Racism In Richard Wright's Native Son Is Bigger Thomas

The book written by Richard Wright was centred around the racial discrimination in the country. The protagonist of Native Son is Bigger Thomas, a disillusioned twenty-year-old black man, who grew up in Chicago in the 1920s. Richard Wright focuses on the maltreatment and ugly stereotypical behavior which was used to label blacks. Bigger Thomas is a troubled young man trying to live up to the expectations of his household. He comes from an extremely poor family and is ashamed of his background. He has no control over his life due to societal values. Bigger’s fear of humiliation forces him to keep his feelings of fear and anger raging inside him which later resulted to violence. The society was infested with hatred and discrimination. Richard …show more content…
What racism does in this instance is it limits the thoughts and actions of Bigger. After murdering someone, he feels free because it was one of the first actions he has really taken on his own. The psychological effects basically create monsters because the black people are brought up in such a way to have hatred and fear for whites. In book one (part two), ‘I could fly a plane if I could’, Bigger said. ‘If you wasn’t black and if you had some money and if they’d let you go to that aviation school’, said Gus (R. Wright 1940, pg. 25). Bigger talks about his dream of being an aircraft pilot, but his dream cannot be fulfilled because blacks are only restricted to menial jobs. They are not given the opportunity to go to school. They are considered slaves without rights of their own. In book one (part three), Bigger decides to get rid of the body of Mary. He decides to cut her up and burn her in a furnace. Mary’s head is hung limply on the newspapers, the curly black hair dragging about in blood. He whacked harder but, the head won’t come off. He saw a hatchet and said, “Yes! That should do it” (R. Wright 1940, pg 84). This does not quite convey the sanity in Bigger’s head, but it insanity that is taking place because of the racist act of the white. It is a huge deal for a white person to be killed by a black person. In book two (part three), a whole gang of arm forces was sent after Bigger. Bigger can be compared to the large black rat in this part. Bigger was on top of a roof when he was caught. “‘Tell him to hurry up with the hose, the nigger is arm’, said a firefighter” (R. Wright 1940, pg. 214). They turned on the water hose; the water department had done that. Finally, he surrendered to them. As they daggered him through the street, the harsh comment of the people is mind-boggling, “‘kill ‘im!’, ‘lynch im!’, ‘That black sonofabitch!’, ‘kill the