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Situational Irony
Definition of Stream of Consciousness
Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's extended thought process, often by incorporating sensory impressions, incomplete ideas, unusual syntax... read full definition
Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's extended thought process, often by incorporating... read full definition
Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's... read full definition
Key Examples in Native Son
Stream of Consciousness
Explanation and Analysis—Dancing Free and Wild:
While Jack and Bigger watch Trader Horn in the movie theater, the narrative turns away from the film and goes inside Bigger's mind. Wright announces this switch from conventional narrative to a stream of consciousness: "Bigger tuned his eyes to the screen, but he did not look. He was filled with a sense of excitement about his new job." From this point on, it is clear that the narrative has turned to Bigger's thoughts. The novel is in a proximal third person: while the book has a third-person narrator, it is not omniscient, and the reader sees only what Bigger sees. So when Bigger looks away from the movie and turns to his thoughts, so goes the narrative.
Related Themes:
Book 2
Explanation and Analysis—Bigger Was Not Listening:
Bessie, in her first scene in the novel, alludes to the true story of Leopold and Loeb. On May 21, 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two students at the University of Chicago, kidnapped and murdered a 14-year-old boy named Bobby Franks, son of wealthy Chicago watch manufacturer Jacob Franks.
Related Themes:
Book 3
Explanation and Analysis—A Million Stars:
After Bigger faints at his trial, he meets with Reverend Hammond. The reverend wants to tell Bigger about the Book of Genesis. Bigger, mostly starved for over a week and likely brutally physically injured, is still not thinking clearly. He can hardly understand what Hammond says to him, but Bigger has a vision, perhaps a hallucination, in which he sees "a vast black silent void and the images of the preacher swam in that void, grew large and powerful." In a passage of one long sentence, Bigger's mind takes him through much of the Book of Genesis, guided by Hammond's words. This is how it begins:
Unlock with LitCharts A+... an endless reach of dark murmuring waters upon whose face was darkness and there was no form no shape no sun no stars and no land and a voice came out of the darkness and the waters moved to obey and there slowly emerged a slow spinning ball and the voice said let there be light and there was light and it was good light [...]
