"He wanted to suddenly stand up and shout, telling them that he had killed a rich white girl, a girl whose family was known to all of them. Yes; if he did that a look of startled horror would come over their faces. But, no. He would not do that, even though the satisfaction would be keen." (Wright 129)
In the beginning of book two, Flight, Bigger is trying to find a way to cover his tracks in the murder case of Mary. At first, he isn't sure of what to do, but he then decides to blame it on Jan, a Red, and tells the story of what happened that night in a different way than what really happened. Some truth was told in Bigger's story, but according to him, it was entirely Jan's fault and he's to blame for Mary's sudden disappearance. Eventually Bigger convinces Mr. Dalton and his private investigator Britten that Jan is the true culprit. While Britten and his men are busy trying to catch more leads on the Communist group, Bigger thinks it's a good idea to make a ransom note for Mary. He would say that Mary was alive, and in order for the Daltons to get their daughter back, they would have to pay a ransom of $10,000. Of course, Bigger wasn't going to do this act alone. He needed the help of someone; a person who was blind in the sense that they couldn't see clearly, and saw things in a gullible way. Bigger went to Bessie's apartment to tell her his idea to earn more money. Bigger then confesses to killing Mary when Bessies continues to ask him why he's certain that Mary won't come back. After a long time of trying to convince her, Bessie eventually caves in when Bigger threatens her very life with a knife. Bigger truly believes that no one would suspect a poor negro living in the slums of Chicago, would in any way have to do with a murder; especially one that involves a rich white girl. In a way, Bigger's way of thinking is similar to that of the infamous, deadly duo of Richard Loeb & Nathan Leopold, more commonly known as "Loeb & Leopold".
Loeb & Leopold were two wealthy, white boys living in Chicago who murdered a young boy named Bobby Franks. Their reason for the murder wasn't because of revenge or a certain hate for the boy; no, it was to prove to themselves that they could commit the "perfect crime". They thought that they would be the last people to be suspected of murder. After all, why would two brilliant college boys would want to murder anybody? Bigger too, also knows that he would be the last person suspected of murder. In the 1920s, blacks were thought of as unintelligent humans whose only purpose was to serve white folks. For that reason, Bigger felt that he could get away with his murder of Mary and take the ransom money too with his accomplice Bessie never wanted anything to do with the murder, but had to or else she would have been killed.
And with that, I will say that both Bessie and Bigger are blind but not in the technical sense of the word. They are blind because they do not fully understand the situation they are getting themselves into. Bigger is so full of pride and confidence that he feels he could do almost anything he wanted to. Bessie on the other hand, doesn't feel any sort of pride whatsoever, but is completely engulfed in a life of shame of who she is, and fear. These are not completely stable people, but neither were Leopold & Loeb. I'm not saying that Leopold & Loeb weren't blind as opposed to Bigger and Bessie, they were. Both were completely convinced that they could get away with the murder because they thought of themselves as geniuses who could get away with murder, but in reality, it was their pride that got them caught in the first place. In the end I think that Bigger will fall down the same path they have with the pride he carries within himself.
"Do you think Bessie has a choice to help Bigger or does she have no say?"
"Is it possible that Bigger will kill Bessie?"
