NOTE: THE RAT SCENE
In the essay "How 'Bigger' was Born," Wright says that when he began writing Native Son, he could not think of an opening scene. He decided to proceed without one, and when he had almost finished the novel, this opening came to him. Note how much it accomplishes. Of course the rat illustrates the miserable conditions under which the Thomases live. But in addition, Bigger's killing the rat helps reveal his character: he enjoys the violent clash. The rat is the first of many animal images in this novel. And the fate of the cornered, hunted rat foreshadows Bigger's eventual fate, just as the crushing of its head foreshadows Bigger's murder of his girlfriend Bessie in Book Two
Bigger teases his sister with the dead rat and makes her faint. His mother is upset, and she says that she sometimes regrets having given birth to Bigger. She calls him "black crazy." Bigger's relationship with both his mother and his sister seems quite tense. He feels that a wall separates him and his family. Over breakfast, Mrs. Thomas urges Bigger to take a job that he has been offered. If he refuses, the family will be removed from public assistance. Her nagging angers Bigger.
Bigger leaves the house and heads for the pool hall to visit with his friends, Jack, Gus, and G. H. He sees workers putting up a campaign poster for the State's Attorney, Buckley, who will be important in Book Three. Bigger thinks about a robbery he and his friends had once considered. Although they have held up some small black businesses in the past, this store is run by a white man named Blum. Robbing Blum's would be a big step for Bigger and his gang.
At the pool hall, Gus and Bigger stand outside and talk. They see a plane circling overhead. It is a skywriting plane, and the two young men watch the wispy white smoke gradually spell out the words, "Use Speed Gasoline," a message that only highlights the fact that neither Bigger nor Gus has any chance of owning a car. Like the opening scene in which Bigger kills the rat, this scene accomplishes several objectives. You learn that the black ghetto is not completely shut off from the outside white world, which intrudes teasingly, reminding Bigger and his friends of the possibilities denied them.
But the plane also becomes a symbol. It represents Bigger's desire to fly, not simply literally, by being an aviator, but also by soaring beyond all the limitations of his environment. Perhaps the airplane's white smoke adds to the symbolism by associating the freedom of flying with the color white. This scene ends with Bigger turning his fantasy of freedom into one of violence. He imagines using the plane to drop bombs on whites.
Gus and Bigger then play at being white. They pretend to be a general, a big businessman, and the president of the United States.