Native Son Book Analysis - Assignment Example

Author Background Richard Wright, whose pioneering descriptions of the hard life many young African Americans faced in the ghettos made him one of the first black novelists to win a major reputation in American literature, was born on a Mississippi plantation in 1908. His harsh childhood left a lasting impression and influenced his depiction of white society. (1) By his tenth birthday, his father, a sharecropper and a drunkard, had run off with a mistress; his uncle had been attacked by a mob of white men trying to seize his property; and his schoolteacher mother frequently had to move her family from town to town. (2) Growing up in such chaotic circumstances, Wright took responsibility for his own education, and—through his writing—for his self-liberation. As an adult during the Great Depression, Wright joined the Communist Party. In Native Son he displays his dedication to the Party by depicting its members as benefactors. (2) Although protagonist Bigger Thomas initially opposes the Party and attempts to frame it for a crime, he changes his opinion when Max, his Communist lawyer, becomes the first white person to treat him as a human being. Another Party member, Jan, also respects Bigger and even forgives him for murdering his girlfriend, Mary. Wright ultimately resigned from the party because of its attempts to censor his writing. (2) He eventually moved to Paris, where he died at the age of 52 on November 28, 1960. (1) Style In his postmodern novel Native Son, Richard Wright depicts his loathing for white society through Bigger Thomas, a young black American suffocated by the limitations imposed on his people. Tested beyond his limits by this evil society, Bigger ultimately collapses and murders two women. Wright cleverly uses diction to reveal racism's destructive effects on his protagonist. Bigger becomes the condemnation that white society places on him; he is, indeed, a native son. The book's title is an ironic comment on Biggers's status in America---because he, like those around him, is a genuine native of the United States, and yet he is treated worse than a dog. The racism he faces eventually destroys him and many of those he encounters. Wright’s structure is simple yet powerful. The novel is divided into three sections – “Fear”, “Flight”, and “Fate” – each with its own climax. “Fate” introduces a new character, the lawyer Max, who explains the meaning of Bigger’s Fear and Flight. Where most authors would leave the reader to arrive at his/her own interpretation of the book's events, Wright uses the book's third section to ensure that his very specific ideas are unambiguously conveyed. The bulk of the narrative is communicated in a stream-of-consciousness style, with flashbacks of Bigger's murders related as conventional narrative. This form enables Wright to tell his story succinctly, while leaving the reader in no doubt as to Biggers's thoughts and feelings. The murders, unsurprisingly, are key events in the narrative; and ironically, Bigger feels liberated after committing them. In the book's third section, Max explains how Bigger's reaction to his crimes is a response to his oppression. Both “Fear” and "Flight" are composed of short, blunt sentences, which maintain the narrative's pace and intensity. "Fate", on the other hand, is written in a much more scholarly style, with long sentences and elevated diction. The language of the first two sections helps the reader to understand Bigger's own character and limitations. When, in the trial in the book's third section, Max delivers an eloquent plea to the judge, Bigger himself is completely unable to comprehend his own lawyer's words. Wright cleverly uses the trial to manipulate the reader's emotions. Using Max as his mouthpiece, Wright expresses his own explanations for Bigger's actions. The format of a criminal trial—with the defendant's fate unknown until the end—is an excellent, if not exactly unusual, way to maintain the reader's interest in the fate of the protagonist. Wright employs the third-person limited narrative structure, allowing the reader to follow all the action in the story, but only from the protagonist's point of view. This approach creates sympathy towards Bigger, because the reader witnesses Bigger’s emotions–fear, confusion, hatred, anger, and so on. It allows the narrator’s voice to merge almost completely with the protagonist’s, in effect putting the reader inside the protagonist’s head. Wright also includes numerous symbols in Native Son; although many are subtle, they all carry messages about power. The rat in the opening of the novel symbolizes Bigger’s fate. “The rat squeaked and turned and ran in a narrow circle, looking for a place to hide…its belly pulsed with fear.” (p. 9) Although Bigger is the hunter here, he becomes the prey soon after; and his emotions then mirror the rat’s emotions. Another powerful symbol is the white snow. The novel begins in the autumn and ends with winter. Bigger frequently reveals the impact that snow has on him–making him feel engulfed, suffocated, entrapped. Snow symbolizes white society, which constantly prevents him from realizing his desires. Perhaps most importantly, Wright emphasizes characterization as a tool for getting his points across. Except for Bigger, all the novel's characters are shallow, with a single, immutable identifying trait that they are too ignorant and powerless to change. Thus, Bessie is a whiskey-drinker; Bigger’s mother is blinded by religion; and Mrs. Dalton is obsessed with education. Only after becoming a criminal does Bigger take control of his own character. He becomes a man whose consequences result from his own actions. He controls his future, and for the first time he feels important in society. This realization separates him from his fellows, yet it also eventually costs him his life. Until his murder, he has been manipulated by his environment to such an extent that his actions were not under his control. Bigger’s life is only a single instance of the powerful effects of racism; his case becomes significant only when a white woman, Mary, becomes his victim, another life indirectly destroyed by racism. The old saying, “You reap what you sow” is extremely appropriate here: white society’s fury backfires and eventually destroys the life of one of one of its own, Miss Mary Dalton. Quotes 1. Speaker: Bigger It’s like fire…That’s when I feel like something awful’s going to happen to me…Naw, it ain’t like something going to happen to me. It’s like I was going to do something I can’t help… (Page 24) Bigger compares white people to fire in this simile. Wright shows how Bigger is controlled by white society, and foreshadows Bigger’s murder of Mary and Bessie. 2. Speaker: narrator …Never in his all his life, with this black skin of his, had the two worlds, thought and feeling, will and mind, aspiration and satisfaction, been together. (Page 225) Here Bigger reflects on his life just after murdering Mary. He is lying on his bed in the Dalton’s home, and Wright characterizes Bigger here as being more dynamic than the reader had previously thought. The sympathetic tone also encourages the reader's empathy for Bigger and understanding of his suffering, which none of the novel's other characters understands. 3. Speaker: narrator In all of his life these two murders were the most meaningful things that had ever happened to him. (Page 225) Wright emphasizes the theme of oppression through these lines; Bigger is so trapped by society that murder is his only route to recognition. By his use of the passive voice, Wright also implies that Bigger is not really responsible for the murders he committed—after all, they happened to him. 4. Speaker: Bigger I'd soon as go to jail than take that damn relief job. (Page 32) The irony here is that Bigger has always complained about being denied opportunities in life, but when he finally is given one, he is quick to reject it. 5. Speaker: narrator He sawed the blade into the flesh and struck a bone. He gritted his teeth and cut harder…then blood crept outward in widening circles of pink…The head hung limply on the newspapers, the curly black hair dragging in blood. (Page 91) Wright uses this vivid imagery to characterize Bigger. Bigger is a victim of racism, and racism has had such a profound impact on him that he sees no other route to freedom than murder. 6. Speaker: narrator He had killed twice, but in a true sense it was not the first time he had ever killed. He had killed many times before. (Page 239) Wright does not intend this to be taken literally, but figuratively. Bigger is so used to the idea of killing that when he finally does kill someone, he reacts indifferently. Although he has not murdered anyone prior to Mary, he has killed many other things: his goals, his aspirations, and his status, to name a few. To Bigger, Mary’s murder is the same as all these other killings, but just in a different form. 7. Speaker: narrator He heard the ring of steel against steel as a far door clanged shut. (Page 392) These words conclude the novel and signify Bigger’s fate. The door symbolizes his life, which is about to come to an end. 8. Speaker: narrator He ran to another ledge, past the white looming bulk which now towered directly above him. (Page 249) Bigger is fleeing from his pursuers, and the white bulk symbolizes white society and its hatred for him and his kind. 9. Speaker: Max Life has cut this cloth; not I. Max is trying to instill some sympathy towards Bigger, but he knows that regardless of his plea, the result will be the same: Bigger’s death. He knows his pleading is futile, but he is trying to make society aware that it had already decided the fate of this boy before he was born. Explication pg. 101 He had murdered and created a new life for himself. It was something that was all his own, and it was the first time in his life he had had anything that others could not take from him…his crime was an anchor weighing him safely in time. (Page 101) Bigger has come home after murdering Mary Dalton, and his attitude toward everyone has changed. His pride is his shield at home and enables him to hide his emotions from his family. Wright’s characterization of Bigger develops dramatically here: not only does he realize that his crime is his protection, but he also sees his family in a new way. He realizes that “Buddy was soft….defenseless…and blind.” (Page 103) He realizes how “soft and shapeless she [Bigger’s mother] was.” (Page 103) This single murder has a profound impact on Bigger, which right conveys with this change in characterization. Suddenly Bigger has a sense of pride: “It was something that was all his own…” Never until now has Bigger been able to act on his own will. He has been controlled by society to such an extent that he eventually collapses. Murder is his only refuge, and, having murdered, he realizes how much freedom it gives him. For the first time in his life his actions are self-determined. It is the first time he has “anything that other could not take from him.” Of course, although this murder liberates him, it also eventually leads to his death. Racism is one of the principal themes in Native Son. Racist society has victimized blacks to such an extent that they do not even view whites as men, but as natural forces: “mountains, floods, seas–whose size and strength” seem everlasting. (Page 358) This racism eventually leads to the ruin of three innocent lives, yet prior to that it leads indirectly to Bigger’s freedom. The personification of the “anchor weighing Bigger safely in time” vividly foreshadows his future. This “anchor”, his crime, has a domino effect. Initially it serves as Bigger’s pride and liberation, his identity. He guards it with his life and allows no one to snatch his murder from him. However, by the end of the novel this “anchor” has played a much more significant role; it has tied him to his fate: death. References: 1 - Rampersad, Arnold. Native Son. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993. 2. "Richard Wright." Literature Resource Center. 2007. Thomson Gale. 24 July 2007 . Read More