Native Son - Research Paper Example

Native Son “Native Son” written by Richard Wright, is an interesting story revolving around the life of the characterBigger. Bigger is depicted as a jobless, uneducated, black young man who lives in Chicago. The book describes the transformation Bigger underwent from stealing to murder to his death. The book depicts the life of a black person living in American culture, subject to racial prejudice, social stratification and violence in shaping him to become the “Native son.” The life of black person living in Chicago in the 1930s is described through the deeds and reasoning of Bigger (Sharma 56). In a time where racial discrimination was rampant, and the whites were the rich and the blacks poor in the social classification, a time where interracial dating was looked upon as impossible, a time when violence was rampant, a time when there were many uneducated black people, the story hence narrates the story of Bigger, a boy who grew up in this situation and shaped to become whom he turned to later (Sharma 89). The American culture shapes Bigger to become a vicious thief and murderer, fighting the authority, opposing white rule, and hating the whites for whom he becomes. In this essay, we shall be analyzing the theme of racial discrimination, social stratification and violence in relation to the character of Bigger and how they influenced his life events. Bigger’ character is as a result of racial discrimination that has been in existent in the American culture. Bigger believes that he is where he is because of the oppressive force placed on his by the white people. He fears and yet hates the white people as they control, how blacks move, live, interact and work in the society. Full of hatred, Bigger does not want in the first place to work for Mr. Dalton because he is white. He prefers to work with his fellow black people to steal from other black citizens. Bigger is intimidated by seeing white people, though he had never stolen from them because of the fear he had. According to Bloom (23) he describes Richard to have used Bigger to bring out the issue of racism just like it exists in American culture. Racism is rampant to a point where the children born from the white and black race, know it exists, and do everything possible to avoid being caught in between. Bigger has never had a white girlfriend all his life, and is shocked when he sees other black activists, Jan, dating Mary, Mr. Dalton’s daughter. Racial relationship is something which is not accepted by the society in America based on the hatred between the two races. It even takes courage for Jan and Mary to go and dine in the suburbs of Chicago, where the blacks existed. He feels and believes it is wrong, because that is what he knew as he grew up. As the story unfolds, it is very unfortunate that there is no one place where it is mentioned that Bigger had a white friend. He kept his deeds and activities in the black neighborhoods and avoided going to the white suburbs for fear of discrimination. Kinnamon (34), insists in his book that Bigger is a typical representation of a black American living in that time as they were subjected to issues of racial discrimination from all angles. The blacks did not have a voice in the society and hence always felt oppressed and weak against the whites. According to Derrick Richard (56), he describes that Biggers names was provided by the author to intentionally mean “Big” and “Nigger”, words that denote bigger as the king in the black community. As the story unfolds and Mary gets murdered, Bigger is arrested after a fierce gun battle and then implicated of various accounts. Max tries to plead for manslaughter for him, on the account that the society influenced him to become whom became, but no one listen to such claims and believe it is another violence occustrated by the blacks who hated the whites, and hence sentence him to death to prove the white supremacy. Bigger has been used in the story to depict the issue of social stratification that existed between various races at the time in Chicago. The white people belonged in the middle and upper class while majority of the black people belonged in the low class part of the society. Bigger lives in the apartment which is located in a black neighborhood. The living conditions in the black neighborhood are unfair to the residents as they endured a lot of problems (Sharma 20). First of all, it seems that the neighborhoods had a lot of social issues that accompanied their social class. Poverty was the key thing in the lower class thing. Sharman describes that Bigger is represented as a black African American, who did not have a job, though had to feign for himself (56). Therefore, most of the blacks were jobless, or if they had a job, was casual and not permanent. Bigger’s mother managed to get Bigger employment from a white person, Mr. Dalton as a driver. Based on the education background of Bigger, he could not get any good job and hence stuck to getting quick money to get something on the table. Sharman knows that the issue of poverty and unemployment are something which have always been in the American culture among the blacks, shaping them to become thugs. Bigger had a group of his own that used to rob other black people in Chicago (67). He viewed himself as a tough, fierce black person and had to gain street credibility through inflicting pain on his kind. Bloom describes that the environment in which one leaves, can influence what one becomes (89). Growing up in poverty and maybe seeing how the family struggled, Bigger could have taken the role of feigning for himself as a teenager. Bigger is used in the book to represent violence that exists in the society. Bigger was a thug in the hood before going to get a job at the Dalton’s family. He loved taking advantage of other black people. At her age, Bigger had a gun of his own, and a gang, to help him carry such hernious acts. There is a point in the story when he violently attacks one of the gang members so as to convince them not to attack a white folk. After failing to gain courage of robbing a white person, is when he opted to take the driver’s role (Sharma 32). Richard explains that Bigger’s violence emanates from deep hatred of the authority and white rule in general. Bigger never expected love from the society as it had a lot of suffering people like him. Growing while knowing life is tough, had to take a tougher role of violence in order to intimidate and rob others. In the story, Bigger kills Mary by suffocating her to date, then later tries to hide the evidence by burning her body in furnace (Sharma 45). He then makes matters worse by trying to write a ransom latter to Mr. Dalton in order to exploit him financial, something which does not work well. As the story continues, Bigger loses confidence in her girlfriend, whom he violently rapes, then later kills her as she sleeps by violently bashing her head with a brick. Bigger does not surrender easily to the police after engaging in so many criminal activities. He proves elusive during his search. Eventually, when nabbed, he engages the police in a gun battle, without acknowledging and paying attention to the repercussions. Eventually Bigger is arrested and imprisoned as he awaited for court’s verdict. Based on his violent history of rape, theft, and murder, he is convicted to death. In conclusion, “Native Son” is a story typical of what commonly happens in the American culture. Bigger as the main character, represents a black American person living in the harsh times. Bigger is influenced by the society that was full of social stratification, racial discrimination and violence to become whom he turned out to be. As the story ends, Bigger is sentenced to death as black person who had committed quite a number of crimes, which he had been forced to because of the society from which he came from. All the problems which Bigger faced, can be traced back as native culture that exists among the black people. Kinnamon (89) insists that violence, hatred, racial discrimination are some of the things which emanate in a broken society. The blacks were the ignored and most hated people at that time, and had to do nasty things in order to survive. Upto to date, the same problems still exist in the black American population and that is why is attributed as native to them. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Richard Wrights Native Son. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. Print. Kinnamon, Keneth. Critical Essays on Richard Wrights Native Son. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997. Print. Richard, Derrick. New Essays on Native Son. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Print. Sharma, Raja. An Approach to Richard Wright’s Novels-Native Son. New York: Wiley & Sons, 2010. Print. Read More