Native Son by Richard Wright - Research Paper Example

? Number] Economic Issues: A research on Native Son Introduction The novel Native Son was penned by American writer Richard Wright in 1940. It mainly revolves around the tale of a young black man facing intense poverty situation (Laura, 2009). It starts with a morning alarm, it was not just an alarm, it was an alarm for the nation; it was an alarm for the long continued racism and frustration. It is a common proverb that one who is not the solution of problem; it means he is part of the problem. The novel is a brilliant example of this disambiguated phenomenon. The consequences stemming from the hypocrisy of whites supremacy are converted into an evil, with regards to the misfortune. An accidental event starts the trail of continual deprival of control of consent actions by a black man. A high degree of misfortune is presented in the initiating of the plot of this novel, while the racism in the US background has fueled this misfortune; a murder of a girl by black man. The lead role is the black man, in this novel, presented in an autobiographic genre. This misfortune turned into a tragedy, when the panic added fuel to the flare for the continued criminal actions of the Bigger, till the end of his role. This panic was the ultimate byproduct of the ambiance where he used to live. An approach to the error of the system has been presented in this novel as the root cause and the motive of the tragic criminal deeds was caused by the general environment, the circumstances, in which the Bigger had to live. Background America has had racism issues for long time. In the era of 1930s the class difference among different class was stronger. The blacks were not treated equally. The novel is actually a gentle protest on this situation. This novel was also a start of the silent revolution. The novel became the best seller in few days. The intensity of the racism presently is not of that extent as it was used to be in older days. Though presently the country with prolonged previous racism has a black president, and this novel was an alarm of the upcoming situation at that time: solve the issue today which may destroy tomorrow (Schneider, 2007). Economical perspective The protagonist and his family at large had not had good economic status. For the livelihood, they had to rely on the employments given by the whites. Although the help for the blacks was there as the employment was being provided to the blacks, but on the other hands, his family was being charged the high rent by the same employer. Mr. Dalton was a real estate tycoon, which was providing both the employment and the high rents to his family, and the other black community. There was no any generous thing to them as this had no effective benefit to the black and his family who was surging for the economic sustainability. The security and family needs The main character of the Novel, Bigger and his fellows plan to watch a movie, and for watching movie he needed money. For this reason he and his pals decide for the robbery at a shop. The shop/ Delicatessen which they plan to rob belong to the white and they all are afraid of doing any criminal act against the whites. According to them they could get the money, but if they were caught, the law would be different, and they have to bear a lot bitter consequences. They used to rob blacks but this time they had a change in their plan. One of his fellow stepped down for the robbery, and Bigger beat him. Although Bigger’s mother is religious and keeps on teaching him: he has no temptations for the religion. When he thinks there is no way to get money by robbing that white, he chooses the legitimate way of earning money by deciding to go for the job. And he is appointed as a chauffeur for Mr. Dalton who is a very rich man. He is afraid of losing his job as he is not aware of the etiquettes of the rich families and thinks himself as a misfit in that environment. This inferior complex has been rooted from the circumstances he has come from and he has a denial state for his complex, as he would be considered coward for being afraid of whites. First Job of the Bigger Bigger gets the first job at Mr. Dalton’s. Mr. Dalton is rich and it is a good job for him. With this Job he is able to meet the expenses of his family and can manage the social and economic needs which he has suffered previously. The writer of this novel, Richard Wright, has portrayed this novel on the perspectives of the American class system. Usually the black community belonged to the lower class, and the Whites were from the upper class at that time in America. The reason for this was the low education in the community and the worse economic conditions. Racism was also the factor behind the poverty of the blacks, as they were not given adequate welfare support by the Government. Richard Wright was from the communist party, causing insecurity for the western democracies, way different from today’s economy (Laura). Being a socialist he had a stronger view on the class system in America than those of capitalist. He had a soft corner to the communists as they had no issue with racism, believed in equality, and they were friendly with all races in the given area. Hypocrisy of whites The drop scene of the cunning techniques has been shown. The employer of Bigger hired him, and also he was the person who was charging premium rents to the black by unfair means. He used to help the blacks, but he also got the ‘black’ money. Bigger on the other hand had his job as a driver and also pays the rent to Mr. Dalton. He pays 8 dollars to Mr. Dalton a week for the room with rats, and Mr. Dalton owned the area for the blacks, and also had property in the areas for white, and gave million dollars for Negro education (Wright, 2.1235). These circumstances were even worse than not donating anything to the blacks. Mr. Dalton could earn popularity as a generous and on the same hand he exploits the blacks by wrapping his actions as good. The double standards are also their as the laws for the whites and blacks are different. Actually the practical importance of the law was different at that time. The law was same for everyone but was strict when a black was accused. The anger also got nurtured in the psychology of blacks and the rebellious responses could be seen due to the discrimination. End to Class System? Racist cornered the Blacks for their economic rights. Due to the prejudice they had against the blacks, they had a wishful thinking that the blacks should not be equal to them. There was also cooperation from the blacks as they had ignored any legitimate way of becoming equal to the whites, which is specially the canvas of this novel. The smartness has been bitterly, painted by unveiling the donation of whites for the black’s wellness which compensated well. Mr. Dalton gives five millions for the education actually it was Mrs. Dalton who made him rich; although he earned from the real state (Wright 1.872-180). Criminality and the desire of the money ‘Bigger’ had the subconscious want of money. After being appointed, He took Mary to the bar where they got drunk. He was innocently panicked by this situation. He drove her back to home. He has to take Mary to her room and during this he has a cognitive attempt of avoiding the confession moment for his master’s girl. Due to some misfortune Mary dies. After the Mary is dead, he takes her money from her purse and shows this money to his pals (Dan Schneider). When Buddy asks about this money, he does not tell the source. He leaves this money to her girlfriend. He becomes vengeful when she does not come up with him, and kills her due. There was also the frustration of being declared ‘wanted’ in this murder. As he had helplessly suffered from the inferior class life style, he feels himself powerful after the accidental murder of Mary. He becomes used to of the mental resistance caused due to the unintentional murder, as he starts feeling powerful. White Collar ‘whites’ v the lower class Blacks Blacks had to suffer from the discrimination from the whites in the previous era. The racism that hits Bigger was an accidental racism. Though it was realized at last by the Bigger that he is wrong. This class difference, with the view point of the writer, is the source of this complex pathetic situation. As the writer belongs to the socialist block, he has a desire to plot the class issues with the colors of racism. However the writer has successfully forwarded his protest as he is also black. Conclusion The protagonist is the Bigger; the antagonist is the deep rooted, cultivated racism in the US. The story reaches at the climax when bigger unintentionally kills the Ms. Dalton. The novel starts with the day of interview, of the Bigger’s first job. He has a fight with his fellow because of delayed appearance for the plan of robbery, although on the contrary he got afraid of the robbery itself, and inspired by the message of the film he has watched on the same day for his job interview. After some hot talks with his family, Bigger agrees to go for the interview, as the Mrs. Thomas had a fear that government will not give the relief to their family. The Bigger gets appointed there. On his first day, he is assigned to drive for Ms. Dalton. Ms. Dalton tells him to pick her boyfriend and go to the bar, her communist friend, due to his friendly ideologies of the communism, shows off the equality for him, as he is black. He is invited for the drink; finally they are on the way to home. While coming to the home, Ms. Dalton’s and his friend have romance. When they reach home, Ms. Dalton is not able to walk on her own, because she has been drunk badly. He takes her to his room by lifting into his hands, but he is afraid of the acquaintance with white women, so he got afraid of this moment. While leaving Ms. Dalton to his room he has an excited feeling for her. Her mother comes into the room, although, she was blind, but he got afraid, and in panic, he tries try to stop the scattered drunk talks of her. She got suffocated because he accidently applies little extra force to stop her from talking and kills her. To hide his guilt, he fixes her body into the furnace and burns it to ashes. He tries to extort the family of the deceased to get some money by hiding himself, and this event is filed for the investigation by her family. Upon investigation, he misleads the detectives and passes the suspect to Jan, by utilizing the prejudice of her family, as he was communist. He does this really successfully. References: Laura. “Nurture Born Killer: Book review of Native Son”. The Journal of Cultural Conversation. 2009. Web. 11 May 2013. Schneider, D. Review of Native son by Richard Wright. 2007. Web. May 11, 2013 Wright, Richard. Native Son. NY: Harper Collins, 1940. Print. Read More