A Review of “The Loeb and Leopold Case” in relation to Native Son
By: Joseph Riviera
Review: Butler, Robert. “The Loeb and Leopold Case: A Neglected Source for Richard Wright’s ‘Native Son’.” African American Review 39.4 (2005): 555–567. JSTOR. Web. 18 June 2013.
Richard Wright depicts the unfolding of a murder/extortion scheme, in his book Native Son. Within the plot, the violator, Bigger, was depicted with surprisingly similar qualities to real life crimes and court cases. The Loeb and Leopold case as well as the Robert Nixon Case, were major influences on the book Native Son, according to Robert Butler; who is a professor of English at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
Butler begins his argument by introducing Richard Wright and draws upon his motivations for writing Native Son. Butler draws upon the contexts for the creation of “Bigger’s” characterization; describing the creation of “Bigger” as being modeled “on five young black men from [Wright’s] childhood and adolescence in Mississippi who were rebellious lawbreakers whom he both admired and feared” (555). Butler concludes his introduction by reinforcing the crime influences on Wright’s most popular novels.
Through the use of historical accounts regarding Wright’s writing methodology, Butler describes how Wright followed the Loeb and Leopold case “in the Jackson, Mississippi, newspapers when it erupted as ‘the crime of the century’ in 1924” (qtd in Butler 556). In turn, the case pushed Wright to conduct extensive research in Chicago for the completion of Native Son. Butler believes the Loeb and Leopold trial and murder played a more prominent role in shaping Native Son; while in the past, most of the analytical focus has been placed on the Nixon case (556).
Butler states, “a careful examination of Native Son and the Loeb/Leopold case reveals previously unexamined parallels between the two, from which we can perceive sharp ironies that arise from Wright’s powerfully inversive imagination” (556). Through such a lens Butler depicts many of these perceived parallels. To begin, Butler first describes Bobby Franks and Mary Dalton as “strikingly similar in number of significant ways” – “both young people were innocent victims of chance, both were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and both were suffocated to death” (556). Furthermore the author describes how mutilation to the bodies occurred in both cases and describes the methodology within each parallel. Butler continues by describing the similarity of the ransom notes “since a 10,000 dollar ransom is demanded in both, and the parents of each victim are instructed to place the money in a box (a cigar box for Loeb and Leopold and a shoe box for Bigger) and then to drop the money at an assigned place from a moving vehicle” (557).
In regard to the trial, Butler continues by illuminating many similarities. The first being the presses involvement, because their reports effectively stirred a racial bee hive by headlining Loeb and Leopold as Jewish and in Bigger’s headlines black racial issues developed. Continued by the “attorneys opt for a guilty plea to avoid a jury trial and to place maximum moral pressure on a single man, the judge” (557). Both cases also presented that the defendants committed the crimes due to social/environmental issues. Furthermore, the cases drew parallels by the attorneys stating, “the defendants had no motives” (558).
Butler concludes his argument by describing how Loeb and Leopold are similar in many ways to “Bigger.” Butler describes age similarities, the loss of a parent, a lack of intimacy, loneliness, and pleasure in murder as being parallel within real/fictional characters. Butler further describes the psychological profile of the defendants as similar and stated “all three figures luxuriated in elaborate fantasy lives that gave them delusions of power and directed their macabre split personalities” (560). During the closing of this text, Butler ends by elaborating on the “bitter ironies Wright generates by juxtaposition, ironies that go to the very core of Wright’s vision of African American life” (563).
This text successfully describes major similarities between Native Son and the Loeb and Leopold case. Butler’s use of collected statements and clear depictions of parallels from Wright’s novel provided an invaluable asset to the text’s analytical argument. Butler’s conclusions are omnipresent throughout the text and present his argument effectively.
By: Joseph Riviera
Review: Butler, Robert. “The Loeb and Leopold Case: A Neglected Source for Richard Wright’s ‘Native Son’.” African American Review 39.4 (2005): 555–567. JSTOR. Web. 18 June 2013.
Richard Wright depicts the unfolding of a murder/extortion scheme, in his book Native Son. Within the plot, the violator, Bigger, was depicted with surprisingly similar qualities to real life crimes and court cases. The Loeb and Leopold case as well as the Robert Nixon Case, were major influences on the book Native Son, according to Robert Butler; who is a professor of English at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
Butler begins his argument by introducing Richard Wright and draws upon his motivations for writing Native Son. Butler draws upon the contexts for the creation of “Bigger’s” characterization; describing the creation of “Bigger” as being modeled “on five young black men from [Wright’s] childhood and adolescence in Mississippi who were rebellious lawbreakers whom he both admired and feared” (555). Butler concludes his introduction by reinforcing the crime influences on Wright’s most popular novels.
Through the use of historical accounts regarding Wright’s writing methodology, Butler describes how Wright followed the Loeb and Leopold case “in the Jackson, Mississippi, newspapers when it erupted as ‘the crime of the century’ in 1924” (qtd in Butler 556). In turn, the case pushed Wright to conduct extensive research in Chicago for the completion of Native Son. Butler believes the Loeb and Leopold trial and murder played a more prominent role in shaping Native Son; while in the past, most of the analytical focus has been placed on the Nixon case (556).
Butler states, “a careful examination of Native Son and the Loeb/Leopold case reveals previously unexamined parallels between the two, from which we can perceive sharp ironies that arise from Wright’s powerfully inversive imagination” (556). Through such a lens Butler depicts many of these perceived parallels. To begin, Butler first describes Bobby Franks and Mary Dalton as “strikingly similar in number of significant ways” – “both young people were innocent victims of chance, both were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and both were suffocated to death” (556). Furthermore the author describes how mutilation to the bodies occurred in both cases and describes the methodology within each parallel. Butler continues by describing the similarity of the ransom notes “since a 10,000 dollar ransom is demanded in both, and the parents of each victim are instructed to place the money in a box (a cigar box for Loeb and Leopold and a shoe box for Bigger) and then to drop the money at an assigned place from a moving vehicle” (557).
In regard to the trial, Butler continues by illuminating many similarities. The first being the presses involvement, because their reports effectively stirred a racial bee hive by headlining Loeb and Leopold as Jewish and in Bigger’s headlines black racial issues developed. Continued by the “attorneys opt for a guilty plea to avoid a jury trial and to place maximum moral pressure on a single man, the judge” (557). Both cases also presented that the defendants committed the crimes due to social/environmental issues. Furthermore, the cases drew parallels by the attorneys stating, “the defendants had no motives” (558).
Butler concludes his argument by describing how Loeb and Leopold are similar in many ways to “Bigger.” Butler describes age similarities, the loss of a parent, a lack of intimacy, loneliness, and pleasure in murder as being parallel within real/fictional characters. Butler further describes the psychological profile of the defendants as similar and stated “all three figures luxuriated in elaborate fantasy lives that gave them delusions of power and directed their macabre split personalities” (560). During the closing of this text, Butler ends by elaborating on the “bitter ironies Wright generates by juxtaposition, ironies that go to the very core of Wright’s vision of African American life” (563).
This text successfully describes major similarities between Native Son and the Loeb and Leopold case. Butler’s use of collected statements and clear depictions of parallels from Wright’s novel provided an invaluable asset to the text’s analytical argument. Butler’s conclusions are omnipresent throughout the text and present his argument effectively.