Native Son Argumentative Essay

Richard Wright’s 1940 protest novel Native Son portrays young black men as violent within their own community, but submissive in white society. This shift in behavior is made in response to the expectations of society at the time. These expectations are expressed through the interactions between white and black characters, (for example, black men who are polite among whites are considered a high standard for other black men) and the main character, Bigger, picks up on these shifts on his own in order to be successful in both environments. The submissive behavior of black males then gives whites a “green light” to continue expecting said behavior. Throughout Native Son, readers are shown that Bigger fears the punishment for his crimes not because …show more content…
The group also mentions previous crimes, mainly robberies of other black people and store owners. It is known that they have not yet robbed a white store out of fear of their punishment. Gus insightfully mentions that “if Blum was a black man, you-all would be itching to go. ‘Cause he’s white, everybody’s scared” (24). No remorse is ever shown by these characters, and they issue no apologies. The group believes that the robberies are the only way for them to earn money in their world. However, this is correct to a degree, due to what was acceptable in society. Black people were expected to get “black jobs”, such as how Bigger found employment as a chauffeur, almost exclusively because he was black. Mr. Dalton takes pride in the fact that he supports people of color and outright tells Bigger he “wants you [Bigger] to know why I’m hiring you” (53) and proceeds to explain his support for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Despite the fact Mr. Dalton feels he is supporting Bigger by giving him a job, he is still only granting him a job as a servant for the Dalton family; a job that is traditionally given to black people. The fact that the police do not investigate black-on black crime illustrates the disregard for black …show more content…
These black characters are expected to behave this way until faced with white society. White families expect colored people to submit to their preconceived notions of “proper” behavior, and the whites constantly degrade colored characters, intentionally or unintentionally, in order to get them to submit. The praise of black characters who submit to white characters furthers this cycle of behavior. Enforcing these racial roles constantly puts black characters at a disadvantage to