ts. BiggerÆs fate is one that allows him no control over his own life, a life which, in reality, he has never been permitted to live. One of the few times that Bigger can find any community in the story is when he is with other African Americans who are subjected to the same torments as he. It is only when he is with other African Americans who understand the torments aimed at them by whites that Bigger can fully share his feelings and emotions. As Aime Ellis writes in her critique of the novel, ôBiggerÆs deeply emotional conversations with his homeboys constitute a site of black male community that allows them to purge the psychic pain of urban blight as well as to create an intimate space for sharing their dreams, aspirations, and joysö (24). It is only in this crowd that Bigger feels community, a place where he can vent his true feelings and be understood and not criticized because of them. We see an illustration of this when he kills the white girl. He accidentally kills her, but he tries to silence her because he
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