Native Son by Paul Green and Richard Wright

Many times in novels, authors will use conflicts to strengthen the plot and to give more depth to the story that they are penning. There are four main plot conflicts that authors have to choose from: man versus nature, man versus society, man versus man, and finally, man versus self. Authors, many times, will use only one or two of these conflicts but in the novel, Native Son, all four conflicts are used to some extent. In this novel, Richard Wright, does a superb job of meticulously blending all four conflicts together to form a well-rounded novel about a black man in 1920 's Chicago.

In his most famous novel, Native Son, Richard Wright's female characters exist not as self-sufficient, but only in relation to the male figures of authority that surround them, such as their boyfriends, husbands, sons, fathers, and Bigger Thomas, the protagonists. Wright presents the women in Native Son as meaningless without a male counterpart, in which the women can not function as an independent character on their own. Although Wright depicts clearly the oppression of Blacks, he appears unconscious of creating female characters who regardless of race, are exploited and suppressed. Their sole purpose in the novel is to further the story by putting Bigger in new and more dangerous situations by

“[A] recent author and public figure…[Colin Powell, wrote a] book, My American Journey, [that] helped me harmonize my understanding of America’s history and my aspiration to serve her in uniform…Powell gave me another way to think about the American dilemma and, more than that, another way to think about my own life” (Moore 131-2). Author Wes Moore wrote the book The Other Wes Moore, both an autobiography and a biography about a man who shares his name and has a similar backstory, to demonstrate how people’s destinies are primarily influenced by the environment into which they are born. Examining stories including and similar to those of both Wes Moores, as well as reflecting on one’s own personal experience, can provide insight into

In the book Half Brother, by Kenneth Oppel, Ben Tomlin is a very thoughtful person because he is considerate, caring, friendly, and kindhearted. Ben Tomlin, the main character in the book, lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada with his mom, dad, and a chimpanzee, Zan. Some things about Ben is that he has curly hair, he likes to play Risk and pinball, and he does cross-country and photography. First of all, Ben is a thoughtful person because he is considerate of others, especially his friends and family. An example that proves this is can be found in Half Brother, by Kenneth Oppel on page 371, said by Ben. “I paused, because this part was hard to admit. ‘I didn’t love you at first, Zan. I thought you were weird, and I guess I was jealous, and sometimes I didn’t want you at all. But that didn’t last long. You were my little brother. I really felt that. That was never fake.’” This quote explains that even though Zan is a chimpanzee, Ben still loves him because he cares for him and wants what’s best for Zan, which is a family. Another time where Ben shows his thoughtfulness by being considerate of others is when he understands why Zan is being crazy. Even though Zan is fooling around and he can’t stop him, he is not mad at Zan because he knows that Zan is an animal after all, even though his family is raising him like a human. He knows that Zan is only having his temper tantrum and he knows that he can’t stop him because he is an animal, not a human. In Half Brother, by

Recently, the performers at Rollins College put on the two-act comedy The Foreigner by Larry Shue, directed by Thomas Ouellette. This brilliantly crafted show touches on themes of racism, prejudice, and religious corruption in the American south during the 1900’s. Along with the well crafted storyline, every theatrical element seemed to blend together perfectly to create a strong harmony throughout the show. It is no wonder that “the comedy by Larry Shue became a staple at regional theaters after its initial two-year Off Broadway run”, considering how thought provoking yet down to earth it is. (Jacobson)

Richard Wright demonstrates how society's expectations will negatively influence an individual through his autobiography, Black Boy. Wright continues to emphasize his theme through many of works, including his novel, Native Son. The title itself, Native Son, encompasses a metaphor by comparing the main character of the novel, Bigger Thomas to a native son. Bigger Thomas was born and raised in America, and therefore became a native son to America. Although, one may typically picture a son welcome in hometown, Bigger feels very unwelcomed. Bigger lives in 20th century America, where the color of one’s skin dictates his destiny. Bigger is a product of America and acts as Bigger’s mother. America raises Bigger to believe society’s

When analyzing Bigger Thomas, Richard Wright’s protagonist in the novel Native Son, one must take into consideration the development of his characterization. Being a poor twenty-year-old Black man in the south side of Chicago living with his family in a cramped one- bedroom apartment in the 1930’s, the odds of him prospering in life were not in his favor. Filled with oppression, violence, and tragedy, Bigger Thomas’ life was doomed from the moment he was born. Through the novel, Bigger divulges his own dreams to provide for his family and to be anything but a “nobody.” Although Bigger struggled to fight through obstacles to pursue his dreams for the future, his chase for a better life came to an abrupt

Native Son was written by Richard Wright, published in 1940, it was an almost instantaneously successful novel. As a book written about lower class African Americans, who were forced to break away from the conformity of a populous white society, it was not enjoyed by some of the upper and middle class African Americans who wished he had published a book that would show the ways that the African Americans could break away from oppression, and escape it, rather than conform to it. Native Son depicts a black man, named Bigger who was forced to conform to a dominantly white, oppressive society, and how he broke away from it. The novel Native Son by Richard Wright is about escape and reveals that the oppressed can be effected by racism, and other social norms, and how people would do anything to escape the societal views of others, based on how they’ve been raised.

Despite being an environmental studies major, I would be lying if I said that the environment and nature has always had a huge role in my life. The only reason I became interested in the “environment” was when I found out about environmental justice and environmental racism. In other words, because of people. Before I made that connection sometime in high school, I, like many others, never viewed “nature” as something that should be, rather something that just was. Appreciating nature was a subjective value that I had no particular interests in. Because of this, although I am now what I consider a fully-committed and passionate environmentalist, Last Child in the Woods by Richard Lou was difficult for me to read because it pointed out how

Han are an ethnic group native to East Asia. Han is the majority ethic group of the chinese population and by that one can think that maybe the name Han (in the story) was decided because he is not so different from others as he thinks he is.

Native Son acts as a cautionary tale to speak of the horrors of racism and how certain ideologies can subconsciously control one’s actions. Wright uses the exaggerated circumstances of Bigger’s life to show the reality of the world in the 1930s and today. It is a call to change. A call to understand that certain actions an individual takes may be done in part of your own

In Strangers in the Land, John Hingham attempts to illustrate the ideology of nativism and its evolution in relation to historical occurrences. Hingham defines nativism as “an intense opposition to the internal minority on the grounds of its foreign connections” (4). He goes on to say that nativism goes on to follow three standardized themes, “each with a separate history”, anti-Catholicism, antiradicalism, and racial nativism (5). Hingham’s focus on the two main participants in this are the humanitarian’s vs the Nationalist. I loved the two perspectives from “the impulse of fear side and the impulse of love side” (237). I feel most papers focus only on one side of the situation, the fear side. Hingham claims that “Americanization worked

Native Son, a book written by Richard Wright is a novel that was written during the 1930’s where racism was at its’ highest peak. Wright focuses on the mistreatment and stereotypes of an African- American during this time and he explores that idea in his book throughout the main character, Bigger Thomas. Bigger Thomas, a twenty- year old African- American lives with his mother, and two siblings in a one-room apartment on the Southside of Chicago, with the ambition of becoming better, but yet knowing that that is not a selection for him to do. He is given the job of being a chauffeur for the Dalton family, discovering how uncomfortable it is to be near them, especially their daughter Mary Dalton, who tries to be friendly towards Bigger. This

During the growing civil rights movement of the 1940s and 1950s, many authors addressed issues regarding racism and violence in their works. Richard Wright, an author of African American literature who often delved into naturalism and realism, was the son of a sharecropper and thus one step removed from slavery; Wright fled to Paris to escape oppression in 1946, and his work often reflects his own struggle to solidify an identity as a black person in the United States (Moore). Native Son follows Bigger Thomas, a lower class African American working as a chauffeur for a wealthy, white family, who accidentally kills the daughter, Mary, in a brief moment of panic. Feeling as though the murder brought purpose to his life, Bigger is ultimately thrown

In “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan describes the several different kinds of English her that she speaks. It is an interesting concept to think about the fact that more than one variation of a single language exist. After reading “Mother Tongue” I began looking at my own life and seeing if I could recognize the different variation of English that I have come in contact with. After some serious thought, I realized that I have not only come into contact with many different kinds of English, but I speak many different types of English. The Due to my own experiences I agree with Amy Tan’s description of different variations of English, but I believe that each person speaks only one type of English, their own.