with authenticity" (Zhang, 2016(Zhang, , p.2014 Therefore, most of his works have been based on this concept. Peter Barry (1995) noted, "All of Freud's work depends upon the notion of the unconscious, which is the part of the mind beyond consciousness which nevertheless has a strong influence upon our actions" (p.96).
On the contrary, C.G. Jung explored his idea from a different point of view. He exceeded the four walls of sexual constraints. Nayar (2010) remarked Jung's individual stand and proposal: Rejecting Freudian Theories of the libido as restricted to the sexual, Jung proposed that the libido was energy that could be channelized into any field. His second key departure from Freud was his idea of archetypes (p.73).
Jung thinks that human kind is significantly influenced both by biological instincts and the surroundings he belongs and experiences, "Jung Proposed that, while the unconscious was important, the self was also influenced by social norms and the world around it" (Nayar, 2010, p. 73). Jung considered human mind as a house containing personal and collective unconscious: To Jung, the house was an image of the psyche. The room on the upper floor represented his conscious personality. The ground floor stood for the first level of the unconscious, which he was to call the personal unconscious, while in the deepest level of all he reached the collective unconscious. There he discovered the world of the primitive man within himself (Stevens, 1994, p. 62-63).
He introduced his innovative concept of archetypes which includes images, ideas and myths. In order to clarify the form and functions of archetypes, Nayar (2010) remarked: Jung was suggesting that the human imagination draws upon images and ideas from myths and legends that occur across cultures and time-spans. These images he termed archetypes, and they emerge from a 'collective unconscious' common to all mankind and are not restricted to a particular individual or self (p.73).
Bigger Thomas, the protagonists of Richard Wright's Native Son, had a number of native aspirations and wishes from different angles. All his decisions and actions do not reflect only the biological drive. Instead, these desires have been grounded from multiple sources like past incidents, the bitter images and experiences of childhood and sociopolitical point of view. That is the reason for what the term "Unconscious" has been used in this paper to mean Jungian collective unconscious.

Force of Brutal childhood Experience
Bigger saw multidimensional discrimination between the whites and blacks from the very beginning of his life. The blacks were so marginalized that they could not dare to rob the whites. The narrator stated that the blacks had always robbed Negroes. They felt that it was much easier and safer to rob their own people (Wright, 1966, p. 17). To have a greater analysis on Bigger's childhood, the novelist's concern can be significantly noted. In the introduction titled "How Bigger Was Born" the writer himself claims that there is a big connection to his own childhood, "The birth of Bigger Thomas goes back to my childhood, and there was not just one Bigger, but many of them, more than I could count and more than you suspect" (Wright, 1966, p. viii can be said that Bigger Thomas was the spokesman of many Biggers. The novelist explains why Bigger behaved abnormally and unusually. "In Native Son it is the denial of identity and alienation that young black men (to say nothing of the women who are almost always worse off) face that precipitates tragedy" (Shakir , 2017, p. 344).
There is something hidden inside Bigger which functions like a monitor in Bigger's psyche. As a part of this explanation it is seen in the introduction that Bigger was abnormal in his regular actions like playing, as the writer says, "If we are playing games, he would saunter up and snatch from us our balls, bats, spinning tops and marbles" (Wright, 1966, p. viii). Now the fact is that Bigger was not a mad or someone who was mentally challenged by birth.
Something worked silently to change Bigger's attitude towards others. There remains a dilemma in the question either Bigger was responsible for it or not. It is utmost poverty which snatched away all the regular and rational desires of a boy.

Impact of Bitter Social Position
Social position functions like a regulator in developing one's good personality. In the context of Bigger, Nagy (2013) argues that social position worked for him negatively. In the novel, both social and physical environments make alienated, violent and passive stranger who never gets a meaningful life (p. 3). Bigger along with his younger brother and sister had only one room to share. It is quite natural that a room cannot provide minimum privacy for all. They had to pass every moment with anxiety and shame, "The conditions under which he lives is more than depressing because they are crowded in a room where they have no intimacy and privacy at all" (Nagy, 2013, p. 3). Both Bigger's mother and sister felt embracing to dress themselves. The only solution for them was to turn their heads downwards to other direction to give space for them to protect their dignity. The narrator pointed out the situation describing the facts that the two boys used to avert their eyes and gaze into a far corner of the room so that their mother could rush out of her night gown and put on a pair of step-ins (Wright, 1966, p. 7). The same situation happened when Bigger and his brother had to dress. It was natural that Bigger could read his mother's face but he had no possible ways to help his mother. As a result, his mother always scolded him intensively, "Bigger, sometimes I wonder why I birthed you,' she said bitterly" (Wright, 1966, p. 11). Like other children, Bigger wanted a good childhood but he could not understand his difference. His mother used to express frustration shouting that they would not have to live in this garbage dump if he had minimum manhood in him. This ill manner of his mother hurt him all the time. For that he developed a kind of sense of hatred towards his own existence.

Question of Identity and Security
Bigger was restless not only for family crisis but also for bitter images of childhood, "Bigger Thomas, the main character of Native Son, represents the most convincing example of the split self in Richard Wright's fiction. His case is not an unusual one in terms of external perception, human interaction or social identity" (Shakir, 2017, p. 344). He was tormented with minimum security that one should exercise generally. Gee (2016) opines, "Native Son demonstrates that violence is perpetuated by white objectification of blacks. In treating blacks as objects, whites create an environment that precludes black identification as human" (p. 14). All the time he was scared of something terrible, "Every time I think about it I feel like somebody's poking a red hot iron down my throat" (Wright, 1966, p. 23 . By the way, it is clear how terrible situation Bigger had to experience. As a part of proof, the narrator states in the novel, "He was going among white people, so he would take his knife and his gun; it would make him feel that he was the equal of them, give him a sense of completeness" (Wright, 1966, p. 44). This incident invites the issues like inequality and discrimination in the United States.

Whites' Dominance and Maltreatment
Mu'in (2016)  To show Bigger's reaction to the established discrimination the narrator writes, "Goddamnit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain't. They do things and we can't" (Wright, 1966, p. 23). Living in a same country holding similar identity card, it was hard for Bigger to accept the reality. He wanted to revolt. But there remains no space to put his reaction. Therefore, it is better to keep emotions folded and repressed. But the question is how long Bigger will carry this load. Day by day, the load is being overloaded. As a natural being human heart itself has its own limit in the sense of capacity. Bigger was tormented not only by fear of security but also by the artificial and irrational deprivation created by the whites. "Bigger and his friends plan to rob Blums store which is a white man's store. But they cannot muster the courage to do so, due to their fear of white authority" (M. Ravichand and Latha, 2014, p. 2). Bigger was moving to a world holding some questions in his hand to get answer. The narrator includes Bigger's questions, "Why they make us live in one corner of the city? Why don't they let us fly planes and run ships…" (Wright, 1966, p.23). By putting three consecutive dots, it can be understandable that Bigger had many questions to be replied. To Bigger this big country is nothing but a prison, "It's just like living in jail" (Wright, 1966, p. 23). Even there remains an example of playing "white". Bigger says, "Let's play 'white,' Bigger said, referring to a game of play acting in which he and his friends imitated the ways and manners of white folks" (Wright, 1966, p. 21). Bigger also claimed that if he was not a black having some money, he could have access to plane. The discrimination can be visible in conversation between Gus and Bigger: "They got everything," Gus said.
"They own the world," Bigger said.
"Aw, what the hell," Gus said, "Let's go in the poolroom?" (Wright, 1966, p. 25) Because of being black, Bigger and his friends had to live in the corner of the city. On the other hand, the whites used to stay in the comfortable cottage.

Lack of Education and Father's Murder
If education could be provided properly, Bigger's nature could be different. According to Mu'in, "The whites discriminated the blacks on the basis of housing, employment, law enforcement or law protection, education, economy or business, and other aspects in their social lives" (2016, p. 60). Whatever discrimination, challenges or struggles he faced, he could overcome those by polishing his nature with the light of education. "Since the white men had received educational opportunities denied to Bigger on the basis of race and since their linguistic environment would increase the possibility of their detecting Bigger's deviation from Standard American English, they fail on an intellectual level" (Walls ,1985, p.125). But Bigger was so ill-fated that he had to begin a hard life before completing minimum education. In the text one of Bigegr's friends named Gus remarks, "If you wasn't black and if you had some money and if they'd let go to that aviation school, you could fly a plane" (Wright, 1966, p. 20). Since Bigger had no money and lost his father accidentally, he could not continue his education. Bigger lost his father at an early age. If Bigger's father had been still alive, he could have a different life story. If he died of any disease or by an accident, Bigger could accept it as a part of reality or ill fate. When he saw that people killed his father in a riot, it was unbearable to a little child like him. The shocking incident is that his family could not demand for justice. In his little heart, Bigger had to carry this tragedy. This single word "Dead" has profound meaning to Bigger. Once Bigger had a heart full of love and compassion. But this same heart has been replaced by utmost frustration, anger and hatred.

The Impact of Jan and Communism
Bigger Thomas had less knowledge on communism. To him communism meant old house and strike of trade unions. So, Bigger had no intention to engage in communism, "He didn't want to meet any communists. They didn't have money. He felt that it all right for a man to go to jail for robbery, but to go to jail for fooling around with reds was bunk" (Wright, 1966, p. 65 (Wright, 1966, p. 70).
The fact is Jan told these as a part of his communist thought. Bigger Thomas could not believe his ear. It is that Bigger who once used to keep knife and gun with him to be equal. But today he is getting recognition without any arms especially from a white. When Bigger heard about the revolution that Jan was working for, he was more surprised. Jan commented: After a revolution it'll be ours. But we'll have to fight for it. What a world to win, Bigger! And when that day comes, things'll be different. There will be no white and no black; there'll be no rich and no poor (Wright, 1966, p. 69).

IV. THE CONSCIOUS REFLECTION OF UNCONSCIOUS DESIRE
Bigger Thomas developed a concrete concept of the whites from his early age. According to Mu'in, "Bigger always hated and disturbed the whites. His hatred toward them was based on his opinion that the whiteness was evil and this made him to refuse the whites' offer to solve his people's problems" (2016, p. 63). Bigger could stay with his people making friendship with fear and hatred. Before coming to Dalton's house Bigger thought, "Why had he come to take this goddamn job? He could have stayed among his own people and escaped feeling this fear and hate. This was not his world" (Wright, 1966, p. 46). When he came to Dalton's house, he experienced a different world. The set up his brain took one after another earlier met a new environment. Now Bigger fell in a dilemma between past and present as well as good and bad. The narrator included Bigger's later transformation, "He had not expected anything like this; he had not thought that this world would be so utterly different from his own that would intimidate him" (Wright, 1966, p. 47).
However, in course of time both his conscious and subconscious mind began to function at a time. For that he faced a new kind of crisis. This crisis directs him to face new confusion. When Bigger Thomas met Mary Dalton, he was surprised, "He had never seen anyone like her before. She was not a bit like the way he had imagined she would be" (Wright, 1966, p. 54). For the first time Bigger experienced a different kind of relationship between Mr. Dalton and his daughter Mary Dalton. In a conversation Bigger heard her to criticize her own father calling a capitalist. Like Mary Dalton, Mrs. Dalton was surprising for Bigger. Although she was blind, she had great affection for the colored people, "That was Mrs. Dalton," the man said, "She's blind" "Yessuh" "She has a very deep interest in colored people" (Wright, 1966, p. 49). All these positive attitudes seemed to him very strange. "It made him uneasy, tense, as though there were influences and presences about him which he could feel but not see. He felt strangely blind" (Wright, 1966, p. 48). Mr. Dalton was also different and supportive. When Bigger talked to him, he felt something unusual, "The man was gazing at him with an amused smile that made him conscious of every square inch of skin on his black body" (Wright, 1966, p. 47). All these new experience, new people and different behavior challenged Bigger's own world, "Strange objects challenged him; and he was feeling angry and uncomfortable" (Wright, 1966, p. 47 (Wright 81). Forgetting all the earthly pleasure when a man extended his helping hand to a helpless girl, this high hearted man had to face the charge of raping or killing someone. Another concern is-if Mrs. Dalton would not enter into Mary's room at that time, the story line could be normal and nonfatal. But it is observed that the accident happened upon an accident. What Bigger did was accidental because he had no personal interest to enter Mary's room. Therefore, Bigger's entrance was accidental. On the other hand, the timing of Mary's mother's entrance was also accidental. She could come after Bigger's departure. There could have dozens of alternatives which could save Bigger. But Bigger was so ill fated that nothing happened in his favor. According to Gee, "As the novel comes to a close, Bigger is able to find peace through exploring his newfound human identity. It is evident, however, that Bigger will never experience the full benefits of being human; humanization is not enough to save him from his impending death sentence" (2016, p.17-18).
Up to Mary Dalton's death, Bigger was reasonable, logical and rational. But what he did later in the name of release raised many questions. This was certain that Bigger could not escape from the permanent equation. After Mary's death, a different Bigger is seen. The man who was hundred percent honest to a sweet girl is now planning to put the charge on Jan's shoulder. It is that Jan who for the first time recognized Bigger with profound dignity. The narrator included Bigger's plan, "But there was still a better way! Make them think that Jan did it. Reds'd do anything" (Wright, 1966, p. 87). Bigger's next plan was more astonishing, "He would tell them that he had brought Jan and Mary home in the car and Mary had asked him to go with her to her room to get the trunk-and Jan was with them!" (Wright , 1966, p.87). What Bigger wanted was to escape from going to electric chair, "She was dead; she was white; she was a woman; he might be caught; he did not want to be caught" (Wright, 1966, p. 88).
To get rid of that electric chair he could hide himself or do something else. The dreadful actions Bigger performed were highly questionable. The first thing he did was his plan to burn Mary's dead body, "He stared at the furnace. He trembled with another idea. He -he could, he-he could put her, he could put her in the furnace. He would burn her! That was the safest thing of to do" (Wright, 1966, p. 89). Bigger did it consciously. Now the question is how a man can burn a girl having a compassionate heart for all. It was factual that Bigger was doing everything to save him. But planning to burn someone's dead body is more dreadful and cruel job than his previous action. According to Nayar, "Repression is the hiding away of something in our minds; what is hidden away exists in our unconscious. Guilt-inducing desire and traumatic events such as the death of a loved one or abuse are quickly shunted out of the unconscious and relegated into the unconscious, to emerge only in particular moments" (2010, p. 65).
It is known to all that Bigger's father was killed unlawfully. Since Bigger could not take revenge, it waited to be reflected in particular moments. At the same time, Bigger wanted education, facilities and freedom like the whites. He wanted enough food, a comfortable shelter and house for all having individual privacy. White dominance forced him to keep knife and gun with him. He wanted a society free from anxiety, fear and discrimination. Bigger could not meet these basic desires. For that he kept them repressed and folded. This desires tormented Bigger in his unconscious mind. Nayar (2010) remarked, "The unconscious is the greatest threat to our identity as rational humans" (p. 65). Since Mary was dead, she was helpless. It is true that Bigger wanted to hide her. At the same time Bigger got reasonable space to show his unconscious desire consciously. Nayar's remark can be more relevant here in the context of Bigger, "However, what is repressed does not always stay repressed" (Wright, 1966, p. 65). Bigger could end the process here. But his next action is the application of the knife that he always kept in his pocket. According to Ward, "The metaphor of 'depth' implies a stratified concept of the mind, one layer laid upon another. It is often assumed that the 'deeper' the level, the more 'primitive' and dangerous the contents" (2010, p. 9). Bigger cut Mary's throat with a sharp knife, "He got his knife from his pocket and opened it and stood by the furnace, looking at Mary's white throat" (Wright, 1966, p.90). Later it is seen that Bigger was in confusion either he would do it or not. What he did finally was beyond imagination, "Quickly, he wrapped the head in the newspapers and used the wad to push the bloody trunk of the body deeper into the furnace. Then he shoved the head in the hatchet went next" (Wright, 1966, p. 90 "Fate", "I didn't want to kill!" Bigger shouted. "But what I killed for, I am! It must 've been pretty deep in me to make me kill!" (Wright, 1966, p. 392) The term "pretty deep" directs the sense of unconscious desire that Bigger had repressed in his mind for long.

V. CONCLUSION
It is true that Bigger killed Mary Dalton accidentally. No matter whether it is an accident or something unintentional, it cannot be denied that Bigger was innocent. The traumatic childhood he passed the unforgettable memories of fear and discrimination he installed once in his brain, and the injustice after his father's murder must have a consequence on Bigger's restless mind. From psychoanalytic perspective, Bigger shut the door of a room having unexposed cries, miseries and desires. He controlled his unconscious desire up to the incident of killing Mary. Later Bigger could not control himself and got a vacuum to expose his hidden and repressed desire. The incident of cutting Mary's throat and burning her entire body consciously was enough to prove the reflection of Bigger's unconscious desire.