Native Son | Flight, Book 2 (Evasion and Capture) | Summary

Summary

The following day Bigger is on the move through the neighborhood. He tracks the manhunt for him by checking the newspapers and discovers that a cordon of police and some vigilantes have surrounded the "Black Belt" and are methodically searching homes and abandoned buildings.

With what little money he has left, Bigger buys a loaf of bread later in the day and reads another newspaper that shows the cordon getting closer to him. The evening papers also describe arrests of black men around the city and the firing of many black employees from their jobs. In a last-ditch effort to find safe shelter for the night, Bigger enters an apartment building to find a vacant unit. By chance, the police arrive to search the building shortly thereafter, and Bigger makes his way up to the roof to evade them. Eventually Bigger is cornered, captured, and dragged to the street as a mob gathers, shouting for his death.

Analysis

Bigger's last day as a free man is driven by the basic need for food and shelter. The snow has made these needs even more pressing for him. He spends the day much like the rat in the first pages of the novel, skittering from one place to another trying to avoid the forces that will inevitably crush him.

Bigger's last day at large also demonstrates how few human rights residents of Chicago's black community have. Their rights are trampled by white society when it is convenient or perceived to be necessary. The police cordon and limit the mobility of all "Black Belt" residents, not just Bigger. Their homes are invaded and searched without probable cause, and vigilante mobs are allowed to roam the streets alongside the police. An unspecified number of young black men are arrested, presumably because they resemble Bigger, but the charges against them are unclear. Finally, employers fire black workers all over the city, even though these workers are definitely not Bigger, and it is unclear how firing them will lead to his capture. The actions of one man seem to be an excuse for the entire city to further oppress the people of the South Side.