Analysis of Richard Wright's Native Son Essay Sample

In the book, Native Son, written by Richard Wright, the main character , Bigger, goes through the struggles of being a black man in the 1930’s in America. It is common knowledge that the North is more accepting of people of different colors than the South, however, in the 1930 racism was prominent everywhere even in the North. In Native Son, Bigger deals with poverty, being undereducated, a feeling of powerlessness, fear, and racism. Throughout the entirety of the book, Bigger deals with these things and is mad and everyone and his situation because of it. Bigger represent people of color in the 1930’s as well as today, and the struggles they went and are going through.

In Book 3 of the page named Fate, it is in Bigger’s trial for murder that his lawyer Max asks Mr. Dalton why he charges colored people more for apartments than he does for white people. Mr. Dalton says that there is a housing shortage on the southside of town, where the colored people live. Mr. Dalton is asked by Max why he does not rent houses to colored people on the northside of town. Mr. Dalton’s response is that colored people do not want to live on the northside of town. Mr. Dalton here represents white people of this time. Whites wanted to keep colored people separated from them. Mr. Dalton did not seem to care that colored people were living in poor conditions but only seemed to care that colored people were separated while not minding that he was charging colored people more for their poorly kept apartments than he did for whites apartments that were in better condition.

Richard Wight wrote another book named Black Boy. This book follows the life of Wright as he grows up and deals with hunger, education, and racial identity. On the subject of education Wright felt that his success was measured by how much education he had growing up. In the first year of his schooling his education went smoothly but as time went on the education system failed him. Wright had to educate himself and when he did so he developed his own worldviews. In Native Son, Bigger only went to the 8th grade in his education. Bigger represents colored people in his time and the struggles they went through, however in this situation it appears that Wright has made Bigger a representation of him, a black man growing up in similar circumstances. As Bigger represents Wright in this situation of education he could also represent other colored people who may have not gotten the opportunity for a proper education. Just like how Wright made his own world views through teaching himself, so did Bigger. Because Bigger only had an eighth grade education he had to educate himself in certain things. This could be how Bigger got the view of the world that he did. Bigger became angry with the world because of how colored people were treated and he also felt an urge to be violent. Because he did not get to finish school he taught himself and the things that he taught himself made him go down the wrong path. As Wright wrote about Bigger representing colored people in that time, Wright could have been saying that colored people often had to teach themselves whether that be good or bad, just as Bigger had to.

Throughout the book , Native Son, the main issue the main character faces is racism. Colored people in the 1930’s not only dealt with bad treatment but they were also limited in what they were allowed to do by white people. In book one titled Fear, Bigger was talking with his friend Gus when they saw a plane fly overhead. The conversation between them then went on to show that colored people were not allowed to fly planes. Bigger says to Gus “I could fly a plane if I had a chance.” Gus’ response is that Bigger could if he was not black, if he had money, and if they’d (white people) let him go to an aviation school. This shows one of the limitations that Bigger and colored people had to deal with. Colored people were not allowed to go to aviation school and fly planes simply because of the color of their skin. Gus mentions money when he states reasons that Bigger could not fly a plane. This could be showing that it was harder for colored people to get money in this time as well. When business had to let people go it was often the colored people who were let go first. A lot of the jobs that colored people did get did not pay very well either. Colored people were at a clear disadvantage. Wright uses the character Bigger in this situation to show an example of the limitations that colored people dealt with in what they could learn and how it was more difficult for colored people to get money.

In the 1930’s, if a black man slept with a white woman it was quite easy for the man to be accused of rape. After Bigger receives the job or chauffeur for the Daltons, he has to take Mary, Mr. Dalton’s daughter, to her room after she becomes drunk while going out with her boyfriend Jan with Bigger as their driver. Bigger takes Mary to her room and when Mrs. Dalton comes in he is afraid of what she will think. With him, a black man, being in the room of Mary, a white woman, it could be assumed that he raped her. In this time white people were quick to make assumptions about colored people doing crimes. Bigger is aware of this and puts his hand over Mary’s face to keep her quiet. This scene showed the fear that Bigger felt of being accused of committing a crime. After Bigger was arrested for killing Mary, everyone called Bigger a rapist. Even though Bigger did not rape Mary. The white community assumes that he did because he is black man and Mary is a white woman. Colored people during this time were probably more fearful of being accused of a crime then white people were because the justice system would come down harder on colored people. Even today African Americans show more concern with police and the justice system because they say they are treated unfairly compared to white people. In a survey taken in 2019, 84% of colored people say that they feel this way. The character Bigger does not only represent the struggles that colored people in the past went through but also the struggles of colored people today. Although this book was written in 1940, the struggles and fear that Bigger went through are still present today with colored people.

Because of the justice system coming down harder on colored people more than it did on white people, colored people had to be more cautious in what they did. In Doc’s place Bigger and the gang he is in are talking about robbing a white man’s store. Bigger has the idea and gives it to his peers. When he does, everyone is silent and Bigger says, “If old Blum was a black man. You-all would be itchin to go. ‘Cause he’s white, everybody’s scared.” Bigger is aware that other colored people would be scared to rob a white man because he knows that black people robbing a white person would bring more punishment than black people robbing another black person. Bigger wanted to go against the system by robbing a white man. He was upset with the way things worked as many colored people in that time would have been. Other colored people would have wanted to try to do things to change the way things were. There was a similar situation in Ralph Ellison’s King of the Bingo Game. The main character in this work felt a power when he was holding a button to spin a wheel in a bingo game to win money. He felt that as long as he held the button he controlled what happened. Both Bigger in Native Son and the main character in King of the Bingo game both were aware of how they had less control compared to white people. They were both looking for a way to change this feeling of being powerless. Wright does such a great job of having Bigger represent the struggles of colored people that what he writes about Bigger even lines up with the feelings of another colored character written by another author. However, even though Bigger wanted to change something he was still scared. The book shows Biggers emotions when it says, “Bigger was afraid of robbing a white man…But even with his pals he was afraid.” Bigger had learned how things work in this segregated system and even though he wants to go against the way things work he is afraid.

The main focus of Native Son is the struggles of Bigger and how the community and the system treats him. Wright grew in the same decade that Bigger has in this story. At the end of the book, Write explains how he came up with Bigger as a character. It is said that Bigger was a combination of several different black individuals that Wright encountered when he was growing up. With that in mind, taking into account the struggles that Bigger went through throughout the book, the comparison of Bigger to the character in King of the Bingo Game, and Wright’s experience of growing up in Black Boy, it can clearly be seen that Bigger is meant to represent people of color and the struggles they went through in the past and are still going through today.