The question this time is address whether Bigger really deserved to die.
My answer is yes, but of course I should support this with evidence:
Very good arguments for Bigger have been made, most of which I agree: yes, Bigger has been oppressed and pressed down by white people in a very messed up society. Yes, he has felt like he could not breathe, that he did not have options in his life because they have been taken away from him. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I'll have to say that word a thousand times to justify that most of the things in Bigger life are unfair and unjust. But his actions, although influenced by the people in his life and the way the world was, are unjustifiable.
You could definitely say that what happened with Mary was a mistake: because it was! Although him touching her was not, he certainly did not mean to kill her. Because I do think that he killed her out of fear. However, chopping off her head and throwing it in the furnace was a serious stretch. People might ask, "But what else could he have done?" ANYTHING BUT CHOP OFF HER HEAD AND THROW IT IN THE FURNACE. Yes, these actions were also influenced by his fear, but they were so extreme that they border-lined on insanity.
People are naturally more interested in the fact that he "raped and killed" a white woman and Bessie sort of fades out of the picture, because Mary is white and Bessie is black. But really, Bessie's crime is the reason I feel that Bigger owes his life. The things that Bigger did to Mary are described as sexual assult and second degree murder, both of which he owes time in jail but not his life. However, with Bessie, he actually DID rape her, it is shown in the book, and he did kill her, very intentionally. Unlike with Mary, these actions could DEFINITELY have been avoided. He hit her several times in the head with a brick! I look to his second crime as what influences me to make the decision of the death penalty, and to his first as icing on the cake.
