The Question of Suffocation

So, I'll admit I'm a bit late to the party, but hopefully it's not to late to go back briefly to Native Son. Something bugged me about the scene in which Bigger killed Mary even from my first reading. In it, Mary starts to mumble as Mrs. Dalton comes in, and Bigger is afraid of being discovered in the room. This much is plain and simple. However, his response particularly intrigues me. You see, he pushes a pillow on her mouth, trying to stop her from speaking. Now, the reader will, of course, recognize this as suffocation, but my question is, did Bigger? Elsewhere in the book it is referenced that Bigger has only had an eighth grade education. To say that Bigger only knows what he learned in school is ridiculous; he is also drawing from some twenty years or so of life and pop culture and other miscellaneous things. However, was it possible that Bigger didn't even realize that he could kill Mary by keeping the pillow on her too long? While he was gripped with terror in the action of the scene, the reader should note that being caught in that room would most likely receive a (slightly) lesser punishment than being caught having killed her. Wouldn't trying to hide have a better outcome than killing her, even if it ran the risk of his discovery?

Furthermore, the fact that he didn't realize that she was dead seems to suggest this notion as well. After Mrs. Dalton leaves, the furthest Bigger dares to think to himself is "Had he hurt her?" He seems to interpret the fact that she had clawed at his hands trying to remove the pillow merely as her trying to speak and giving up, not as her trying to live and failing. It does not even occur to him that she could be dead until he looks closely at her for some time. And why doesn't it occur to him? Because he didn't even realize the possibility of death resulting from his actions.

 "But Tristan," I assume you are now saying for the purpose of this post, "what you are saying sounds alright, I guess, but why does it matter? It's just some inconsequential detail; you're reading way too far into this." While you may have a point -- this could be unintentional on Wright's part, after all -- the truth is that it's there now and we might as well argue about it. But not only that, it ties into Bigger's self-deception about Mary's death as well. Now, to anybody reading the book, it is quite clear that, whether or not Bigger knew the outcome was possible, he did not intend to kill Mary. Despite this, later on in the story, he attempts to trick himself into believing that he had killed her purposefully; he laments that he should have gotten more money out of it and says that her murder gives his life a purpose (which I do not intend to debate outside of the "murder" bit). If we take into account the possibility that Bigger did not only not intend to kill Mary, but did not know that she could die, it only magnifies the level of self-deception that Bigger must be practising here. And that, even in its small way, is why this scene seems so important to me.

So, those of you who have read this, I suppose I should thank you. Since this post will be taking my blog virginity, I guess if you want to say something you just make a little comment doodad under here and it'll be dandy? My point is I have no idea what's going on. In any case, a most formal thank you is now extended. Get it while it lasts!