Editing Native Son (section)

=== Book Three: Fate ===
During his first few days in prison, Bigger does not eat, drink, or talk to anyone. Then Jan comes to visit him. He says Bigger has taught him a lot about black and white relationships, and offers him the help of a Communist lawyer named Boris Max. In the long hours that Max and Bigger spend talking, Bigger starts understanding his relationships with his family and with the world. He acknowledges his fury, his need for a future, and his wish for a meaningful life. He reconsiders his attitudes about white people, whether they are aggressive like Britten or accepting like Jan.

Throughout the trial, the prosecuting team focus primarily on Mary's murder and pay significantly less attention to Bessie's murder. It is also falsely argued that Bigger raped Mary before killing her. The novel finishes with Max's lengthy [[closing argument]]. In it, he does not argue that Bigger is innocent. Rather he talks about how whites have intentionally blinded themselves to [[racism|racial oppression]], and that the [[ghetto]]s, in turn, have fueled oppression and crime. He concludes with the statement that the court cannot sentence Bigger to death when they have not even acknowledged that as a human being he has [[Natural rights and legal rights|the right to exist]]. Max urges for them to give him [[life imprisonment|life in prison]] instead.

Bigger is found guilty and sentenced to death for murder. As his execution draws near, he appears to have come to terms with his fate.