Native Son…What Does The Novel Say Essay, Research Paper

1) Which book expresses best, Richard Wright’s powerful delineation of the black American experience? It is my opinion that book three: is the best expression of the black experience in America. On page 276 half way through the first paragraph in the thoughts of Bigger Thomas is this first illustrated. Bigger is thinking the following: “that they regarded him as a figment of that black world which they feared and were anxious to keep under control. The atmosphere of the crowd told him that they were going to use his death as a bloody symbol of fear to wave before the eyes of that black world”.

It is common knowledge that people fear what they don’t know but what is not common knowledge is how those fears are manifested. In this part of the novel we see fully how fear can turn into murder and rape. Not just murder and rape in the physical sense, but in the emotional and mental sense as well. Not only is Bigger Thomas and the life that he lived an example but the very language that is used by the people around him.

They are living in fear of what they have created and contribute to everyday. The mere fact that they do not see a problem is evidencing enough of this fear. As bigger thinks, they are fearful of losing control. I cannot help but think about a zookeeper putting himself in danger to imprison an animal of the wild. It is basically the same thing. The zookeeper has captured some wild animal and tried to tame it but in the back of his mind he knows that he cannot. The whites in this time, in this novel, have tried to keep the blacks in a certain area and maintain control over that area, but they realize through Bigger that they are losing that control and will use his death as a model of what could happen.

The second passage that illustrates these points is page 408, the first full paragraph. In Buckley’s argument you can hear the fear but most of all you hear those words of control. The words that he uses are not just meant for the judge but the world outside the courtroom. He says “My voice may sound vindictive but I am really saying is that the law is sweet when it is enforced and protects a million worthy careers from the ravishing of men who know no law.” Is it the fact that these men he is speaking of know no law because the laws they have to live by are the very laws that are designed to keep them oppressed? The million careers that he speaks of could not be those that were held by black people because black people don’t have careers. By his own volition he is admitting that blacks are not equal in the eyes of whites and need to be made example of if they step outside of the sphere of control. Wright’s illustration of the blatant racism that blacks had to live through is superb.

The language that Buckley continues to use throughout his argument is not only dehumanizing but an excellent depiction of the thoughts that many will not express. He was/is a good spokesman for the ideas of many on the worthlessness of black people.

2) Is there any sense of hope in Native Son?

In the title of the first book alone I see a sense of hope. It can be read different ways. I have read it to mean, people fear what they do not know. Either they can feed the fear with oppression or they can get rid of it through understanding.

In the very beginning we see signs of it through Mary on page69 in the last paragraph. This is where Mary expresses her ignorance of the lives of those people, meaning blacks. “I’ve long wanted to go into these houses, and just see how your people live.” Even In here nativity she is being sincere. She knows that she will never truly understand how his “people” live, but the fact that she wants to know is hope for change. If Mary would have visited that area she would not have understood mainly because this is neither her history nor her problem, she will never have to live like that.

The next time that we see a chance for hope is in Max’s argument on page 400. He states in the second full paragraph ” This Negro boy’s entire life is a crime! The hate and fear which we have inspired in him, woven by our civilization into the very structure of his consciousness,” This one line is evidence enough, not only because max is defending Bigger but because the whites in their society know that he is speaking the truth. They know that they have created and contributed to a system that is put in place to maintain control over other races.

The fear lies in the air that they breathe the food that they eat and the future that lies ahead for the children that they raise. Understanding that there is a problem is not enough for them, they see the problem everyday in Bigger Thomas. What needs to happen is nothing short of a miracle I only hope that it is by peaceful means.