Communism In Richard Wright's Native Son

To point out this blindness, prejudice, and discrimination, Wright, drawing heavily from the Marxist framework, incorporates a tinge of socialist equality in the novel. As far as the communism is concerned, Wright’s portrayal of communism throughout Native Son, especially in the figures of Jan and Max, is one of the novel’s most controversial aspects. Wright was still a member of the Communist Party at the time he wrote this novel, and many critics have argued that Max’s long courtroom speech is merely an attempt on Wright’s part to spread communist propaganda. James A. Miller points out towards this debate, stating, “To the extent to which Max speaks for Bigger Thomas – and, by implication for Richard Wright – so the argument goes – “Wright succumbs to his own ideological (i.e., political) impulses at the expense of his literary artistry” (119). …show more content…
Siegel’s remarks on Max’s Speech in his essay “The Conclusion of Richard Wright’s Native Son”, reveals the purpose for what Wright has done all this endeavor. “It is an agonized plea to the judge to understand the significance of Bigger, and, understanding, to break through the pattern of hatred and repression that makes our future seem a looming image of violence” (Siegel 97). Furthermore, in Part 3, which is entitled “Fate”, we see the doom of Bigger that has been foreshadowed from the beginning. Bigger’s doom is the doom of the United States as Max states, “If we can understand how subtly and yet strongly his life and fate are linked to ours, - if we can do this, perhaps we shall find the key to our future” (NS