native son essay
Morgan Thomas
2/27/14
Native son essay
Native Son is a book written by Richard Wright which takes place in the 1930s. The main character in the book is named Bigger Thomas. Bigger Thomas is a young black man living with his family in a small rat infested apartment in a world controlled by white people. Bigger becomes employed as a driver by a rich white family, and after being made extremely uncomfortable and upset, he kills the daughter of the family. He is then forced to run from the police and has to kill his partner, Bessie. Bigger is caught and prosecuted by the police and experiences extreme racial prejudice during his trial and is sentenced to death. During both his everyday life, and his trial, bigger is the victim of extreme racism.
At the very beginning of the book, a large black rat is running around the Thomas family’s apartment. Bigger’s sister, Vera, is running around screaming while Bigger and his brother corner it and kill it. This foreshadows the Bigger’s later flight from the police. Bigger is running and running, but he is helpless to defend himself against the greater force that is the white people. He ends up cornered, captured, and eventually killed, just like the rat. This seems to be a representation of Bigger’s entire life. After killing the rat, Bigger holds it up and scares his sister with it. Bigger’s dangling of the rat to scare his sister is similar to the media and court making an example of bigger.
Richard Wright makes it seem like Bigger’s life is like a prison even before he is arrested. At one point bigger says
“Goddamnit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain't. They do things and we can't. It's just like livin' in jail.”(Richard Wright) His entire life is dictated by white people, so he has basically no freedom. The crowded, rat-infested apartment he lives in is worse than a prison cell. While presenting his case to the court, Max even
2/27/14
Native son essay
Native Son is a book written by Richard Wright which takes place in the 1930s. The main character in the book is named Bigger Thomas. Bigger Thomas is a young black man living with his family in a small rat infested apartment in a world controlled by white people. Bigger becomes employed as a driver by a rich white family, and after being made extremely uncomfortable and upset, he kills the daughter of the family. He is then forced to run from the police and has to kill his partner, Bessie. Bigger is caught and prosecuted by the police and experiences extreme racial prejudice during his trial and is sentenced to death. During both his everyday life, and his trial, bigger is the victim of extreme racism.
At the very beginning of the book, a large black rat is running around the Thomas family’s apartment. Bigger’s sister, Vera, is running around screaming while Bigger and his brother corner it and kill it. This foreshadows the Bigger’s later flight from the police. Bigger is running and running, but he is helpless to defend himself against the greater force that is the white people. He ends up cornered, captured, and eventually killed, just like the rat. This seems to be a representation of Bigger’s entire life. After killing the rat, Bigger holds it up and scares his sister with it. Bigger’s dangling of the rat to scare his sister is similar to the media and court making an example of bigger.
Richard Wright makes it seem like Bigger’s life is like a prison even before he is arrested. At one point bigger says
“Goddamnit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain't. They do things and we can't. It's just like livin' in jail.”(Richard Wright) His entire life is dictated by white people, so he has basically no freedom. The crowded, rat-infested apartment he lives in is worse than a prison cell. While presenting his case to the court, Max even