Free Native Son Essays: Racial Oppression

The “Native Son” by Richard Wright shows racial oppressions that existed in America during the 1930s. Though the use of protagonist, Wright describes the effects of racism on psychological state of it’s victims. Bigger has not be born as a violent criminal. He is a “native son;” he has been born and raised as black man in the US. However, he lives in the white oppressive society of which he fears. His personality is ruled by confusion, shame, terror and hatred. To deal with his emotions he adopts a coping mechanism which mandates itself in violent behavior. In the Native Son, racism is unescapable. Bigger is fully aware that his black skin handicaps him and he shows his frustrations when he says, “Every time I think about it I feel …show more content…
He feels trapped and believes that black people are “..the only things in this city that can’t go where we want to go and do what we want to do (1.279-301).” This white oppression is constant for Bigger as he discuss this with Gus. Bigger feels like white individuals are always with him and they do not simply live over the line that separates wealthy neighborhood from the poor black area, but instead they are always with him: “Right down here in my stomach… every time I think of ‘em, I feel ‘em… its like fire’” (21-22). Bigger is unable to escape the racial oppression as the way for him to get better life is to work for the white people, the very source of his fear and intimidation. When Bigger talks to Mr. Dalton about his job he feels intimidated and hates himself for feeling ashamed: “he…hated himself at the moment….he wanted to wake his hand and blot out the white man who was making him fell like this(41)” The internalized effects of racist oppression are stored in Bigger’s consciousness and this conditioning to the white oppression makes him unable to recognize the well-intentioned, but hypocritical attempts of Daltons, Mary and