Discuss how Bigger approaches both murders he commits in Native Son.

I think that both murders represent a great deal of
similarity and simultaneous difference. Analyzing what brought both murders to fruition
requires an analysis of why Bigger did what he did, or his motive, and then examining
the exact nature of each murder.  I think that the motive of each is equally similar,
yet different.  Bigger wanted to silence both women’s voices. His attempts to do so
result in violent means of accomplishing that goal.  Mary’s murder was accidental
suffocation, in that he wanted to keep her quiet so he would not be discovered as being
with her.  Certainly, he did not mean to kill her, but his use of violence or physical
means to ensure her silence resulted in her death.  Desiring to keep Bessie silent is
what motivates Bigger to silence Bessie, yet this murder featured a motive of self
preservation.  Bigger recognizes that Bessie is going to divulge his and her involvement
in criminal activity.  In the attempt to ensure her silence, he kills her.  This intent
is a bit different than what was involved in Mary’s murder.   On one hand, both are
fairly brutal.  Bigger did not need much in way of weapons in order to kill both women. 
At the same time, the fact that both murders are deliberate crimes against women is
another factor that helps to add to the brutality of each. The sexual violation of
Bessie prior to her death and then throwing her down a staircase is another version of
the post- mortem gruesome brutality of Mary in stuffing her remains in the furnace.  In
the end, Bigger shows that he lacks the vocabulary and the means to effectively
articulate his helplessness that he feels in American society.  Murder, sex, and
violence are the only means he is able to control, and while this does not excuse his
actions, it widens the understanding around them.