I said, “I am so far removed” from this book. Am I really? I wonder how I could make such a statement when I had only read ¾ of the book. I made such a statement because the book is filled with anger and hate. At my age, I have a choice of whether I want to be surrounded by hate or love, this assigned book throws hate in my face and I feel as though I am not allowed to turn away. I make the statement that I “hate” this book because I am backed into a corner to explain why I hate the book. I do not like being backed into a corner and if there was not repercussions that would have affect future decisions, I will walk out of that corner and never look back. The dialect and language of Biggers Thomas throughout the novel completely fulfills
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When Jan Erlone is speaking with Bigger in the jail cell and he says, “I can’t take it upon myself the blame for what one hundred million people have done” (288), I immediately realize that the context of this book is bigger than any sour taste I have from my initial reaction. I now am able to step back from the words on the page and realize that the context was important in 1940 and still resonates in 2016. As a nation, we are not able to change the past and the actions of our ancestors. Not only were blacks methodically abused and oppressed by our forefathers, so were the Jews, Japanese and Irish (to name a few). Every race/religion that has ever been oppressed, was so from the fear of their opressors. Fear of the many and fear of the masses. In the novel, Boris A. Max outlines this for the court when he says, “They hate because they fear, and they fear because they feel that the deepest feelings of their lives are being assaulted” (290) and his statement rings true for all of humanity. I know from personal experience that when I am afraid of something I will either back away from the situation or will attack the source of my fear. Multiply this fear by millions of people and society has events like lynching’s and burning of blacks, methodical starvation of the Irish or the Holocaust. Richard Wright’s novel Native Son is imperative to history and the lessons we should learn from the events of slavery and the Jim Crow laws. Unfortunately, those who need to learn from history usually are the ones who turn a blind eye and create their own detrimental events to be recorded for future
When Jan Erlone is speaking with Bigger in the jail cell and he says, “I can’t take it upon myself the blame for what one hundred million people have done” (288), I immediately realize that the context of this book is bigger than any sour taste I have from my initial reaction. I now am able to step back from the words on the page and realize that the context was important in 1940 and still resonates in 2016. As a nation, we are not able to change the past and the actions of our ancestors. Not only were blacks methodically abused and oppressed by our forefathers, so were the Jews, Japanese and Irish (to name a few). Every race/religion that has ever been oppressed, was so from the fear of their opressors. Fear of the many and fear of the masses. In the novel, Boris A. Max outlines this for the court when he says, “They hate because they fear, and they fear because they feel that the deepest feelings of their lives are being assaulted” (290) and his statement rings true for all of humanity. I know from personal experience that when I am afraid of something I will either back away from the situation or will attack the source of my fear. Multiply this fear by millions of people and society has events like lynching’s and burning of blacks, methodical starvation of the Irish or the Holocaust. Richard Wright’s novel Native Son is imperative to history and the lessons we should learn from the events of slavery and the Jim Crow laws. Unfortunately, those who need to learn from history usually are the ones who turn a blind eye and create their own detrimental events to be recorded for future