Native Son by Richard Wright Essay

Distraught Minds

The fictitious novel Native Son by Richard Wright –published in1940 by Harper & Brothers- wasn’t any other book depicting the life of a miserable colored boy in the 1930’s, but portrayed the life forced upon him. Wright wrote Native Son not to gain sympathy from readers, but purposely wanted people to hate Bigger, so that “whites” can see what they create with racism. Through Bigger’s eyes we see how one lives in the “whites’ world”.

Wright portrays Bigger, the main character, as a mean, angry man. Bigger has no way to control his emotions so resorts to violence. If one were to point a finger, the one to blame for Bigger’s actions would be all of those who had put Bigger down and restrained him. At that time Wright was definitely trying to reach out to white people so they can see the effects of racism on those being discriminated. Bigger’s whole life was sculpted by whites. He abided by their rules, worked for them, and had to respect them. Eventually he exploded with emotion and felt he needed to be fight back, leading to the crimes he committed.

It can be said that bigger lives a life in poverty, supported from welfare. When the government threatens to cut off Bigger’s family’s only income, Bigger is forced to take on a job at the Daltons home. On Bigger’s first day of work he drives Mary to meet with her communist friend Jan. By the end of the night Bigger, Mary, and Jan are drunk. A series of unfortunate events lead to the accidental death of Mary Dalton. Bigger goes through great lengths to cover up his crime. He burns Mary’s body and carefully plots a story to frame Jan as the suspect. Killing Mary made Bigger feel in control of his destiny and in a way happier with himself. Hoping to gain money out of his crime he sends a ransom note to the Daltons. At this time his girlfriend, Bessie, becomes involved involuntarily with Bigger’s crimes. The Daltons were completely unaware of Bigger’s actions even though he still worked as...