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Fear of white society, fear of being caught at doing something he shouldn’t be doing, fear of his friends. But what the title ‘Fear’ doesn’t express Is Bigger reaction to It. Bigger reacts to fear with violence as he finds that it is his only release from the oppressiveness of white society. We know that as, when there is the rat incident, with everybody being scared, Bigger reacts by killing the beast brutally with a skillet.
Also, he reacts with violence against White society as he’s scared of them. But, instead of keeping quiet and minding his own business, he feels the need to rob Plum’s, a white mans, store. However, in the end he doesn’t do it as he is in fear of being caught. Again, though he reacts to it by beating Gus, his friend, up using the excuse of Gus being late to get out of their omission. Even though he doesn’t show it to his friends by being tough around them, he Is scared of the White Society.
When he receives the Job to be a driver for rich white people, at first, he doesn’t want to go , but, after watching a film at the pictures which wows the lifestyle of white people, he becomes Intrigued an d wants to find out more about them. He is surprised however, by how the Dalton family treat him. He is nervous and a little scared , but instead of being grateful towards them he feels anger, especially towards Mary as he feels that they are mocking him. For example, when Mary first sees him and asks him if he belongs to a union, he feels mocked and takes an immediate disliking to the girl.
Bigger also reacts to Fear by mentally abusing certain people like Mary and Bessie, his girlfriend. For example, when Mary and Jan invite him to a black people’s restaurant where Bigger knows some of the people there, he feels uncomfortable and scared. So, when Bessie comes up to him and tries to talk to him, he ignores her, henceforth hurting her feelings. Also, when he Is taking Mary out of the car drunk, and she keeps falling over, he gets frustrated and scared that someone will catch him with a white lady in his arms so he starts being rough with her.
When Bigger is in fear of being caught with Mary drunk, he isn’t soft and gentle; e just treats her like a sack of potatoes, not caring whether she is uncomfortable or getting hurt. When he is in her room and starts to get sexually attracted to her, Mrs. Dalton walks in. Even though she is blind, Bigger is really scared of being caught in the room with her, so he tries to shut Mary up, in case Mrs. Dalton wakes her, using a pillow and his weight. What Bigger didn’t know at the time was that he was suffocating her with his weight and, when Mrs. Dalton goes and he finally lets go, he finds out that he killed her.
All this reaction Is a reaction of violence in the face of Ewing caught drunk with Mary. However, when he finds out that Mary Is dead, Instead of Just walking away, he wants to hide her death. So, he stuffs her In her trunk, brings her down to the furnace, cuts her head so she fits in and burns her. Again, all of this violence and Bigger reaction to White Society is understandable as the way the white treat the black is appalling, except for the Dalton family though. Also, everyone has a different reaction to fear and his Just happens to be violence, however, he reacts too strongly, causing trouble, even death.