The Book Native Son By Richard Wright

Native Son by Richard Wright is about a black man, Bigger Thomas, who is becomes the chauffeur of the Daltons, a rich white family, and accidently kills the daughter, Mary. He attempts to cover his crime by putting the blame on someone else, but he is eventually caught and sentenced to death. Bigger deceives in an attempt avoid the consequences he knows the white world will deliver to him with and this deception contributes to Wright’s message of what racism does to the oppressed and additionally puts Wright’s communist party in a positive light.

Hatred for white society was a strong theme among the African American community during the 1950s. These emotions were conveyed through different platforms of the time, ranging from art and music, to articles and books. But James Baldwin, a popular African American writer during this time period, does not obsess over this subject that was so passionately conveyed by so many people like him. Instead of preaching about his hatred for white America, Baldwin utilizes his story of his childhood as well as his early adulthood to illustrate the destructive nature of the African Americans society’s hatred for white society in the very well known essay, “Notes of a Native Son.”

In Richard Wright’s Native Son, the book is split into three books. The first 2 books focus mainly on the suspense and tensions rising within Bigger’s life and finally in the last book he dies. The dramatic conflict of Native Son takes place chiefly within the mind of Bigger Thomas, who lives in a world of whites, blacks , or reds. To Bigger all of life is conflict and issues that is defined by the color of your skin with the whites being higher up. The tensions within the book can be comparable to fire and ice as each element possess traits which can be seen as metaphors within the novel Native son by Richard Wright and his essay of “How Bigger was Born”.

Richard Wright, wrote the fictional novel Native Son, using three intellectual forces, which include: Naturalism, Existentialism, and Communism. He uses these forces, along with racist ideology, to shape the life of a young black male, Bigger, living in the ‘Black Belt’ of Chicago in the 1940’s. Wright refers to the ‘Black Belt,’ as a ‘black world’ where violence is directed towards other American Americans, and warns that this violence will be aimed at white people. Bigger, is used to depict the criminal actions that come along with living in racial confinement under the fear of white people during this time.

James Baldwin and Brent Staples are some of the many individuals who have shaped the ideas of black culture and understood the reality of what many black people go through. James Baldwin is a zealous author who shares his experiences with being black in America, writes about the relationship he has with his father, and even discovers characteristics about himself and in the environment around him. In Notes of a Native Son, James Baldwin puts an end to the black stereotypes from the American society and rather reproves them. Brent Staples, a known author and reporter of New York, tells us his side of his struggles as a black man. In Just Walk By:Black men and Public Space, Staples pinpoints the perspective and misjudgements that the majority of black people face. Through diction and syntax, Baldwin illustrates an angry and reflective tone while Staples uses a softer and humorous attitude which highlights white privilege and the injustice of Black oppression.

This ideal is important to all Americans. Andrew Sullivan said that “within every soul lies the ability to reach for its own good…” The Declaration of Independence gave Americans the right to pursue their dreams for their lives. (Doc B.) All people want to live in a place that allows them the freedom to live as they want. This ideal gave Americans the right to pursue goals and opportunities that would bring happiness to their lives.

1) From the last paragraph in the biographical section on page 51 that starts with “In ‘Notes of a Native Son,’” was most useful to my understanding of this essay because it gives a brief summary of Baldwin’s essay. However, the first couple of sentences on page 49 gave me an idea of what kind of writer Baldwin is: “took on the responsibility of speaking as a black American about the ‘Negro problems in America.’”

Possessing a sense of self-independence is an important aspect of the reality of the American Dream. In the letter, “What is an American?,” written by J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, he describes the experience of European immigrants on the verge of becoming an American citizen. According to the author, “The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions” (Crèvecoeur 29). America will mold you into a different person. It is our destiny to

Since the 15th century they have been here. They have been treated horrifically and have endured much pain and suffering. Without them America as we know it would not exist. The history of America is the struggle of African Americans. In Native Son by Richard Wright, the ideals of systemic racism come into fruition. Institutionally and systematically, African American males have been victims of racism and discrimination in society because of their skin color.

“Notes of a Native Son” Questions for Discussion in Writing #3: In James Baldwin’s story “Notes of a Native Son”, attributes Wright’s father with several reasons to his level of bitterness. For example, he was in the first generation of free men in America, and died in a period were equality still did not exist. His race was a big factor to his bitterness. The disease that killed him was TB and it is more common in the black community.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness (Independence Hall Association, 2011).” This exert from The Declaration of Independence provides a look on America and how life is meant to be lived; with all individuals having an equal right to exist. This existence includes life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This beacons to one vital idea, one main vision, which creates a fundamental dream. This dream is the American Dream, and is the ideology that life should be richer, fuller, and more sustainable for the common man. The idea influences viewpoints that anything can be

  In Native Son, Wright employs Naturalistic ideology and imagery, creating the character of Bigger Thomas, who seems to be composed of a mass of disruptive emotions rather than a rational mind joined by a soul. This concept introduces the possibility that racism is not the only message of the novel, that perhaps every person would feel as isolated and alone as Bigger does were he trapped in such a vicious cycle of violence and oppression. Bigger strives to find a place for himself, but the blindness he encounters in those around him and the bleak harshness of the Naturalistic society that Wright presents the reader with close him out as effectively as if they had shut a door in his

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

Richard Wright’s novel, Native Son, depicts the life of the general black community in Chicago during the 1930’s. Though African Americans had been freed from slavery, they were still burdened with financial and social oppression. Forced to live in small, unclean quarters, eat foods on the verge of going bad, and pay entirely too much for both, these people struggled not to be pressured into a dangerous state of mind (Bryant). All the while, they are expected to act subserviently before their oppressors. These conditions rub many the wrong way, especially Bigger Thomas, the protagonist of the story. Though everyone he is surrounded by is going through all the same things that he is, growing up poor and uneducated has made Bigger angry at the whole world. You can see this anger in everything he does, from his initial thoughts to his final actions. Because of this, Bigger Thomas almost seems destined to find trouble and meet a horrible fate. Wright uses these conventions of naturalism to develop Bigger’s view of the white community(). With all of these complications, Bigger begins to view all white people as an overwhelming force that drags him to his end. Wright pushes the readers into Bigger’s mind, thoroughly explaining Bigger’s personal decay. Even Wright himself says that Bigger is in fact a native son, just a “product of American culture and the violence and racism that suffuse it” (Wright).

In Richard Wright’s Native Son, Bigger Thomas attempts to gain power over his environment through violence whenever he is in a position to do so.