Persuasive Essay: Native Son by Richard Wright’s

What comes to mind when you think of fear? Do you think of something that can get the best of you? Or maybe something that a person can’t easily control? Richard Wright’s, Native Son, is about a boy named Bigger who had little money and lived a life that revolved around stealing and robbing people. Bigger’s mother had forced him to work and when he started working for the Daltons, he met Mr.Dalton’s daughter Mary. He worked for them as a chauffeur and on his first night, he accidentally murders Mary. He runs away but all the people in the neighbourhood want Bigger dead for what he did. Throughout Native Son, the author, Richard Wright, used the process of Bigger’s life to protest white supremacy and bring awareness to the various ways it can occur.  This is shown through the use of Bessie’s body as evidence during Bigger’s trial,  the angry mob of white people outside of the courthouse who wanted Bigger dead, and Mr. Dalton’s ignorance towards the needs of proper living conditions for the black community.

The first scenario leading into white supremacy in the book is shown when Bessie's body was used as evidence during Bigger’s trial. Bessie was brought into the courtroom to prove to the judge that Bigger is a threat.  As Deputy Coroner specifically said, “To offer in evidence the raped and mutilated body of one Bessie Mears” (Wright 330). In this scene, Bessie, a poor girl that had been treated badly by Bigger, is now being treated lowly in the courtroom. Bessie is just a mere piece of evidence; she is not given any justice for what happened to her. Towards the end, the judge gave Bigger the death penalty, but it was not for the death of two people, but only for Mary. They hold Mary’s life into more value than Bessie's because Mary is white; they care for someone with more of what they look like. Bessie is black, so white people do not care for someone who is not like them, rich, powerful, and of high status. White supremacy is shown by the way Bessie is treated, the courtroom was very shocked to see her in that way, they could have also used Mary’s bones as evidence. They do not see Bessie as equal, but instead, they see her as just a black person that is evidence for Mary’s death. Bessie is only being used which is very unfair, Wright is showing that there are needs of a white person being shown first and the needs of black people never being shown at all. The people in court do not show any affection for Bessie but only for Mary. They treat Bessie in this way because of her black skin. They don’t care for a person of color and they treat her lowly because she does not have money or a high status in society.

The next scenario as the mob represents white supremacy by showing us their mentality and their thoughts on Bigger. Bigger had to listen to hate come to him can be a way of white supremacy being a way to get to keep their way with the blacks. When Bigger first entered the courtroom they started shouting at him, “The courtroom stirred “Kill ’im now!” “Lynch ’im”.” their mentality of Bigger is that he is a killer. The reason that they hate on Bigger is because they say he raped Mary despite Mary being in bones and ashes. We can see the mob had also caused the judge to have the same mentality that Bigger did rape Mary. For this, the judge gives Bigger the death penalty. Wright is protesting white supremacy in this scene by showing us the mentality of the mob, they all are blinded by the hate that they have for Bigger because he is black.

The last scenario that can be seen is Mr.Dalton’s ignorance to the needs of proper living conditions for the black community. When Max, Bigger’s lawyer, asked Mr. Dalton,  “You donate millions of dollars to educate Negroes. Why is it that you exact an exorbitant rent of eight dollars per week from the 'Thomas family for one unventilated, rat-infested room in Which four people eat and sleep?” (Wright 326). By asking this question we see that Mr. Dalton may give millions to donation to the black communities but we still see them in poverty upholding systematic racism. Mr. Dalton assuming that all black people would be happier together also is an example of white supremacy. It shows that Mr. Dalton thinks that he is more superior than them so he can decide where they can live. Mr. Dalton also profits from this by keeping all the rich white people on the top and all the poor black people on the bottom.

To conclude, white supremacy is shown in this book with 3 different characters, Bessie, Bigger, and Mr. Dalton. Bessie’s life is shown with misery, her life is broken and she is used for evidence. There was no justice for an innocent black girl because her death was overlooked by  Mary Dalton, a wealthy, white girl. Bigger committing these crimes, they are more harsher on Bigger because he is black and even the black community. They assumed that Bigger raped Mary but how could they have known this because Mary was found in bones and ashes. Mr.Dalton, only thinking for himself and his fellow whites showed how he did not care about any blacks in his life or in real estate. He did not think that they wanted homes that were good for living, but no, he raised prices for eight dollars in rent. Not thinking that anything could happen to them in these conditions. As seen in this essay, white supremacy can take in many different forms, it can take place as evidence, as a crowd with hate, and even as a person with power.