Native Son Literary Analysis
Conor Mulroy
Ms. Millar
English 2
September 30, 2014
Native Son by Richard Wright In this story and in many others of Richard Wright’s books, he explains his main theme for racism over and over. In Native Son, he puts us into another persons point of view (Bigger Thomas) to explain the reasons for what they did. In the story, Bigger Thomas was a murderer. In Richards story, he makes us understand Bigger’s side to show that he was not born a violent criminal. Wright used racism, and the social conditions in which his character was raised as an excuse for what his Bigger did. In this story there was a common theme that Richard Wright emphasized. His main theme was the effect of racism towards the African american population. In the story “they are given such low-paying and transient employment that they cannot maintain a secure living”(Native Son Themes) In the book, Wright shows how the stress of poverty and racism causes people to lash out under pressure. This caused white people to be afraid of them which forced black people into more poverty and racial profiling. Racism was the main topic of conversation in Wright’s books. …show more content…
He brought this problem to the surface in his books to better explain how it was damaging our society. He was bothered how the black society was being treated so horribly. “Richard Nathaniel Wright was a communist African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction.”("Richard Wright [author]). Considering the fact that he was african american, he chose this theme because him, and many others like him, could relate to his main topic. He wanted other people to have a better understanding on the effects of
Ms. Millar
English 2
September 30, 2014
Native Son by Richard Wright In this story and in many others of Richard Wright’s books, he explains his main theme for racism over and over. In Native Son, he puts us into another persons point of view (Bigger Thomas) to explain the reasons for what they did. In the story, Bigger Thomas was a murderer. In Richards story, he makes us understand Bigger’s side to show that he was not born a violent criminal. Wright used racism, and the social conditions in which his character was raised as an excuse for what his Bigger did. In this story there was a common theme that Richard Wright emphasized. His main theme was the effect of racism towards the African american population. In the story “they are given such low-paying and transient employment that they cannot maintain a secure living”(Native Son Themes) In the book, Wright shows how the stress of poverty and racism causes people to lash out under pressure. This caused white people to be afraid of them which forced black people into more poverty and racial profiling. Racism was the main topic of conversation in Wright’s books. …show more content…
He brought this problem to the surface in his books to better explain how it was damaging our society. He was bothered how the black society was being treated so horribly. “Richard Nathaniel Wright was a communist African-American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction.”("Richard Wright [author]). Considering the fact that he was african american, he chose this theme because him, and many others like him, could relate to his main topic. He wanted other people to have a better understanding on the effects of