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Native Son Essay: Racism And Oppression

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In the novel Native Son, Wright constantly demonstrates that restrained fear, stemming from racism and oppression, can boldly manifest itself through uncontrollable actions. Throughout the plot, Wright focuses on Bigger’s fear to act in a dominant white community which had continually restricted him and his ambitions. Due to the racially segregated Chicago that surrounded him, Bigger was afraid to live his life for fear that he would further be limited by the white society. Therefore, in moments of interaction with them, Bigger’s consciousness quickly becomes disabled, restraining only so much of his fear until it externalizes into bold actions that allow him to live, but in the worst ways possible. Bigger first shows his fear when he and a group of friends conspire on robbing the store of a white man. Bigger’s fear of interacting with the white storeowner was hidden through the strict time he established for the event to occur, hoping for the …show more content…

Once he was put in his jail cell, Bigger’s trial was immediately scheduled to be judged by the white race, whose minds had already predetermined his death based off of his color. Wright described, “Out of the mood of renunciation there sprang up in him [Bigger] again the will to kill. But this time it was not directed outward toward people, but inward, upon himself” (347). Accepting that the white society will dominate and restrict his life in all cases, Bigger feared death. His anxieties were directed towards himself, and he killed his innermost desires and hopes of living a life he always wanted. In doing so, Bigger believed that it was he who made the decision to die. His anxieties and fears guided his last bold action which, although was officially determined by the jury, made Bigger feel like he controlled his own life and death instead of being controlled by the society around

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