Native Son: Society or Personal Responsibility
‘Does society create people or do people create society.’ Does one’s surroundings create a person or does a society create that person’s surroundings, ultimately creating a fate for that person. There is a very interesting portrayal of this idea in a book called Native Son by Richard Wright. It gives one an inside look on how a young African-American man grows up in the 1930’s, how crime affects him and how his surroundings and society have created his life and fate.
Bigger Thomas, the young man who’s life is portrayed in this striking book, did not necessarily have homicide in his fate. However, throughout all the negative experiences Bigger has experienced, it is not surprising to one how he fell into his situation. Bigger grew up in poverty, without a father, with discrimination leaking from cracks in the walls of his family’s one room rat infested apartment. He grew up on the south side, the black area of town, where everyone lived in apartments such as his. This of course was not by choice but by white entrapment, and the oppression and slavery of African-American people and those morals and traditions which are still upheld in this country today.
This is not to say that it is completely society’s fault; it is everyone’s fault through neglecting the obvious. However, even through poverty the south side may have been able to come together to create a basis, a stable place for their children to grow up in. I am not blaming them, though. Racism was obviously rampant and it may have been impossible to come together when everyone was forced to put themselves first.
With the theories of racism and hate engrained into society, how easy could it be to break free of discrimination and make something of yourself? “Down here in Dixie we keep Negroes firmly in their places” (P.324). When so much effort is put into keeping people separate and hating someone, for whatever reason, it gives a person a reason not to care what happens to them in terms of their lives. If nobody else cares what you do, then why should you? I think this is what Bigger felt when he was growing up. I think he also saw white people as such a high power that he was unable to do anything about what he felt was wrong.
...e in his life, Bigger stands up to a white person with out fear. When the white police say they will force him, he responds by saying “You can’t make me do nothing but die!”(Wright 336) Bigger Thomas is finally on a level playing field with white society. Something he has what he has always strived for.
In Native Son, this premonition haunts Bigger Thomas as he tries to navigate the world around him without becoming a target of the prevalent and institutionalized hatred towards African Americans. In an attempt to avoid the wide scope of injustice of American society that he felt would lead to his downfall, Bigger Thomas makes risky decisions out of fear of the system and to escape the unjust hand of the American judicial system towards African Americans and the consequences it might bring.
Class and identity-what's the difference? Merriam Webster's 9th Collegiate-Class: A group sharing the same economic or social status. 2: A group, set, or kind sharing common attributes. Identity: Sameness of essential or generic character in different instances b: sameness in all that constitutes the objective reality of a thing.
There has been an ongoing controversy in the United States on whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen like most of the world or if it should stay at twenty-one. Underage drinking has been a major controversial issue for years, yet why is it not under control? Teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol with fake identification cards, drink, get into bars, and drink illegally. As a teen I have proof that these things are going on not only in college but in high school as well. There are a lot of factors that come together to why the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen; the most obvious reason is too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one. Liquor stores, bars, and clubs all want to make money and if they can get away with selling to underage teens then they will. A study done by the Academic Search Premier agrees that, ?By now it is obvious that the law has not succeeded in preventing the under-21 group from drinking? (Michael Smith 1).
Bigger Thomas feels trapped long before he is incarcerated for killing Mary Dalton. He is trapped in an overpriced apartment with his family and trapped in a white world he has no hope of changing. He knows that he is predisposed to receiving unfair treatment because he is black, but he still always feels as though he is headed for an unpleasant end. The three sections that make up the novel Native Son by Richard Wright, “Fear,” “Flight” and “Fate,” imply a continuous and pervasive cycle throughout Bigger’s life that ultimately leads him to murder.
Lowering the legal drinking age would create problems such as infringing on the mental and physical development of the young drinker. As a respected author, Matt Nagin puts it, “The late teens and early twenties are formative years where character building, leadership in the community, and scholastic excellence should be emphasized. Alcohol detracts from all of these.” In other words, Nagin believes that the teen years are an imperative time of growth in a person’s life. Scientists have proven that the brain is not fully developed until the age of twenty five. If Nagin’s argument is correct, and I believe it is, then people should understand that scientists have proven the negative affects that alcohol has on the development of the brain. Alcohol has the power to kill brain cells and damage growth hormones. By making alcohol legally accessible to an eighteen year old, we are literally poisoning his or her brain.
The current drinking age in the United States of America is 21. There are some people who agree with the current drinking age even some who think it should be raised. On the other hand, a number of people feel that the current drinking age produces more problems than it prevents (“Cross Fire”). The United States has unsuccessfully tried prohibition legislation not once, but twice in the past. These laws were eventually done away with due to the inability to enforce and the repercussion towards them that ended up causing even more trials and tribulations (Engs). “Prohibition demonstrates beyond a doubt that drinking and the problems caused by drinking cannot simply be eliminated from the United States” (Olson). In the present day, the government is still reiterating the same mistakes that they made in past attempts (Engs). Research from the early 1980’s until present-day shows a decrease in per capita consumption instead, there has been an increase in other problems involving excessive and negligent drinking amongst college students after the twenty –one year old law in 1987 (Engs). The current drinking age of 21 is not effective and is causing other social problems. (Engs). This calls for us as a nation to change our existing drinking law.
People being prejudice and racist have been a major issue in society. This causes people to commit crimes in order to receive justice. In Native Son by Richard Wright there is a lot of prejudice against the black community. In Book Two: Flight; we get a closer look at Bigger Thomas’s actions and thoughts after murdering Mary. With the amount of racism and stereotypes made against the black community it has forced Bigger to feel that the people around him are blind, making him feel powerful and him murdering Mary is justified.
Eighteen year olds all over the United States are arguing for the drinking age to be lowered. “I can fight and die for this country, so why can’t I crack a beer,” many college students argue (Daniloff). Henry Wechsler, a Lecturer in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, found that, “in 2001, 77.4% of underage college students drank alcohol. Furthermore, half of the students under 21 years of age reported that they found alcohol very easy to obtain” (Vecchia). We all know that gaining access to alcohol is easy and drinking in college is even easier. So why shouldn’t the drinking age be lowered to eighteen? Regardless of what the law argues, underage drinking is going to occur. Besides, at age eighteen you legally an adult, you have the power to make your own decisions, consuming and buying alcohol should be one of them. I believe the drinking age should not only be lowered because as adults we have the right to making our own choices, but also because, underage drinking is becoming very common in college to make friends and fit in, and more people underage are easily gaining access to alcohol with fake identifications cards or from other people.
The drinking age in America is causing problems for underaged drinkers. There’s over thousands people living in the United States that are being arrested for underage drinking every year. This isn’t fair at all for them. If an eighteen year old is at a party that has alcohol and the cops come, that guy/girl is arrested, even if they didn’t drink anything. This causes them to be thrown in jail and have that put on their permanent record. With that written down, it will be harder for them to find a job with a ‘criminal record’. Another problem with underage drinkers, is that they take more risks, thinking they’ll get caught. They’ll try to drive home on their own, not wanting to get busted by their parents or their guardians, or their just too impaired to call someone. When they drive home, their coordination is off cause of all the alcohol they consumed, and they’ll either risk killing themselves or others. Though, not every dies from a car accident.
... that it is morally wrong to let eighteen year olds to drink legally. They would also argue that more and more deaths would happen due to this law being changed. When in reality if you follow these steps, teach young children at a young age to drink moderately and responsibly, add more harsher penalties to the drinking and driving laws and make defensive driving courses mandatory to graduate in high school, and to finally make a “permit” for under twenty one drinkers as a test to see exactly how it affects the society. All in all the age of eighteen is thought to be old enough to make such big decisions as getting married and joining the army to defend the country. It would at least show that this country has confidence in the eighteen year olds to be responsible with this new law and to not abuse the power. It would make a uniform “legal age”. This simplicity in itself will make checking I.D.’s less of a problem. This law needs to be changed and everyone knows it. This is a reasonable proposal to try something that has never been tried before and I think that the lawmakers are scared that it would work and it would just make them look foolish for not thinking of it on their own.
...event that leads Bigger’s destiny to failure. Because Bigger knows if he gets discovered in her room he will be accused of trying to rape her and will jailed and very likely executed just because he is black. His only other choice was to do what he did, but unluckily he unintentionally kills Mary making his path to failure even greater. All of this happens because Bigger is afraid. Bigger faces fear all throughout the story and his fear comes from him feeling that white people are out to oppress him and he can not doing anything about it. Richard Wright uses Bigger in his story to show how society of that time period put fear into black society. Bigger’s fear is what takes him down the path of the dooms which eventually causes him to harm, his friends, other black people, and kill to young girls one being his girlfriend and the other the daughter of his employer.
The growing awareness of alcohol hazards has made people more cautious of their drinking habits, particularly young adults. At present young adults have the highest prevalence of alcohol consumption than any other age group. They also drink more heavily, experience more negative consequences, and engage in more harmful activities, specifically drunk driving. Although surveys have documented a decline in recent years, consumption rates remain highest from late teen years to the late twenties (Johnston1-3). Despite the long-term decline since 1982 in alcohol related traffic deaths, a 4 percent increase occurred between 1994 and 1995 among young adults age 21 and over (Hingson 4). As alcohol-impaired driving persists, legal and community initiatives intervene to help reduce the problem, as well as, continuing research on possible solutions.
Living in a state where it is acceptable for minors under the age of twenty-one to drink in the comfort of their home – with the parents’ consent of course, I have no issue. There are several debates on whether or not the U.S. legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen, while others question if it is appropriate for parents to allow their minor to consume alcohol. According to the law, the age of eighteen means you are a “legal adult.” Although that is true, it takes a lot of commitment to be responsible rather than to wake up and say, “Whoa, I’m eighteen, time to face reality by myself.” Please acknowledge this argument to give you a certain perspective on the laws of alcohol.
In his novel, Native Son, Richard Wright favors short, simple, blunt sentences that help maintain the quick narrative pace of the novel, at least in the first two books. For example, in the following passage: "He licked his lips; he was thirsty. He looked at his watch; it was ten past eight. He would go to the kitchen and get a drink of water and then drive the car out of the garage. " Wright's imagery is often brutal and elemental, as seen in his frequently repeated references to fire, snow, and Mary's bloody head.