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Native Son

            I found the book Native Son by Richard Wright an intriguing view of Afro-American life in the 1930's. The account of Bigger Thomas is very graphic and I think because it was written by an African-American man it is most near a true account of what would happen to a black man in a white society. I really liked how Wright portrayed the black society. The society was very crude and rough unlike that of the white folks. Even the planning of robbing a store owned by a white person, the sexual gestures of Bigger and his friend Jack when they are at the movies, and the crude language used by Bigger and his friends display the rudimentary laws of black society in the 30's. The use of language in the book also portrays a good difference between the two different societies. The Africans use more basic language that almost has its own vernacular while the white people use their proper English. The way Wright portrayed Bigger was also impressive. While he seemed immature and "average- as a black man, he was actually quite intellectual in most of his thinking. The only two things in the book that did not appeal to me were the language and graphic violence. However, these are very minor since they are very good in describing the uneducated black race at that time.
             The end of the book is very predictable, but well thought out, and very appropriate to the rest of the book. Throughout the beginning of the book it is obvious that Bigger Thomas is going to run into some type of trouble. When the "gang- of Bigger and his friends decide to rob a white man's store they are asking for trouble. Since Bigger is the one who though of the possibility of robbing the store his thoughts are in depth and he is ready to go for anything that breaks out of the natural run of things. Bigger's character is portrayed as the average poor and uneducated black man in Chicago during the 1930's. However, throughout the book it is evident that Bigger hides his emotions and feelings of anger, fear and frustration behind a tough fazade.


Essays Related to Native Son

1. Native Son

... that made it possible for white Americans to rationalize the persecution of blacks. Bluefarb, Sam. "Bigger Thomas, Escape into the Labyrinth." Contemporary Literary Criticism. 3 (1975): 546. Interprets Native Son as a naturalistic novel incorporating, as a major idea, the theme of escape. Unlike the protagonists of other naturalistic novels, Bigger Thomas is unable to physically escape his oppressive environment, because ... , namely victory and self destruction. Margolies, Edward. "The Art of Richard Wright." Contemporary Literary Criticism. 21 (1982): 443-447. Claims that the more impo...

  • Word Count: 2755
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Native Son

... ghetto of Chicago; like Bigger who was schooled only to the eight grade, Wright finished with the ninth, and like Bigger, the author of Native Son grew up a loner and a rebel, whose devoutly religious family assumed he lived a life of crime. During Wright's childhood, Southern Whites prevented blacks ... newspapers, the curly black hair dragging about in blood. He whacked harder, but the head would not come off."" - Native Son p106 Book 1: Fear I find this passage from Native Son to be extremely graphic and brutal. Wright's imagery in this novel is often vicious and elemental. He frequen...

  • Word Count: 2344
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Native Son

... liar, and a murderer. However, Wright brings about empathy in the reader towards Bigger during his novel in a variety of ways. The most prominent examples of this are Wright writing Native Son from Bigger's point of view, showing the severe discrimination against Bigger and other African Americans in the early twentieth century, illustrating Bigger's desperation in life, and causing the reader to ... to more accurately portray the African American race's urgency for equality. Many African Americans in the 1930s possessed a generalized feeling of hopelessness towards impartiality, and Big...

  • Word Count: 1493
  • Approx Pages: 6

4. Comparison of Sartre's Work and Native Son Themes

... of Sartre's existentialism. A complex novel deserves a comparison through a complex philosophy. Although I have not read much of Sartre, I feel that his philosophy and ideals echo throughout Native Son. Throughout Native Son, the majority of the characters use some sort of mechanism to put blame on societal mechanisms they consider out of their control. Bigger's mom, Ms. Thomas, retreats to religion as ... life through actions that dispel those true realities. According to Sartre, this act of avoiding hardship through a relief mechanism is very common and detrimental to one's own being. ...

  • Word Count: 579
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Similarities of Bread Givers and Native Son

... man, in his 20's, who lives in Chicago. Both set in heavily populated, low-income neighborhoods. The protagonists of both stories, Bigger in Native Son and Sara in Bread Givers, struggle to find their way in a harsh ethnically segregated society. In comparison of the general plot, the analysis ... and in the examination of the character's actions, Yezierska's Bread Givers can be read as a similar journey through a more civilized path as Wright's Native Son. Bread Givers is the story of a young immigrant woman living under the roof of her tyrannical father. The protagonist, Sara, battles h...

  • Word Count: 1142
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Color Symbolism in Native on

... in the yellow sun, symbolizes the point of fear. The color red symbolizes Communism and their party. Also the color blue symbolizes the weather and white America in Native Son. Symbolism, a profound aspect of Native Son, gives the reader a cohesive understanding of the social-economic stratification of segregated America. As in real life, yellow for example a yield light, gives a sign of fear. During the ... with no way out, excluded from white America, stuck in the horrors of, African American in the 1980's. Symbolism, a profound aspect of Native Son, gives the reader a cohesive unders...

  • Word Count: 558
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Pocahontas: Native American stereotypes in a Disney Movie

... incident. According to some anthropologists, Smith's near-execution was simply an initiation ceremony. By being symbolically rescued by the chief's daughter, Smith was accepted into the tribe as Powhatan's son. In spite of the doubts concerning the accuracy of this incident, Pocahontas most likely did play a crucial role in helping the settlers survive in their new surroundings. Incapable of ... success, since it - temporarily - ended the hostilities between the Indians and the English, and ushered in a period now known as the Peace of Pocahontas'. After Pocahontas gave birth to a son, ...

  • Word Count: 5972
  • Approx Pages: 24
  • Has Bibliography

8. Native Son

... African American feelings toward white people. The hate and fear that brewed inside of African Americans was unbelievably strong, yet very appropriate. Native Son captures readers and gives and in-depth view to the feelings of people at this time and their reactions to the conflict between people ... of different backgrounds and different beliefs. The violence depicted in Native Son, although quite grotesque, is necessary to deliver the full meaning that Richard Wright wishes to convey to his readers. The main character Bigger ... in fear. A fear that furthers his self-destruction while...

  • Word Count: 959
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Ethan Frome and Native Son

... be interpreted into many different thoughts, whereas themes affect the entire novel as a whole, which causes the theme to be stagnant. In the novels, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton and Native Son by Richard Wright, a majority of the novels can be interpreted only by the use of symbolism. In both of these novels they portray the constraint of moral and social desires ... Starkfield. As Ethan states he has been in Starkfield "a few too many winters", he is proclaiming his desire to leave the city and its' woeful snow (13). In Native Son, snow is interpreted similarly to Ethan Frome's psycho...

  • Word Count: 1398
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

10. Bigger Thomas' Masculinity Challenged In Native Son

... females he interacts with challenge it. None of the females in Native Son are independent; the females are of no real importance until they are in relation to males" figures of authority (Clause, np). The women ... novel is to further the story. They further the story by putting Bigger in new and more dangerous situations by questioning or threatening his male authority. Native Son starts out with a rat in the apartment on Bigger and his family. Bigger kills the rat that attacked his leg and he comes to the understanding ... , I sometimes wonder why I birthed you." (Wright, 11). This ju...

  • Word Count: 959
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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