Native Son

In Native Son, by Richard Wright, the protagonist character learns that various factors, such as race and heritage, can greatly influence a person’s life. This is demonstrated through character motivation, conflict, ethos, and symbolism. These elements are illustrated by Wright’s indigent character, who is obstinate to reach his goal and persevere through any obstacles that he may face. Character motivation, conflict, and ethos are all illustrated through the protagonist character, Bigger…

The title of my book is Native Son by Richard Wright. It was published on March 1, 1940. There are 255 pages in the book. Bigger, a young african american living in a small apartment with his siblings and mother, seems to not have a care in the world after he leaves with the intentions of using the change his mother gave him to use as cab fare and go get a job. Instead of going for the job he decides to meet up with his friends. They then plan a robbery at a white mans store. They have…

First Reaction: Wow throughout this whole novel, Native Son, had a lot of dramatic events taking place. This book goes back in time and discusses the harsh laws against blacks. I would say that this book is almost like the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, when it gets to the trail portion of the book and both of these novels talk about racial inequality. I was surprised to learn about the psychological distress blacks also faced because of cruel treatment. From the very beginning, I knew Bigger…

There is an open case on the family. The biological mother had a period of time where she had no visitation with the children. Within the last 2-3 weeks, the boys started seeing the mother again. There is a history of violence in the home with mom and her boyfriend. That is the reason the case was opened. Since the children started seeing the mother, there has been a traumatic change in both children's behaviors. Per reporter, the behaviors coincides with when visitation was reinstated with the…

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…

Notes of a Native son opened my eyes to many things that I never consciously recognized. Baldwin is an author that through my experience of reading, is the type of author that I have a hard time understanding. His perspective of the his discussion of race is criticizing not only one group but both sides. The main races talked about was black vs white, the typical two races that have long history with each other along with other races like Native Americans who were affected in the creation the “…

Potter Stewart once said, “Fairness is what justice really is.” Richard Wright expresses similar sentiments in his novel, The Native Son, when displaying Bigger’s hardships as a black man in a white society. Wright highlights Bigger’s crimes in a new light when instilling empathy in the reader as he/she undertakes Bigger’s journey of self- fulfillment and awareness. His overuse of the black and white motif constructs a society in which people judge based on skin color. He constructs a society in…

In the 1930’s novel Native Son, Richard Wright illustrates the notion that racism forces the oppressed into a fearful and violent state of mind. Bigger, a “native son” in his own community, is challenged by the “collective white force” who not only mould his character but also strip him of a sense of worth and authority over his own life. Wright uses the internal isolation of Bigger Thomas as the foundation of Bigger’s search for power and quest for identity. Bigger’s violent and fearful…

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…

“Was what we had heard about rich white people really true?” as said by Bigger himself best describes the novel and himself. Native Son, by Richard Wright, uses narrative story to and complex plot to bring focus to an epidemic occurring at the time. The novel’s setting is around the 1930’s in Chicago’s South Side where racism was still a raging issue. Throughout the book we follow protagonist, Bigger Thomas, as he goes through the effects of racism. The plot consists of Bigger getting a job as a…