The Naturalism Portrayed in Native Son Many novels from the time period Of Mice and Men include elements of naturalism. Whether these novels simply discuss the lower class or include a raging story about survival, they all use a darker perspective of realism. One of the writers who used this darker viewpoint is Richard Wright. Wright’s naturalistic novel Native Son displays the life of a poor African-American boy named Bigger living in Chicago. Bigger’s impoverished life introduces the naturalism present in Native Son in many ways. Throughout Bigger’s life, he has grown up in the black housing community which is all clumped in a small part of Chicago. This grouping of African-Americans creates a very poverty-stricken environment where goods and housing are overpriced and no black person can step up into a higher place in the world.
…show more content…
This control of society was shown when Bigger “wanted to be an aviator once. But they wouldn’t let him go to the school where he was suppose’ to learn it [or when Bigger] wanted to be in the army once[, but did not because] hell, it’s a Jim Crow army” (Wright 353). Bigger was limited by the society, and these limitations create a lack of free will, which is common in many naturalistic novels. In order to avoid this control imposed by society, Bigger resorted to violence as he searched to escape through any means necessary. The search for help by Bigger can be seen as he did go to the South Side Boys’ Club, but chose to “plan most of [his] jobs” (Wright 355). Planning to accomplish evil actions is merely a search of Bigger to find a way to act freely. But no matter how hard Bigger tries, he cannot escape the box that society has put him in, which is a reflection of his jail cell. Through Bigger’s lack of power, the novel becomes naturalistic as free will is taken
This control of society was shown when Bigger “wanted to be an aviator once. But they wouldn’t let him go to the school where he was suppose’ to learn it [or when Bigger] wanted to be in the army once[, but did not because] hell, it’s a Jim Crow army” (Wright 353). Bigger was limited by the society, and these limitations create a lack of free will, which is common in many naturalistic novels. In order to avoid this control imposed by society, Bigger resorted to violence as he searched to escape through any means necessary. The search for help by Bigger can be seen as he did go to the South Side Boys’ Club, but chose to “plan most of [his] jobs” (Wright 355). Planning to accomplish evil actions is merely a search of Bigger to find a way to act freely. But no matter how hard Bigger tries, he cannot escape the box that society has put him in, which is a reflection of his jail cell. Through Bigger’s lack of power, the novel becomes naturalistic as free will is taken