Native Son Alienation Essay

In the novel Native Son by Richard Wright, Bigger Thomas alienates himself from those around him who cannot understand his actions during the difficult times in his life. His decision leads to life-changing consequences. Bigger’s path towards alienation is driven by the conditions of his life and the ever-changing flux between his needs and his desires. While most may think that a situation such as Bigger’s is merely fiction, in reality such isolation is a true story based on the lives of many African Americans in the 1930’s and 1940’s. And just like the African Americans from those time periods, Bigger is aware of his alienation but does not know what to do about it.
Bigger’s life experiences shaped him more than most readers realize. He was
The cause of such separation was institutionalized racism: segregated housing, differences in education quality, rejection from the judicial system, exclusion from specialized training, limited health care, etc. Even in the military, African Americans were confined to base jobs. “Black men subjectively internalize and incorporate aspects of the dominant definitions of masculinity in order to contest the conditions of dependency and powerlessness which racism and racial oppression enforce” (Mancini). This oppression causes African Americans to feel just as isolated and defenseless as Bigger. The spotlight that African Americans felt during these times can be described by Bigger when he thought the
Bigger alienates himself from those around him who cannot understand his actions during the difficult times in his life and at the very end makes amends with those same people. He gains two best friends and wants to unite oppressed people to prevent isolation. Bigger may not be a Native Son, but his actions towards fixing his issues with his family, and restarting his life as new man allow him to move towards being a son of