Native Son Essay

A detailed Summary of Native Son Essay


Richard Wright's novel entitled Native Son is a very ironic title for the general concept given throughout the course of the novel. Bigger is a native to this cruel American world, yet the son figure that he should be treated as is lost in darkness like the shadows in the alley behind Blum's Store. When Bigger wants to gain his equality in this world he goes back to saying "we live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain't. They do things and we can't. It's just like living in jail" (Wright 23). He desperately wants this dream, but he does not want to go through the battle against the white community to gain it. Despite Bigger's dream of equality, he could not achieve this dream because of his actions he performed and the hardships he faced.

Bigger often made a reference to his dream to be free and equal with the white community. For example, Bigger would "like to fly up there in that sky" (Wright 20). He feels that flying is a way to get away from it all and soar through the air like a graceful bird on its way back to its nest. This dream is nothing more than made fun of by Gus and Bigger's friends. Gus says that God'll let Bigger fly when He gives him his win


gs up in heaven and then the rest of the group "laughed again, reclining against the wall, smoking" (Wright 20). When they get on the subject of equality, the only thing the can fathom is what the whites have and not what they don't. And they never once try to realize what they have. They are caught up in their own anger and are blinded by it in many ways. They feel the only person or thing they can take it out on is the white community and the black oppression that they face throughout the daily routine of each one of their lives.

One of the actions that do not exactly contribute to this dream of Bigger is the incident in which he kills Mary. It was an accident, but with that aside he still killed a white girl, and not just any white girl, Mr. Dalton's daughter. After he killed her, thoughts raced through his mind at he stared at the dead corpse of Mary. He glanced at the trunk and thought, "could he get her in?" (Wright 88). After realizing that her legs would not fit in the trunk he tried to think of something else. "He stared at the furnace. He trembled with another idea . . . He would burn her!" (Wright 89). He was caught up in his own fear and his head was not on tight enough. He was not thinking straight as if he had just gotten off a strenuous roller coaster and stumbled aroun

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Approximate Word count = 881
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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