Prejudice in Native Son and Blacker the Berry

A detailed Summary of Prejudice in Native Son and Blacker the Berry

In African Literature these two names Wallace Thurman and Richard Wright have contributed some of the most famous fictional works depicting Black culture in America. Since the two authors come from the same time period they share the experience of what it is like to be apart of the black race in America and depict it in separate but common ways. Both writers created works in the first half of the twentieth century that will be marked as some of the century's most prolific novels. Coming from different periods, Thurman the Harlem Renaissance and Wright the Chicago Renaissance of the African-American Culture movement. The two authors have some differences in their works but that doesn't mean there aren't parallels that can be drawn between the two also. The two authors grew in slightly different environments, which largely affected the substance of their fiction novels. A common parallel that can be drawn is that each knows first hand how prejudices can get in the way of a person's life and block a person's thoughts. The focus here is how Wright targets racism and how Thurman targeted Intra-racism.

Thurman was born at the turn of the century and did not live past the age of thirty-two but he still left behind him three books, one

At the very beginning of the story the reader can conclude right away that Bigger's family is very poor and that he is the eldest man in the family. When Bigger goes to the Dalton's on the first day of his new job he experiences the feeling of being looked down upon, by the Dalton family who are upper class whites that Wright has representing the Status Quo.

Richard Wright shows how being oppressed can be responsible for the extreme reactions in specific situations. Bigger Thomas lived in a predominately black neighborhood that he seldom left to go elsewhere. Unlike Emma Lou, who had the opportunity to relocate when she felt necessary, Bigger could not afford to go to move away from his family. He was not educated well and did very little work up until his job with the Daltons. Right away we can see that Bigger is frustrated with the way blacks are treated in the country, for example, when Bigger meets up with some friends at the beginning of the story and they talk about how the white people make sure that the black man is below them. The reader is built up to see that Bigger is up against more than just his own nervousness around white people. After murdering Mary Dalton, Bigger immediately becomes the real victim. Committing murder and being tried for murder and rape Bigger is seen as an animal in society that must be killed for his actions. If Bigger had killed a black person he would not have gained the media attention that he did. As Bigger sat in his cell a group of protesters were outside yelling, "Kill that black Ape" (p. 253) and "That Black Sonofabitch" (p. 253). Remarks like those are what Bigger wanted to avoid and did in his own neighborhood, but as soon as he left the environment that he was accustomed to he had trouble handling himself. In one situation he is bossing his friends around and in another he is confused, nervous, and wary when he drives Mary and Jan to the restaurant.

From the very beginning of The Blacker the Berry Emma Lou Morgan is plagued by negative thoughts about herself regarding the darkness of her skin. Since she was a young girl it was mainstream that the little the skin the better because they were considered higher up than ordinary blacks. If you could see the veins in your arm this meant you were apart of the Blue Vein Society other wise known as blacks who have some of Master George's blood in them. It was also normal thinking that the lighter skinned blacks wanted to be associated with whites rather than darker skinned blacks because they were considered outcasts of black sheep of the family. Emma was one of those "black sheep" her bothers and sisters had lighter skin than she and her grandmother used to make sure she was aware of that by criticizing her for being darker than everyone else.

As Thurman's story deals primarily deals with

Some common words found in the essay are:
Estate Company, Bigger Thomas, Emma Lou, Deterism Wright, Status Quo, Richard Wright, Lou Morgan, African-American Culture, Dalton Bigger, Master George's, emma lou, bigger thomas, skinned blacks, skin color, lighter skinned, status quo, blacker berry, white people, lighter skinned blacks, throughout book, emma lou morgan, color skin, wright's native son, emma lou bigger, lou bigger thomas,

Approximate Word count = 1893
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels