Native Son
1. Native Son by Richard Wright; 1940 2. At the halfway point of this book, I find myself amazed at the segregation and racism going on. Never have I read a book that has so clearly accounted for the African American's feelings towards white people. The hate that brews inside of the African Americans is unbelievably strong, yet quite appropriate. I am enjoying trying to see the racism from the African American's point of view, rather than the "white view" I think I have had all along. The stark contrast in living conditions between the Dalton family and the Thomas family is undeniable. Mr. Dalton says he supports African Americans and gives them money, yet he owns a real estate company that only sells houses to blacks in certain areas, and charges them more money than whites for dirties places. Bigger Thomas is going to be caught. The authorities will not let him escape. By leaving the house after the bones were located, Bigger basically announced his guilt to all of Chicago. The fact that he is black will not help either. That just makes him that much worse and that much guiltier. The white society already has him condemned and sentenced for life. What he did certainly was wrong, but it was accidental. He cannot run like this, be
cause running makes him look worse. Right now he is trapped by his own inner fears and really has no other choice but to continue running until he gets caught. Nobody will spare him any mercy now. Actually, had he admitted right away to killing Mary, and had he not burned her, he probably wouldn't have been spared any mercy anyway. That is really hard for me to understand. I cannot understand why whites hate blacks with such passion that they force them to live in subhuman condition for outrageous prices. Bigger just has to keep going and not look back. Eventually he will be caught, and I only hope that he isn't hurt in anyway when he is caught. 3. (A) The protagonist of The Chosen is Bigger Thomas. He is from the lowest rung of the American social ladder of Depression-era Chicago: he is black, and he is poor. He has been trapped his whole life by the white society, and he has a burning, eternal hate for them. White people made him live the life he lived. By not letting him become anything but a servant, they led him to a life of crime and hate. For so long, too long, the whites saw every black the same. They were all bad and dirty and awful people. In turn, Bigger saw all whites as being bad. To him, every white man is out to hurt him. He returns the racist attitude presented to him by all of the white
Some common words found in the essay are:
Bigger Thomas, Depression-era Chicago, Boris Max, Yessuh Naw, African American's, Bigger Max, African Americans, Richard Wright, Bigger Eventually, white folk, , chicago black, white people, makes worse, african americans, white society, bigger thomas, african american's,
Approximate Word count = 883
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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