English 130D Notecards – Flashcards

Author: Ernest Hemingway Characters: Jake Barnes - The narrator and protagonist of the novel. Jake is an American veteran of World War I working as a journalist in Paris, where he and his friends engage in an endless round of drinking and parties. Although Jake is the most stable of his friends, he struggles with anguish over his love for Lady Brett Ashley, his impotence, and the moral vacuum that resulted from the war. Jake positions himself as an observer, generally using his insight and intelligence to describe only those around him, rarely speaking directly about himself. However, in describing the events and people he sees, Jake implicitly reveals much about his own thoughts and feelings. Lady Brett Ashley - A beautiful British socialite who drinks heavily. As the novel begins, Brett is separated from her husband and awaiting a divorce. Though she loves Jake, she is unwilling to commit to a relationship with him because it will mean giving up sex. Indeed, she is unwilling to commit fully to any of the many men who become infatuated with her, though she has affairs with a number of them. However, she does not seem to draw much happiness from her independence. Her life, like the lives of many in her generation, is aimless and unfulfilling. Robert Cohn - A wealthy American writer living in Paris. Though he is an expatriate like many of his acquaintances, Cohn stands apart because he had no direct experience of World War I and because he is Jewish. He holds on to the romantic prewar ideals of love and fair play, yet, against the backdrop of the devastating legacy of World War I, these values seem tragically absurd. As a Jew and a nonveteran, Cohn is a convenient target for the cruel and petty antagonism of Jake and his friends. Bill Gorton - Like Jake, a heavy-drinking war veteran, though not an expatriate. Bill uses humor to deal with the emotional and psychological fallout of World War I. He and Jake, as American veterans, share a strong bond, and their friendship is one of the few genuine emotional connections in the novel. However, Bill is not immune to the petty cruelty that characterizes Jake and Jake's circle of friends. Mike Campbell - A constantly drunk, bankrupt Scottish war veteran. Mike has a terrible temper, which most often manifests itself during his extremely frequent bouts of drunkenness. He has a great deal of trouble coping with Brett's sexual promiscuity, which provokes outbreaks of self-pity and anger in him, and seems insecure about her infidelity as well as his lack of money. Pedro Romero - A beautiful, nineteen-year-old bullfighter. Romero's talents in the ring charm both aficionados and newcomers to the sport alike. He serves as a foil (a character whose attitudes or emotions contrast with, and thereby accentuate, those of another character) for Jake and his friends in that he carries himself with dignity and confidence at all times. Moreover, his passion for bullfighting gives his life meaning and purpose. In a world of amorality and corrupted masculinity, Romero remains a figure of honesty, purity, and strength. Montoya - The owner of a Pamplona inn and a bullfighting expert. Montoya sees bullfighting as something sacred, and he respects and admires Jake for his genuine enthusiasm about it. Montoya takes a paternal interest in the gifted young bullfighter Pedro Romero and seeks to protect him from the corrupting influences of tourists and fame. Frances Clyne - Cohn's girlfriend at the beginning of the novel. A manipulative status-seeker, Frances was highly domineering early in their relationship and persuaded Cohn to move to Paris. As her looks begin to fade, she becomes increasingly possessive and jealous. Count Mippipopolous - A wealthy Greek count and a veteran of seven wars and four revolutions. Count Mippipopolous becomes infatuated with Brett, but, unlike most of Brett's lovers, he does not subject her to jealous, controlling behavior. Amid the careless, amoral pleasure-seeking crowd that constitutes Jake's social circle, the count stands out as a stable, sane person. Like Pedro Romero, he serves as a foil for Jake and his friends. Wilson-Harris - A British war veteran whom Jake and Bill befriend while fishing in Spain. The three men share a profound common bond, having all experienced the horrors of World War I, as well as the intimacy that soldiers develop. Harris, as Jake and Bill call him, is a kind, friendly person who greatly values the brief time he spends with Jake and Bill. Georgette - A beautiful but somewhat thick-witted prostitute whom Jake picks up and takes to dinner. Jake quickly grows bored of their superficial conversation and abandons her in a club to be with Brett. Belmonte - A bullfighter who fights on the same day as Pedro Romero. In his early days, Belmonte was a great and popular bullfighter. But when he came out of retirement to fight again, he found he could never live up to the legends that had grown around him. Hence, he is bitter and dejected. He seems to symbolize the entire Lost Generation in that he feels out of place and purposeless in his later adult life. Harvey Stone - A drunken expatriate gambler who is perpetually out of money. Harvey is intelligent and well read, yet he cannot escape his demons of excessive drinking and gambling. Like many of Jake's friends, he is prone to petty cruelty toward Cohn.

T he Sun Also Rises opens with the narrator, Jake -Barnes, delivering a brief biographical sketch of his friend, Robert Cohn. Jake is a veteran of World War I who now works as a journalist in Paris. Cohn is also an American expatriate, although not a war veteran. He is a rich Jewish writer who lives in Paris with his forceful and controlling girlfriend, Frances Clyne. Cohn has become restless of late, and he comes to Jake's office one afternoon to try to convince Jake to go with him to South America. Jake refuses, and he takes pains to get rid of Cohn. That night at a dance club, Jake runs into Lady Brett Ashley, a divorced socialite and the love of Jake's life. Brett is a free-spirited and independent woman, but she can be very selfish at times. She and Jake met in England during World War I, when Brett treated Jake for a war wound. During Jake and Brett's conversation, it is subtly implied that Jake's injury rendered him impotent. Although Brett loves Jake, she hints that she is unwilling to give up sex, and that for this reason she will not commit to a relationship with him. The next morning, Jake and Cohn have lunch. Cohn is quite taken with Brett, and he gets angry when Jake tells him that Brett plans to marry Mike Campbell, a heavy-drinking Scottish war veteran. That afternoon, Brett stands Jake up. That night, however, she arrives unexpectedly at his apartment with Count Mippipopolous, a rich Greek expatriate. After sending the count out for champagne, Brett tells Jake that she is leaving for San Sebastian, in Spain, saying it will be easier on both of them to be apart. Several weeks later, while Brett and Cohn are both traveling outside of Paris, one of Jake's friends, a fellow American war veteran named Bill Gorton, arrives in Paris. Bill and Jake make plans to leave for Spain to do some fishing and later attend the fiesta at Pamplona. Jake makes plans to meet Cohn on the way to Pamplona. Jake runs into Brett, who has returned from San Sebastian; with her is Mike, her fiancé. They ask if they may join Jake in Spain, and he politely responds that they may. When Mike leaves for a moment, Brett reveals to Jake that she and Cohn were in San Sebastian together. Bill and Jake take a train from Paris to Bayonne, in the south of France, where they meet Cohn. The three men travel together into Spain, to Pamplona. They plan on meeting Brett and Mike that night, but the couple does not show up. Bill and Jake decide to leave for a small town called Burguete to fish, but Cohn chooses to stay and wait for Brett. Bill and Jake travel to the Spanish countryside and check into a small, rural inn. They spend five pleasant days fishing, drinking, and playing cards. Eventually, Jake receives a letter from Mike. He writes that he and Brett will be arriving in Pamplona shortly. Jake and Bill leave on a bus that afternoon to meet the couple. After arriving in Pamplona, Jake and Bill check into a hotel owned by Montoya, a Spanish bullfighting expert who likes Jake for his earnest interest in the sport. Jake and Bill meet up with Brett, Mike, and Cohn, and the whole group goes to watch the bulls being unloaded in preparation for the bullfights during the fiesta. Mike mocks Cohn harshly for following Brett around when he is not wanted. After a few more days of preparation, the fiesta begins. The city is consumed with dancing, drinking, and general debauchery. The highlight of the first day is the first bullfight, at which Pedro Romero, a nineteen-year-old prodigy, distinguishes himself above all the other bullfighters. Despite its violence, Brett cannot take her eyes off the bullfight, or Romero. A few days later, Jake and his friends are at the hotel dining room, and Brett notices Romero at a nearby table. She persuades Jake to introduce her to him. Mike again verbally abuses Cohn, and they almost come to blows before Jake defuses the situation. Later that night, Brett asks Jake to help her find Romero, with whom she says she has fallen in love. Jake agrees to help, and Brett and Romero spend the night together. Jake then meets up with Mike and Bill, who are both extremely drunk. Cohn soon arrives, demanding to know where Brett is. After an exchange of insults, Cohn attacks Mike and Jake, knocking them both out. When Jake returns to the hotel, he finds Cohn lying face down on his bed and crying. Cohn begs Jake's forgiveness, and Jake reluctantly grants it. The next day, Jake learns from Bill and Mike that the night before Cohn also beat up Romero when he discovered the bullfighter with Brett; Cohn later begged Romero to shake hands with him, but Romero refused. At the bullfight that afternoon, Romero fights brilliantly, dazzling the crowd by killing a bull that had gored a man to death in the streets. Afterward, he cuts the bull's ear off and gives it to Brett. After this final bullfight, Romero and Brett leave for Madrid together. Cohn has left that morning, so only Bill, Mike, and Jake remain as the fiesta draws to a close. The next day, the three remaining men rent a car and drive out of Spain to Bayonne and then go their separate ways. Jake heads back into Spain to San Sebastian, where he plans to spend several quiet days relaxing. He receives a telegram from Brett, however, asking him to come meet her in Madrid. He complies, and boards an overnight train that same day. Jake finds Brett alone in a Madrid hotel room. She has broken with Romero, fearing that she would ruin him and his career. She announces that she now wants to return to Mike. Jake books tickets for them to leave Madrid. As they ride in a taxi through the Spanish capital, Brett laments that she and Jake could have had a wonderful time together. Jake responds, "Yes, isn't it pretty to think so?"

?

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald Characters: Nick Carraway - The novel's narrator, Nick is a young man from Minnesota who, after being educated at Yale and fighting in World War I, goes to New York City to learn the bond business. Honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgment, Nick often serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets. After moving to West Egg, a fictional area of Long Island that is home to the newly rich, Nick quickly befriends his next-door neighbor, the mysterious Jay Gatsby. As Daisy Buchanan's cousin, he facilitates the rekindling of the romance between her and Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is told entirely through Nick's eyes; his thoughts and perceptions shape and color the story. Jay Gatsby - The title character and protagonist of the novel, Gatsby is a fabulously wealthy young man living in a Gothic mansion in West Egg. He is famous for the lavish parties he throws every Saturday night, but no one knows where he comes from, what he does, or how he made his fortune. As the novel progresses, Nick learns that Gatsby was born James Gatz on a farm in North Dakota; working for a millionaire made him dedicate his life to the achievement of wealth. When he met Daisy while training to be an officer in Louisville, he fell in love with her. Nick also learns that Gatsby made his fortune through criminal activity, as he was willing to do anything to gain the social position he thought necessary to win Daisy. Nick views Gatsby as a deeply flawed man, dishonest and vulgar, whose extraordinary optimism and power to transform his dreams into reality make him "great" nonetheless. Daisy Buchanan - Nick's cousin, and the woman Gatsby loves. As a young woman in Louisville before the war, Daisy was courted by a number of officers, including Gatsby. She fell in love with Gatsby and promised to wait for him. However, Daisy harbors a deep need to be loved, and when a wealthy, powerful young man named Tom Buchanan asked her to marry him, Daisy decided not to wait for Gatsby after all. Now a beautiful socialite, Daisy lives with Tom across from Gatsby in the fashionable East Egg district of Long Island. She is sardonic and somewhat cynical, and behaves superficially to mask her pain at her husband's constant infidelity. Tom Buchanan - Daisy's immensely wealthy husband, once a member of Nick's social club at Yale. Powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family, Tom is an arrogant, hypocritical bully. His social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism, and he never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him. He has no moral qualms about his own extramarital affair with Myrtle, but when he begins to suspect Daisy and Gatsby of having an affair, he becomes outraged and forces a confrontation. Jordan Baker - Daisy's friend, a woman with whom Nick becomes romantically involved during the course of the novel. A competitive golfer, Jordan represents one of the "new women" of the 1920s—cynical, boyish, and self-centered. Jordan is beautiful, but also dishonest: she cheated in order to win her first golf tournament and continually bends the truth. Myrtle Wilson - Tom's lover, whose lifeless husband George owns a run-down garage in the valley of ashes. Myrtle herself possesses a fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation. Unfortunately for her, she chooses Tom, who treats her as a mere object of his desire. George Wilson - Myrtle's husband, the lifeless, exhausted owner of a run-down auto shop at the edge of the valley of ashes. George loves and idealizes Myrtle, and is devastated by her affair with Tom. George is consumed with grief when Myrtle is killed. George is comparable to Gatsby in that both are dreamers and both are ruined by their unrequited love for women who love Tom. Owl Eyes - The eccentric, bespectacled drunk whom Nick meets at the first party he attends at Gatsby's mansion. Nick finds Owl Eyes looking through Gatsby's library, astonished that the books are real. Klipspringer - The shallow freeloader who seems almost to live at Gatsby's mansion, taking advantage of his host's money. As soon as Gatsby dies, Klipspringer disappears—he does not attend the funeral, but he does call Nick about a pair of tennis shoes that he left at Gatsby's mansion. Meyer Wolfsheim - Gatsby's friend, a prominent figure in organized crime. Before the events of the novel take place, Wolfsheim helped Gatsby to make his fortune bootlegging illegal liquor. His continued acquaintance with Gatsby suggests that Gatsby is still involved in illegal business.

N ick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg district of Long Island, a wealthy but unfashionable area populated by the new rich, a group who have made their fortunes too recently to have established social connections and who are prone to garish displays of wealth. Nick's next-door neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby, who lives in a gigantic Gothic mansion and throws extravagant parties every Saturday night. Nick is unlike the other inhabitants of West Egg—he was educated at Yale and has social connections in East Egg, a fashionable area of Long Island home to the established upper class. Nick drives out to East Egg one evening for dinner with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, an erstwhile classmate of Nick's at Yale. Daisy and Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a beautiful, cynical young woman with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship. Nick also learns a bit about Daisy and Tom's marriage: Jordan tells him that Tom has a lover, Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the valley of ashes, a gray industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle. At a vulgar, gaudy party in the apartment that Tom keeps for the affair, Myrtle begins to taunt Tom about Daisy, and Tom responds by breaking her nose. As the summer progresses, Nick eventually garners an invitation to one of Gatsby's legendary parties. He encounters Jordan Baker at the party, and they meet Gatsby himself, a surprisingly young man who affects an English accent, has a remarkable smile, and calls everyone "old sport." Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan alone, and, through Jordan, Nick later learns more about his mysterious neighbor. Gatsby tells Jordan that he knew Daisy in Louisville in 1917 and is deeply in love with her. He spends many nights staring at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his mansion. Gatsby's extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy. Gatsby now wants Nick to arrange a reunion between himself and Daisy, but he is afraid that Daisy will refuse to see him if she knows that he still loves her. Nick invites Daisy to have tea at his house, without telling her that Gatsby will also be there. After an initially awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy reestablish their connection. Their love rekindled, they begin an affair. After a short time, Tom grows increasingly suspicious of his wife's relationship with Gatsby. At a luncheon at the Buchanans' house, Gatsby stares at Daisy with such undisguised passion that Tom realizes Gatsby is in love with her. Though Tom is himself involved in an extramarital affair, he is deeply outraged by the thought that his wife could be unfaithful to him. He forces the group to drive into New York City, where he confronts Gatsby in a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Tom asserts that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could never understand, and he announces to his wife that Gatsby is a criminal—his fortune comes from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities. Daisy realizes that her allegiance is to Tom, and Tom contemptuously sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him. When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsby's car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom's lover. They rush back to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car when it struck Myrtle, but that Gatsby intends to take the blame. The next day, Tom tells Myrtle's husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George, who has leapt to the conclusion that the driver of the car that killed Myrtle must have been her lover, finds Gatsby in the pool at his mansion and shoots him dead. He then fatally shoots himself. Nick stages a small funeral for Gatsby, ends his relationship with Jordan, and moves back to the Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people surrounding Gatsby's life and for the emptiness and moral decay of life among the wealthy on the East Coast. Nick reflects that just as Gatsby's dream of Daisy was corrupted by money and dishonesty, the American dream of happiness and individualism has disintegrated into the mere pursuit of wealth. Though Gatsby's power to transform his dreams into reality is what makes him "great," Nick reflects that the era of dreaming—both Gatsby's dream and the American dream—is over.

?

Author: Willa Cather Characters: * Godfrey St. Peter - Also known as the professor, the novel's protagonist. He is a fifty-two year old man of mixed descent "Canadian French on one side, and American farmers on the other"[2]. He is described by his wife as growing "better-looking and more intolerant all the time"[3]. He is a professor of history at Hamilton University and his book is entitled Spanish Adventures in North America. Godfrey's name comes from Godfrey of Boulogne, the conqueror who took Jerusalem (A. S. Byatt): St. Peter is the rock on which the Roman church was built: St. Peter is writing about pioneers, when he himself is an intellectual pioneer and every bit of his name comes from famous pioneers in history. * Lillian St. Peter - The professor's status-oriented wife. She is described as "occupied with the future" and adaptable[4]. Most of her involvement in the novel is to act as contrast to the professor and show the distance between his interests and his family. Their relationship is described as happy but dependent on her inheritance. She tells the professor "'One must go on living, Godfrey. But it wasn't the children who came between us.' There was something lonely and forgiving in her voice, something that spoke of an old wound, healed and hardened and hopeless"[5]. * Augusta - The family seamstress and friend of St. Peter. She is described as being "a reliable, methodical spinster, a German Catholic and very devout"[6]. * Rosamond - St. Peter's eldest daughter and wife of Louie Marsellus. She was originally engaged to Tom Outland and he left everything to her when he died. She is now obsessed with her appearance and having all the finest things, likely because Louie showers her with extravagance. The professor admits that "he didn't in the least understand" her[7]. * Kathleen - St. Peter's youngest daughter and wife of Scott McGregor. She is sweet and honest and is one of the more genuine characters in the novel. The professor says that "the only unusual thing about Kitty ... is that she doesn't think herself a bit unusual" and that she "has a spark of something different"[8]. * Louie Marsellus - Rosamond's husband and executor of Tom Outland's patents from which he massed a fortune and is now building a house and memorial to Tom where he and Rosamond will live called Outland. He is generous and very loving to Rosamond. The professor says that he is "perfectly consistent. He's a great deal more generous and public-spirited than I am, and my preferences would be enigmatical to him"[9]. Nevertheless Marsellus is named after the French monarch, and the Roman general who fought Hannibal, and the last part of his name, 'sellus' corroborates (mainly) Scott's idea that Louie is only interested in materialism. * Scott McGregor - Kathleen's husband. They became engaged soon after Rosamond's engagement to Louie. He is a journalist and writes a daily prose poem for the two to live off of. The professor describes him as "having a usual sort of mind" but that "he trusted him"[10]. Scott and Kathleen are portrayed as truly loving each other. * Tom Outland - Once St. Peter's student and Rosamond's fiancé before his death, the story focuses on his memory. The central piece of the novel "Tom Outland's Story" is Tom's own account of his adventures in the American Southwest investigating a cliff city's remains in the desert while working as a rancher. It is through these stories and his goodness that the St. Peter family fell in love with him and remembers him fondly.

When Professor Godfrey St. Peter and wife move to a new house, he becomes uncomfortable with the route his life is taking. He keeps on his dusty study in the old house in an attempt to hang on to his old life. Also the marriages of his two daughters have removed them from the home and added two new sons-in-law, precipitating a mid-life crisis that leaves the Professor feeling as though he has lost the will to live because he has nothing to look forward to. The novel initially addresses the Professor's interactions with his new sons-in-law and his family, while continually alluding to the pain they all feel over the death of Tom Outland in the Great War. Outland was not only the Professor's student and friend, but the fiancé of his elder daughter, who is now living off the wealth created by the "Outland vacuum." The novel's central section turns to Outland, and recounts in first-person the story of his exploration of an ancient cliff city in New Mexico. The section is a retrospective narrative remembered by the professor. In the final section, the professor, left alone while his family takes an expensive European tour, narrowly escapes death due to a gas leak in his study; and finds himself strangely willing to die. He is rescued, by the old family seamstress, Augusta, who has been his staunch friend throughout. He resolves to go on with his life and make the best of things.

?

Author: Nathaniel West Characters: Miss Lonelyhearts - The main character of the novel. Miss Lonelyhearts works as an advice columnist to his miserable readership at a New York newspaper, under the eye of his editor, Shrike. Miss Lonelyhearts is profoundly depressed by the letters he receives and by the moral climate around him. He believes that Jesus Christ is the only answer, but he has difficult integrating the concepts of Christian love into his personal life, as in his failed relationship with Betty and his affairs with Mary Shrike and Fay Doyle. Shrike - Miss Lonelyhearts's editor at the newspaper. Cynical, hedonistic, grandiloquent, and a womanizer, Shrike is the novel's anti-Christ of sorts. He is married to Mary, who he claims beats him and refuses to give up her virginity. Still, Shrike lets Mary go out with other men to save money. He mocks Miss Lonelyhearts most when it comes to religion, ridiculing his identification with Jesus and forcing him to dispense false hopes to his readership. Betty - A woman to whom Miss Lonelyhearts had proposed marriage two months prior to the events of the novel, but whom he now avoids her until desire for sex makes him visit her again. Betty is ordered, earnest, and virginal, and attributes Miss Lonelyhearts's illness to city life—she prizes her aunt's old farm above anything else. Betty's naïveté also disallows her from completely understanding Miss Lonelyhearts's plight and makes her an easy target for his verbal abuse. Mrs. Doyle - A large, nearly grotesquely voluptuous and brutish woman. A great beauty when she was younger, Fay married the disabled Peter Doyle when she did not have enough money to support her daughter by another man. She is unhappy with her life and especially with Doyle, whom she verbally and physically abuses. Fay takes her frustrations out with aggressive advances on Miss Lonelyhearts, who plays the traditionally feminine role of resister to her pursuit. Peter Doyle - A worker for a gas company whose foot has been crippled from birth. Peter, who was married by convenience to the much stronger Fay, wonders what the point of life is and why he keeps on struggling. He is also angry and threatened that Fay's daughter Lucy is his biological child. Peter plays a submissive role to Fay while trying to overlook her sexual advances on other men, notably Miss Lonelyhearts. Mary - Shrike's wife. Mary has been having an ongoing affair with Miss Lonelyhearts and other men for some time, but Shrike allows her this, as it saves him money. Still, Mary only goes so far as to kiss the men. She enjoys the dreamy atmospheres of nightclubs and restaurants and clearly wishes to escape from her dreary home life. "Broad Shoulders" - An anonymous person who pens the longest letter Miss Lonelyhearts receives during the novel. "Broad Shoulders," like Miss Lonelyhearts's other readers, writes poorly, in a wrenching torrent of run-on sentences and misspellings that details her life of suffering. She says that she calls herself "Broad Shoulders" because that is how she feels about life and herself. Old Man - An old man Miss Lonelyhearts and his friend Ned Gates find in a toilet in the park one night. His real name George B. Simpson, the old man is interrogated mercilessly and mockingly by the two men. Ned Gates - An irritable friend of Miss Lonelyhearts's who takes delight in verbally torturing the old man. Ned does, however, try to get Miss Lonelyhearts to lay off the old man after a while. Miss Farkis - A young woman with whom Shrike has a date at the speakeasy. Miss Farkis is interested in intellectual discussions, and is seduced by Shrike's eloquent speeches. Gas station attendant - A worker at a gas station near Betty's farm. The attendant openly reveals his anti-Semitic beliefs when Miss Lonelyhearts talks to him while gassing up the car. Goldsmith - A co-worker at the newspaper who fills in for Miss Lonelyhearts the day he is too hung over to go to work.

A man works at a New York newspaper as an advice columnist to despairing readers, writing under the name "Miss Lonelyhearts." His editor is a cynical older man named Shrike who mockingly compares Miss Lonelyhearts to Jesus Christ. Miss Lonelyhearts decides he no longer finds the thirty letters he receives each day amusing. He reads through three letters that speak of unendurable emotional pain. Miss Lonelyhearts thinks that Christ is the answer, but he knows that Shrike would mock him if he discussed Christ. Shrike says that art is the answer, as art is distilled from suffering. Miss Lonelyhearts has a few drinks at a speakeasy, where Shrike tells him to stop brooding and instead embrace more indulgent values. Miss Lonelyhearts returns home to his one-room apartment, where he has nailed a figure of Christ to the wall. Miss Lonelyhearts dreams about a time in college when he and two friends bought a young lamb to roast. Miss Lonelyhearts wants to sacrifice the lamb to God first. In a meadow, he chants "Christ" and tries to kill the lamb, but his knife blows are inaccurate, and the wounded lamb escapes. Later, Miss Lonelyhearts pleads with his friends to put the lamb out of its misery, but they stay put. He finds the lamb himself, crushes its head with a stone, and leaves its carcass to the flies. Miss Lonelyhearts has an obsession with keeping inanimate objects in order. He thinks of Betty, who always provided order. Confused and irritated when he goes to Betty's apartment, his tongue turns into a "fat thumb" and he has difficulty speaking. He thinks about how Betty had accepted his marriage proposition two months earlier, and how he had guiltlessly avoided her thereafter. Miss Lonelyhearts says he has a Christ complex and loves humanity. Betty says she loves him, and he admits he loves her. She tells him to leave her alone, as he has made her feel bad. Miss Lonelyhearts goes to the speakeasy and meets some friends. They complain about female writers and tell stories of literary women who are put in their place by rape. Miss Lonelyhearts thinks his friends have lost their way, but they criticize his approach to religion as too literary and personal. Miss Lonelyhearts collides with a man, accidentally spilling his drink, and gets punched in the mouth. Later, Miss Lonelyhearts and his friend Ned Gates leave the speakeasy and head through the snow to the park. They drag an old man from a toilet, ridiculing and interrogating him as Miss Lonelyhearts pretends to be a psychologist. The old man cries and Miss Lonelyhearts twists his arm, feeling like he is twisting the arms of all his readers. Miss Lonelyhearts gets hit from behind with a chair. Hung over, Miss Lonelyhearts wakes up and tries various methods to warm his heart—hot water, whisky, coffee, and exercise—before thinking of sex. His only option for such release besides Betty is Mary Shrike. Mary will kiss him because she hates Shrike, but will not sleep with him. Miss Lonelyhearts goes to Mary's place, where he is not surprised to find Shrike at the door. The men bicker about Mary, and Shrike says his wife has selfishly fought to remain a virgin and claims that he raped her. Mary comes into the room and tells Miss Lonelyhearts to join her in the bedroom. He does, and Shrike leaves the apartment. Miss Lonelyhearts and Mary go to a Spanish restaurant, but the dreamy atmosphere depresses him. He asks Mary to sleep with him, but she refuses. At the door to her apartment, they kiss, but she is afraid Shrike will hear them. She says if Shrike is not inside she will let him in. Miss Lonelyhearts hides as Shrike comes to the door. At work, Miss Lonelyhearts receives a letter from a woman named Fay Doyle who says she is unhappily married to a "cripple." She has seen Miss Lonelyhearts in the speakeasy, wants his advice about her married life, and has included her phone number in the letter. Miss Lonelyhearts calls Mrs. Doyle from a phone booth and meets her in the park. He takes the large, brutish woman to his apartment, where they have sex. She tells him about her older, crippled husband, and says that her daughter, Lucy, is not his. Fay recounts the story of how she came to marry her husband, of her unhappiness with him, and of her regret. Miss Lonelyhearts assures her that her husband must love both her and Lucy. After Mrs. Doyle leaves, Miss Lonelyhearts gets sick. He falls asleep but then wakes up as Betty enters his room with nourishment. He apologizes for his actions the other day, and she blames his job and tells him to quit. Miss Lonelyhearts says that quitting would make no difference, and explains how his job has made him suffer. He sees that Betty does not understand him. She speaks of the benefits of country living until Shrike comes in, at which time she leaves. Shrike describes various lifestyle choices that might potentially satisfy Miss Lonelyhearts, but rejects all of them as impossible on various grounds. Shrike mockingly maintains that only a life of God and worship can provide hope. Betty continues visiting Miss Lonelyhearts. When spring comes she takes him to her aunt's farm in Connecticut. They install themselves in the musty farm, cleaning house, cooking dinner, and going down to the lake. Miss Lonelyhearts tries to seduce Betty, but stops when she says she is a virgin. He meets an anti-Semitic gas station attendant and finds the forest's undergrowth depressing. When Betty hangs up wet clothes in the nude, Miss Lonelyhearts kisses her and they tumble into the grass. Miss Lonelyhearts and Betty return to New York a few days later. He knows he is not cured, as he has not been able to forget his readers' letters. He watches the crowds in the streets, thinking of how their dreams have been made "puerile" by the media. Miss Lonelyhearts realizes that he, too, dreams—about Christ—but fails at it because of lack of humility. He vows to be humble. In his office, Miss Lonelyhearts reads a letter from a woman who calls herself "Broad Shoulders" and tells a long story about debt and her abusive husband. At the speakeasy, a man named Peter Doyle, whose foot is crippled, introduces himself to Miss Lonelyhearts. He says that Mrs. Doyle told him he should invite Miss Lonelyhearts to dinner if he ran into him. Miss Lonelyhearts accepts. Later, Doyle hands Miss Lonelyhearts a letter he has written to him. In the letter Doyle tells Miss Lonelyhearts about his disability and his job and repeatedly asks what the point of it all is. After Miss Lonelyhearts finishes it, he accidentally touches Doyle's hand under the table, quickly retracts his own hand embarrassedly, but then clasps Doyle's hand firmly. Miss Lonelyhearts and Doyle leave the speakeasy, drunk, and go to Doyle's house. Doyle curses his wife, who flirts with Miss Lonelyhearts. When Doyle protests, Fay hits him with a newspaper. The two men hold hands again, prompting Fay to call them "fairies." Miss Lonelyhearts urges Fay to promote her husband's strength, but he knows that his reluctance to speak about God reduces his advice to the meaningless level of his columns. Doyle tells his wife he loves her, and she grudgingly forgives him and sends him out for liquor. After he leaves, Fay resumes trying to seduce Miss Lonelyhearts. When she gets more forceful, he hits her repeatedly and then leaves. Miss Lonelyhearts spends three days in bed. Shrike and four others come to his door. Shrike says they want to play a game involving Miss Lonelyhearts's letters. They take a cab to a party at Shrike's apartment. Betty is there as well. Shrike introduces Miss Lonelyhearts to the guests as a moral and spiritual crusader. He directs each of the guests to answer one letter addressed to Miss Lonelyhearts, and says that Miss Lonelyhearts will analyze their responses and provide guidance. Shrike hands out the letters, synopsizing them first. He hands Miss Lonelyhearts one letter, but Miss Lonelyhearts drops it without reading it. Betty leaves, and Miss Lonelyhearts follows her. Shrike reads the letter he gave Miss Lonelyhearts, which is from Peter Doyle, and denounces Miss Lonelyhearts for allegedly attempting to rape Fay. Shrike says his faith in "the master" is unshaken, however. Miss Lonelyhearts catches Betty, who is wearing a light blue party dress, outside Shrike's apartment. She reluctantly accepts his invitation to a soda. He lies and tells her he has quit his job and will try to get an advertising job. After they flirt and laugh, Betty cries, though what Miss Lonelyhearts calls the "rock" in him is unmoved. She reveals that she is pregnant. Though she wants an abortion, Miss Lonelyhearts convinces her to marry him. They make plans about their life together as he returns her home. He remains unfeeling. Miss Lonelyhearts gladly accepts a fever that comes after a long night. He shouts out Christ's name. He identifies his heart and mind with God. He plans his life and job anew and offers drafts of his column to God, who approves of everything. Miss Lonelyhearts answers the doorbell and sees Doyle walking up the stairs. He thinks of it as a chance to embrace and heal the cripple, and runs down to greet him. Doyle carries something inside a newspaper, and reaches inside when he sees Miss Lonelyhearts. Doyle tries to flee, but Miss Lonelyhearts catches him. Betty enters the apartment, starts up the stairs, and tells them to stop. Doyle panics and tries to get rid of his package, taking his hand out. The gun inside explodes and Miss Lonelyhearts falls, rolling with Doyle down the stairs.

?

Author: Nathaniel West Characters: Tod Hackett - A young Hollywood set and costume designer who has been in California for three months after attending art school at Yale. Tod looks "doltish" but is quite intelligent and knowledgeable. Nonetheless, he seems to prefer socializing with the marginal people of Hollywood rather than more successful or mainstream filmmakers. Most of the novel focuses on Tod's outsider perspective, and it is through the lens of his social and aesthetic value system that we see the grotesque picture of Hollywood. Though disillusioned by his experience, Tod continues to paint and hopes to portray the anger and frustration of the Hollywood downtrodden in a large canvas called "The Burning of Los Angeles." Homer Simpson - A large, broad man who has recently moved to Hollywood after working as a hotel bookkeeper in Iowa. Homer has had virtually no excitement in his life and he likes it that way. His days consist mainly of eating, sleeping, and sitting until he meets Faye Greener and unhappily falls in love. Homer's meekness makes him a doormat for Faye and others. His pent up anger and sexual frustration are embodied in his overly large hands, which fidget constantly as though they have an agenda of their own. Faye Greener - A seventeen-year-old aspiring actress. Faye was raised by her father Harry, her mother having left them when Faye was a child. As Harry has worked off and on as a vaudeville comedian, Faye has grown up in the world of acting and entertainment and has always wanted to be an actress. Though she is only seventeen, she can carry herself like a worldly, sexual woman. Faye likes to be looked at and admired, but her fantasy world of Hollywood plot lines and her own successful career need no audience to make her self-sufficiently satisfied. Harry Greener - Faye's father, a vaudeville clown and comedic actor who has never been truly successful. Harry began his stage career in New York, then moved to Hollywood with Faye in hopes of finding film work. Harry has never found the work he hoped for and has been selling homemade silver polish door-to-door to support himself. Nonetheless, he still keeps up his clown act all the time, in part to disarm potential customers. Earle Shoop - A tall, skinny cowboy from Arizona. Earle never has much money and rarely even has a home, spending his days in Hollywood standing out front of Hodge's saddlery store staring at the billboard across the street. Earle is handsome in a geometrically pleasing way, but has a violent streak that appears without much provocation. He dates Faye for part of the novel. Miguel - Earle's Mexican companion and would-be roommate—if they ever had a house. Miguel keeps gamecocks and is quite proud of them. Much to Earle's dismay, Miguel and Faye are powerfully attracted to each other, an attraction that expresses itself in Miguel's sensual singing and their dancing. Like Earle and many other characters, Miguel can quickly turn violent. Honest Abe Kusich - A book-keeping dwarf and one of Tod's friends. Abe is scornful and belligerent, perhaps in an attempt to compensate up for his tiny size. He can be caring, as when he finds Tod an apartment or nurtures his hurt gamecock. Abe can also be very ruthless and violent, however, and he is one of the only men in the novel who is scornful of Faye's acting. Claude Estee - A successful Hollywood screenwriter and another of Tod's friends. Claude plays along with the masquerades of Hollywood, keeping a house that is a replica of a Southern mansion and acting the part of a Southern gentleman himself. Despite his pretense, Claude maintains some distance from the craziness of Hollywood and can trade witty quips with Tod. Alice Estee - Claude's wife, a minor character. Joan Schwartzen - A woman who only appears in the scenes at the Estees' party. Joan tries to be playful and flirtatious but comes off as shrill and menacing. She seems to enjoy expensive, elaborate illusions, as well as the novelty of pornography. Audrey Jenning - The owner of a well-maintained call-house. Mrs. Jenning's establishment is respected because she oversees the transactions with class and care, meeting with the men first and then sending the girls out with a chauffeur. Mrs. Jenning reportedly prefers discussing matters of high culture rather than popular culture. She was a silent film star who decided to end her career in the movie industry when talking films became popular. Maybelle Loomis - A woman who lives in Homer Simpson's neighborhood and has been in California for six years. Mrs. Loomis is trying to turn her eight-year-old son, Adore, into a child star. She is a member of the raw-foodist sect, one of the many gimmicky religions in Hollywood. Adore Loomis - A young boy whose mother has been trying to turn him into a child star. Adore, despite his mother's efforts, seems only to have become a child monster. He performs when ordered to, but spends the rest of his time making bratty faces. Mary Dove - A friend of Faye's and a call-girl at Mrs. Jenning's. Mrs. Johnson - The janitor at the San Bernardino apartments. Mrs. Johnson's hobby is bossing grieving people into giving expensive funerals and letting her organize them. Calvin - One of Earle's friends and a fellow cowboy who sits outside Hodge's each day. Hink - One of Calvin's and Earle's friends who is also part of the Hollywood cowboy community. Romola Martin - A woman who only appears in the novel as part of a brief flashback, a near sexual encounter she and Homer Simpson had at the Iowa hotel where he worked as a bookkeeper. Miss Martin is an alcoholic who stays at the hotel but is unable to pay her rent.

Tod Hackett has been recruited from Yale School of Fine Arts to work as a set and costume designer for National Films in Hollywood. When the novel opens, Tod has been in Hollywood for only three months and still marvels at the people and architecture of the city, both of which involve blatant and constant artifice and masquerading. Tod is most interested in the section of the population that does not seem to be masquerading—the imported, lower middle-class Midwestern immigrants who stand around the city and stare at the masqueraders. In his head, Tod has labeled these people the ones who "have come to California to die" and has decided to paint them in his upcoming masterpiece, an apocalyptic scene he has titled "The Burning of Los Angeles." In his short time in Los Angeles, Tod has acquired an odd assortment of friends, including Abe Kusich, a belligerent dwarf bookie; Faye Greener, an untalented extra who wants to be a film star; and her father, Harry Greener, a former vaudeville clown who never found work in Hollywood but keeps up his clown act all day, even though his only job now is selling homemade silver polish door-to-door. Abe helped Tod find his current apartment, which Tod only decided to take upon seeing Faye Greener, who lives downstairs. Tod desires Faye, but she has unsentimentally told him that they must remain polite friends, as Tod has no money and is not particularly good-looking. Tod hopes that his chances with Faye have improved now that Faye's father Harry has fallen ill and Tod visits with the man nightly. Harry fell ill at the house of Homer Simpson, to whom he was trying to sell silver polish. Homer has recently moved to Hollywood from Iowa on doctor's orders after a bout with pneumonia. Homer is not working, living on money he has saved and trying to forget the uncomfortable memory of his first and only near- sexual encounter, which occurred with a female tenant at the Iowa hotel where he once worked as a bookkeeper. Ignoring his instinct not to make himself vulnerable to excitement, Homer begins courting Faye. Tod, sensing that Homer is somewhat like the type of people he wants to paint in "The Burning of Los Angeles," befriends Homer out of curiosity. Homer and Tod are not Faye's only admirers; Tod accompanies Faye out to a campsite in the hills where her sometime-boyfriend Earle and his companion Miguel live. The three men all lust after Faye, who enjoys being desired. The evening ends when Earle clubs the flirtatious Miguel on the head and Tod futilely chases after Faye in the woods, intending to rape her. Not long after this evening, Faye's father dies and Faye moves in with Homer as a "business" arrangement. Homer provides Faye's food and lodging and buys her elegant clothing so she can have a better chance at a movie career. Faye takes advantage of Homer's meekness and generosity, easily compelling him to allow Earle and Miguel to move into his garage. Tod, newly uncomfortable with the violent lust that Faye's self-contained fantasy existence inspires in him, vows to avoid her. He puts away his sketches of her and concentrates on the other subjects he must draw for "The Burning of Los Angeles." Tod frequents Hollywood churches, each of which follow a different guide to salvation, but all of which contain the same type of fanatical, prophetic worshippers. Homer and Faye seek Tod out after several weeks, convincing him to attend a cockfight Miguel and Earle are holding in Homer's garage. Tod brings along his screenwriter friend, Claude Estee. The dwarf bookie, Abe Kusich, also attends. After the violent cockfight, Claude, Abe, Earle, and Miguel sit in Homer's living room, drinking and lusting after Faye, who is barely dressed in unbuttoned silk pajamas. Tod and Homer remain removed from the party. Homer tries to talk to Tod about his feelings for Faye, but Tod no longer has patience to listen to admirers of Faye pine away, and becomes annoyed with Homer's slow explanations and clumsy attempts at friendship. The evening ends in excessive sexual desire and violence, as Claude and Tod save Abe from nearly being killed in a fight with Earle and Miguel. In the early morning, Homer and Earle discover Miguel in bed with Faye, which leads Earle and Miguel to fight. The next day, Tod finds Homer in a nearly catatonic state. Faye has moved out and Homer has decided to return to Iowa. Tod leaves Homer alone for a few hours and goes downtown, where he gets trapped up in a large crowd waiting outside Kahn's theater for several movie stars to arrive at a premiere. Tod sees Homer walking near the crowd, still unresponsive and now carrying two suitcases. Tod watches as Homer sits on a bench near the crowd and Adore, a boy who lives in Homer's neighborhood, torments Homer from behind a tree, finally throwing a rock that hits Homer in the face. Homer gets up and chases the boy, stomping on Adore's back after the boy trips and falls. Tod tries to pull Homer off, but before he can succeed, the crowd has jumped on Homer. The crowd riots and Tod is caught in the violent, sexual frenzy. To escape the reality of the mob's violence, Tod immerses himself in thoughts of his painting, "The Burning of Los Angeles," and the riot he plans to depict in it. Tod can no longer see Homer. Tod is eventually rescued by a policeman and driven away from the mob. The final image of the novel shows Tod sitting in the car, unable to determine whether the siren sound he hears is coming from the police vehicle or from his own mouth. He laughs and screams along with the siren from his seat in the back of the car.

?

Author: Richard Wright Characters: Bigger Thomas - The protagonist of Native Son. A poor, uneducated black man, Bigger comes from the lowest rung on the American social and economic ladder. As his lack of education has left him no option other than menial labor, he has felt trapped his whole life, resenting, hating, and fearing the whites who define the narrow confines of his existence. Bigger views white people as a collective, overwhelming force that tells him where to live, where to work, and what to do. Mary Dalton - The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dalton, Bigger's wealthy employers. Mary identifies herself as a progressive, dates an admitted communist, and interacts with Bigger with little regard for the strict boundary society imposes between black men and white women. Mary's transgression of this boundary leads to her death and the resulting development of Bigger's character. Mr. and Mrs. Dalton - A white millionaire couple living in Chicago. Mrs. Dalton is blind; Mr. Dalton has earned a fortune in real estate. Although he profits from charging high rents to poor black tenants—including Bigger's family—on Chicago's South Side, he nonetheless claims to be a generous philanthropist and supporter of black Americans. Jan Erlone - A member of the Communist Party and Mary Dalton's boyfriend—a relationship that upsets Mary's parents. Jan, like Mary, wants to treat Bigger as an equal, but such untraditional behavior only frightens and angers Bigger. Jan later recognizes his mistake in trying to treat Bigger this way and becomes sympathetic toward his plight. Jan becomes especially aware of the social divisions that prevent Bigger from relating normally with white society. Boris A. Max - A Jewish lawyer who works for the Labor Defenders, an organization affiliated with the Communist Party. Max argues, based on a sociological analysis of American society, that institutionalized racism and prejudice—not inherent ethnic qualities—create conditions for violence in urban ghettos. Bessie Mears - Bigger's girlfriend. Their relationship remains quite distant and is largely based upon mutual convenience rather than romantic love. Mrs. Thomas - Bigger's devoutly religious mother. Mrs. Thomas has accepted her precarious, impoverished position in life and warns Bigger at the beginning of the novel that he will meet a bad end if he fails to change his ways. Buddy Thomas - Bigger's younger brother. Buddy, unlike his brother, does not rebel against his low position on the social ladder. In fact, he envies Bigger's job as a chauffeur for a rich white family. As the novel progresses, however, Buddy begins to take on a more antagonistic attitude toward racial prejudice. Vera Thomas - Bigger's younger sister. Vera, like Bigger, lives her life in constant fear. G. H., Gus, and Jack - Bigger's friends, who often plan and execute robberies together. G. H., Gus, and Jack hatch a tentative plan to rob a white shopkeeper, Mr. Blum, but they are afraid of the consequences if they should be caught robbing a white man. At the beginning of the novel, Bigger taunts his friends about their fear, even though he is just as terrified himself. Mr. Blum - A white man who owns a delicatessen on the South Side of Chicago. Mr. Blum represents an inviting robbery target for Bigger and his friends, but their fear of the consequences of robbing a white man initially prevents them from following through on their plan. Britten - A racist, anticommunist private investigator who helps Mr. Dalton investigate Mary's disappearance. Buckley - The incumbent State's Attorney who is running for reelection. Buckley is viciously racist and anticommunist. Peggy - An Irish immigrant who has worked as the Daltons' cook for years. Peggy considers the Daltons to be marvelous benefactors to black Americans. Though she is actively kind to Bigger, she is also extremely patronizing. Doc - The black owner of a pool hall on the South Side of Chicago that serves as a hangout for Bigger and his friends. Reverend Hammond - The pastor of Mrs. Thomas's church who urges Bigger to turn toward religion in times of trouble.

B igger Thomas, a poor, uneducated, twenty-year-old black man in 1930s Chicago, wakes up one morning in his family's cramped apartment on the South Side of the city. He sees a huge rat scamper across the room, which he corners and kills with a skillet. Having grown up under the climate of harsh racial prejudice in 1930s America, Bigger is burdened with a powerful conviction that he has no control over his life and that he cannot aspire to anything other than menial, low-wage labor. His mother pesters him to take a job with a rich white man named Mr. Dalton, but Bigger instead chooses to meet up with his friends to plan the robbery of a white man's store. Anger, fear, and frustration define Bigger's daily existence, as he is forced to hide behind a façade of toughness or risk succumbing to despair. While Bigger and his gang have robbed many black-owned businesses, they have never attempted to rob a white man. Bigger sees whites not as individuals, but as a natural, oppressive force—a great looming "whiteness" pressing down upon him. Bigger's fear of confronting this force overwhelms him, but rather than admit his fear, he violently attacks a member of his gang to sabotage the robbery. Left with no other options, Bigger takes a job as a chauffeur for the Daltons. Coincidentally, Mr. Dalton is also Bigger's landlord, as he owns a controlling share of the company that manages the apartment building where Bigger's family lives. Mr. Dalton and other wealthy real estate barons are effectively robbing the poor, black tenants on Chicago's South Side—they refuse to allow blacks to rent apartments in predominantly white neighborhoods, thus leading to overpopulation and artificially high rents in the predominantly black South Side. Mr. Dalton sees himself as a benevolent philanthropist, however, as he donates money to black schools and offers jobs to "poor, timid black boys" like Bigger. However, Mr. Dalton practices this token philanthropy mainly to alleviate his guilty conscience for exploiting poor blacks. Mary, Mr. Dalton's daughter, frightens and angers Bigger by ignoring the social taboos that govern the relations between white women and black men. On his first day of work, Bigger drives Mary to meet her communist boyfriend, Jan. Eager to prove their progressive ideals and racial tolerance, Mary and Jan force Bigger to take them to a restaurant in the South Side. Despite Bigger's embarrassment, they order drinks, and as the evening passes, all three of them get drunk. Bigger then drives around the city while Mary and Jan make out in the back seat. Afterward, Mary is too drunk to make it to her bedroom on her own, so Bigger helps her up the stairs. Drunk and aroused by his unprecedented proximity to a young white woman, Bigger begins to kiss Mary. Just as Bigger places Mary on her bed, Mary's blind mother, Mrs. Dalton, enters the bedroom. Though Mrs. Dalton cannot see him, her ghostlike presence terrifies him. Bigger worries that Mary, in her drunken condition, will reveal his presence. He covers her face with a pillow and accidentally smothers her to death. Unaware that Mary has been killed, Mrs. Dalton prays over her daughter and returns to bed. Bigger tries to conceal his crime by burning Mary's body in the Daltons' furnace. He decides to try to use the Daltons' prejudice against communists to frame Jan for Mary's disappearance. Bigger believes that the Daltons will assume Jan is dangerous and that he may have kidnapped their daughter for political purposes. Additionally, Bigger takes advantage of the Daltons' racial prejudices to avoid suspicion, continuing to play the role of a timid, ignorant black servant who would be unable to commit such an act. Mary's murder gives Bigger a sense of power and identity he has never known. Bigger's girlfriend, Bessie, makes an offhand comment that inspires him to try to collect ransom money from the Daltons. They know only that Mary has vanished, not that she is dead. Bigger writes a ransom letter, playing upon the Daltons' hatred of communists by signing his name "Red." He then bullies Bessie to take part in the ransom scheme. However, Mary's bones are found in the furnace, and Bigger flees with Bessie to an empty building. Bigger rapes Bessie and, frightened that she will give him away, bludgeons her to death with a brick after she falls asleep. Bigger eludes the massive manhunt for as long as he can, but he is eventually captured after a dramatic shoot-out. The press and the public determine his guilt and his punishment before his trial even begins. The furious populace assumes that he raped Mary before killing her and burned her body to hide the evidence of the rape. Moreover, the white authorities and the white mob use Bigger's crime as an excuse to terrorize the entire South Side . Jan visits Bigger in jail. He says that he understands how he terrified, angered, and shamed Bigger through his violation of the social taboos that govern tense race relations. Jan enlists his friend, Boris A. Max, to defend Bigger free of charge. Jan and Max speak with Bigger as a human being, and Bigger begins to see whites as individuals and himself as their equal. Max tries to save Bigger from the death penalty, arguing that while his client is responsible for his crime, it is vital to recognize that he is a product of his environment. Part of the blame for Bigger's crimes belongs to the fearful, hopeless existence that he has experienced in a racist society since birth. Max warns that there will be more men like Bigger if America does not put an end to the vicious cycle of hatred and vengeance. Despite Max's arguments, Bigger is sentenced to death. Bigger is not a traditional hero by any means. However, Wright forces us to enter into Bigger's mind and to understand the devastating effects of the social conditions in which he was raised. Bigger was not born a violent criminal. He is a "native son": a product of American culture and the violence and racism that suffuse it.

?

?